The particle accelerator known as the Large Hadron Collider was of utmost importance in testing hypotheses put forward by Peter Higgs.
The Higgs field is a postulate that was born as a hypothesis promoted by the British physicist Peter Higgs (which is why he has his last name) within the framework of the standard model of particle physics .
It is a quantum field (with energy and an invisible profile) that, according to this idea, would extend throughout the universe and would leave as a result the possibility of the particles acquiring mass. This could happen, according to this reasoning, by interactions involving the Higgs boson and elementary particles .
By collecting data of interest around this topic, the key role that the imposing and powerful particle accelerator built by the European Organization for Nuclear Research has played in testing Peter Higgs ' conjectures ( CERN) and which is identified in Spanish as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) .
Characteristics of the Higgs field
Thanks to various studies it has been established that not all particles are linked to the Higgs field in the same way. Some, as in the case of photons , manage to cross the Higgs field at the speed of light as if no obstacle were in their paths; Others, however, remain stuck there as if by the action of glue.
It is also constructive to know that the quantum of this type of field is the aforementioned Higgs boson . By focusing on the electroweak theory , to point out another alternative, thanks to the Higgs field we will arrive at an explanation as to why, in this assumption, the low energy state simultaneously shows a weak force and, as for the electromagnetism , a broken symmetry.
With these data we can understand why photons lack mass while vector bosons such as Z and W are endowed with a large amount of it.
It should be noted that the process by which certain elementary particles achieve their mass is known as the Higgs mechanism . The first to propose it were the theoretical physicists François Englert and Robert Brout , which is why their surnames are sometimes added to the name. The allusion to Higgs came in 1971 from Gerardus 't Hooft .
The mass gain by the particles is associated with the Higgs field.
Importance
Both the field and the Higgs boson are important since they demonstrate the usefulness of quantum field theories in pursuit of the foundation of particle physics .
Recognizing the properties that characterize the Higgs field , it was even possible to take advantage of mathematics to explain the mass present in the particles, which varies depending on the force that is imposed in the interaction of the particles with this field.
If the mass of the Higgs boson is considered in the analysis of the universe , predictive calculations show the possibility that it has stability only temporarily. There is also a minimal chance that the universe will mutate, dangerously, to a state with less energy. Scientists managed to determine that the probability of an interaction of the Higgs boson with itself will actually occur (since it meets the conditions to carry out a self-interaction, a decisive phenomenon to better understand the cosmos and the dynamics of the primitive universe) It depends on the variation – close to the minimum – of the potential energy associated with the Higgs field . This would recreate the scenario that could have been left after the Big Bang . With the passage of time, theories have also been developed and spread that, appealing to interactions of the Higgs boson with itself that differ by up to approximately thirty percent from the predictions of the standard model of particle physics , aim to prove how it was. that matter became more profuse than antimatter .
Both the Higgs field and the Higgs boson recall from their names the surname of an influential physicist of British origin named Peter Ware Higgs.
Differences between ether and Higgs field
Although there are similarities between the concepts of ether and Higgs field , it is appropriate to clarify that they are not synonymous nor do they represent the same thing. It is not correct, experts on this topic say, to believe that the ether symbolizes a vacuum related to the relativistic Higgs field .
Among those who studied the particularities of the boson and the Higgs field is the respected and renowned British astrophysicist, scientific communicator and theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking . For him, the aforementioned field, which may be in a state understood as a "false vacuum" , is characterized by being able to be, at energies exceeding one hundred million gigaelectronvolts, metastable. Thus, the researcher reflected, the universe is not exempt from deteriorating due to a dramatic vacuum expansion, a bubble eventually generated by the Higgs field as a result of quantum fluctuations that would move at the speed of light , said Stephen in statements that were collected by multiple media outlets.