On October 4, 2013, an international team of researchers, including the University of Tokyo and the Japan High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, discovered the Higgs boson. The Higgs boson gives mass to matter and has had a major impact on the scientific community by proving the Standard Model.

God particle, Higgs boson confirmed to exist

“God Particle” Higgs Boson Confirmed to Exist” was a headline that appeared frequently on October 4, 2013. An international team of researchers from the University of Tokyo and the Japan High Energy Accelerator Research Organization discovered the existence of the Higgs boson, and the news and real-time search rankings were filled with stories about the Higgs boson. Dubbed the God particle, it has taken the scientific world by storm and won the 2013 Nobel Prize.

What is the Higgs boson?

To understand what the Higgs boson is, you need to know about the forces and building blocks of matter in nature. In nature, we have gravity, the weak force, the electromagnetic force, and the strong force, and the source of these forces determines the building blocks of matter. Currently, the scientific community analyzes the components of matter through a method called the Standard Model. According to the Standard Model, matter can be broken down into atoms, which are made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons, which can be further broken down into six heavy particles, quarks, six light particles, leptons, four force-mediating particles, and the Higgs boson. The Standard Model is the most reliable theoretical framework through various experimental verifications, and the scientific world is currently explained based on the Standard Model. Of these, the Higgs boson is the particle that gives mass to the other 16 components.

How the Higgs was discovered

The first 16 particles had already been discovered through experiments, so scientists from different countries used particle accelerators to find the last one. A particle accelerator is a machine that can accelerate objects to very high speeds. The Higgs boson was discovered by accelerating two objects to very high speeds, colliding them, and analyzing the resulting particles. Before October 4, they had found a particle that they thought was the Higgs boson, but they weren’t sure, but this time it was proven to be the Higgs boson with a probability of more than 99.99%, making it an official discovery.

The value of the Higgs boson discovery

As mentioned above, the scientific world is currently described by the Standard Model. Since the Standard Model hasn’t been used to explain situations that deviate from the Standard Model, it was thought to be correct, but there was no proof that it was correct. Then the Higgs boson was discovered, and the Standard Model was proven to be correct, thus validating all of our scientific achievements. Stephen Hawking once said, “The scientific community would have been happier if the Higgs had not been discovered.” This is because if the Higgs had not been discovered, the Standard Model would not have been confirmed, and if the Standard Model is wrong, the entirety of science would be changed, i.e., the scientific world would be turned upside down. As such, the discovery of the Higgs boson was an important event in the history of science, giving validity to the current scientific community.

Giving the Higgs boson mass

As mentioned above, the Higgs boson has the property of giving mass to matter. In reality, the Higgs doesn’t actually give mass to matter, but rather the Higgs mechanism does. The Higgs mechanism is very complicated and can be explained using the analogy of a magnet. Magnets have a polarity, which is caused by the electrons of the atoms in the magnet moving in a certain direction. This polarity causes objects to stick to the magnet, and a force is needed to repel them. This force can be thought of as mass, meaning that one of the particles has a certain orientation and attracts other particles around it, and this is how mass and the Higgs boson arise. The discovery of the Higgs boson has given us a glimpse into how matter has mass.

The God Particle?

The Higgs has been labeled the God particle. This refers to the scientific community’s idea of existence. The scientific community believes that things with mass exist, so the Higgs boson, which gives mass to matter, creates the existence of matter. In this way, a being that creates matter, that is, creates a substance, is analogous to God, which is why the Higgs is labeled as the particle of God. This is one of the reasons why the discovery of the Higgs boson has been so controversial with religion.

The Higgs boson and the origin of the universe

The discovery of the Higgs boson has also had a major impact on our understanding of the origin of the universe. After the Big Bang, the early universe was very hot and dense, with all particles having no mass. Over time, as the universe expanded and cooled, the Higgs field was created, which allowed particles to gain mass. This process played an important role in determining the structure and nature of the universe, so the discovery of the Higgs boson is more than just a physics achievement; it provides important clues to explaining the origin of the universe and our existence.

Conclusion

In this article, we’ve learned about the Higgs boson. The Higgs boson was discovered by the Large Hadron Collider on October 4, 2013, and is responsible for giving mass to the Standard Model, the current description of the scientific world. It was the last particle to be discovered in the Standard Model, proving the Standard Model and giving validity to the discoveries of the scientific community so far. It has also been labeled the God particle because of its role in giving mass to matter. We hope that the discovery of the Higgs boson, which made a big impact on the scientific world, will help you understand the scientific world more familiarly.