Confirmation of scientific theories about the Higgs boson was achieved thanks to detection tests carried out with the Large Hadron Collider.
The Higgs boson is an elementary particle whose name pays tribute to the English physicist Peter Higgs . This scientist alluded to a possible mechanism as an explanation for the emergence of the mass of particles of this type.
A fundamental or elementary particle that establishes interactions between fermions is called a boson . Fundamental particles , in turn, are those that lack internal structure and are not formed with smaller ones.
In the specific case of the Higgs boson , it is an excitation of the so-called Higgs field . It can only be generated and detected using a particle accelerator .
Understanding the concept of the Higgs boson
The concept of the Higgs boson is used in the field of particle physics , which is the specialization of physics dedicated to the analysis of the essential components of matter. According to the Standard Model , fundamental particles can be classified as bosons or fermions based on their characteristics.
To understand what the Higgs boson is, you must first know that mass is a property of matter, expressed as the resistance that a body exerts to a change in motion. For classical mechanics, mass is defined according to two central postulates of Isaac Newton : the law of universal gravitation and Newton's second law . This assumes that the attraction between two bodies obeys a force proportional to the mass of each of them and that the force applied to a body is directly proportional to the acceleration it registers.
Quantum mechanics (or quantum physics ), by examining how elementary particles get their mass, introduced new ideas. In this area of study, it is maintained that particles propagate as waves and that they manifest when their position is measured. The measurement of such tiny corpuscles is carried out through the unit known as a femtometer .
Another notion to consider is that of field , which in physics refers to the distribution of a magnitude in space-time. The mass of fundamental particles, in this framework, is explained by the Higgs field .
The Higgs field is found everywhere, including a vacuum. According to particle physics, the interaction of elementary particles with the Higgs boson leads to the particles (boson included) acquiring their mass. Depending on the strength of the interaction of the particles with the Higgs field , the bond is established in different ways and thus each one develops a different mass.
As we indicated above, the Higgs boson is an excitation of the physical field of the same name. Specifically, the Higgs boson is the smallest possible excitation of the Higgs field ; In this way, it constitutes its quantum (the minimum value that a magnitude can acquire).
In addition to the Higgs boson (whose existence was postulated by scientist Peter Higgs), the existence of the W boson and the Z boson, among others, have also been confirmed.
Your discovery
Theorizing about the Higgs boson began in the 1960s . It was Peter Higgs who, when exposing his mechanism for the appearance of mass, considered that there had to be a particle related to the vibrations of the field that bears his name.
Confirmation of its precepts was only achieved in 2012 thanks to the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) , a particle accelerator built by the European Organization for Nuclear Research ( CERN ) over more than a decade. This gigantic machine can create turmoil in the Higgs field by concentrating a huge amount of energy into a tiny point.
The Large Hadron Collider , in this way, is able to generate the collision of hadrons (subatomic particles formed by quarks that are linked by the strong nuclear force ) at a speed close to that of light. With these collisions, new particles are created: in some cases, among these new particles is the Higgs boson .
In 2012 , therefore, the creation of Higgs bosons was confirmed thanks to the work carried out with the Large Hadron Collider at CERN . The verification was achieved with the ATLAS experiment and the CMS experiment, carried out with two of the device's particle detectors.
There are scientists who believe that a multiverse would allow us to resolve the questions that still exist about the Higgs boson.
Beyond the Higgs boson
The discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012 helped corroborate what was stated by the standard model, which - as scientists recognize - is still incomplete. In any case, other experiments carried out with the Large Hadron Collider raise new questions.
On the one hand, the possible discovery of a new particle is still being analyzed. If the discovery is confirmed, the standard model as it is currently understood could come under question.
It should also be considered that, beyond the Higgs boson , there are unanswered questions. It is not known, for example, what dark matter is or why there is more matter than antimatter . Physicists, in short, still have a long way to go to understand basic issues of the universe and the laws that govern it.