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posted by zizban on Monday June 23 2014, @11:12PM   Printer-friendly
from the the-force-is-strong-with-this-one dept.

MIT News reports that the particle discovered in 2012 and thought to be the elusive Higgs Boson is indeed that particle.

The findings, published in the journal Nature Physics, confirm that the bosons decay to fermions, a group of particles that includes all leptons and quarks, as predicted by the Standard Model of particle physics.

"This is an enormous breakthrough," says Markus Klute, an assistant professor of physics at MIT and leader of the international effort. "Now we know that particles like electrons get their mass by coupling to the Higgs field, which is really exciting."

Times Live has more information.

Related Stories

Higgs Bosons Can be Produced Simultaneously With Top Quarks 1 comment

The Higgs boson reveals its affinity for the top quark

New results from the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the LHC reveal how strongly the Higgs boson interacts with the heaviest known elementary particle, the top quark, corroborating our understanding of the Higgs and setting constraints on new physics.

The Higgs boson interacts only with massive particles, yet it was discovered in its decay to two massless photons. Quantum mechanics allows the Higgs to fluctuate for a very short time into a top quark and a top anti-quark, which promptly annihilate each other into a photon pair. The probability of this process occurring varies with the strength of the interaction (known as coupling) between the Higgs boson and top quarks. Its measurement allows us to indirectly infer the value of the Higgs-top coupling. However, undiscovered heavy new-physics particles could likewise participate in this type of decay and alter the result. This is why the Higgs boson is seen as a portal to new physics.

A more direct manifestation of the Higgs-top coupling is the emission of a Higgs boson by a top-antitop quark pair. Results presented today, at the LHCP conference in Bologna, describe the observation of this so-called "ttH production" process. Results from the CMS collaboration, with a significance exceeding five standard deviations (considered the gold standard) for the first time, have just been published in the journal Physical Review Letters [open, DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.231801]; including more data from the ongoing LHC-run, the ATLAS collaboration just submitted new results for publication, with a larger significance.

Also at ZME Science.

Related: Confirmed: Yes, it is the Higgs
Successor to the LHC Could be a "Higgs Boson Factory"


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  • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 23 2014, @11:46PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 23 2014, @11:46PM (#59172)

    I already am up to speed with this.

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by Tork on Tuesday June 24 2014, @12:08AM

      by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday June 24 2014, @12:08AM (#59176)
      You're not going to Slashdot or Soylent for the right reason.
      --
      🏳️‍🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️‍🌈
      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by zizban on Tuesday June 24 2014, @01:24AM

        by zizban (3765) on Tuesday June 24 2014, @01:24AM (#59193)

        It's irrelevant (and correctly moderated) off topic to say this has been on another site. Stuff is submitted and posted based on it's merits, not whether or not it has appeared on Slashdot before.

  • (Score: 3, Informative) by Tork on Tuesday June 24 2014, @12:11AM

    by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday June 24 2014, @12:11AM (#59177)
    So I'm a dullard that does not understand any of this. I've never taken a physics class and Treknobabble just gets a smile and a nod from me. What is the practical application of this new understanding? Is it like putting too much air into a balloon?
    --
    🏳️‍🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️‍🌈
    • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 24 2014, @12:59AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 24 2014, @12:59AM (#59186)

      You're no moron, I've studied plenty of physics and I still don't fully understand the implications.

      In short, one of the more immediate results is that we are closer to understanding how mass and gravity REALLY work. The way this was explained to me once upon a time is that once we understand a force of nature well enough, then we can find applications for it. Look at it this way, the computer you're using, your cell phone, your TV, your lights in your house, all of it largely stems from a rough understanding of how the electrostatic force actually works. If we can gain that understanding with mass and gravity, we can do all kinds of cool stuff (maybe).

      Then we're also one step closer to understanding how all the forces are related.

      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by mcgrew on Tuesday June 24 2014, @03:17PM

        by mcgrew (701) <publish@mcgrewbooks.com> on Tuesday June 24 2014, @03:17PM (#59446) Homepage Journal

        Indeed, we can never know what new discoveries will bring. When the laser was invented in the 1950s there was no use at all. Now it's in every optical data storage device; had it not been invented you'd probably still be using tape. They produce the coherent light for fiber optic communications, we amuse our cats with them, we have laser light shows, the Navy now uses them as weapons, etc.

        --
        mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by clone141166 on Tuesday June 24 2014, @01:18AM

      by clone141166 (59) on Tuesday June 24 2014, @01:18AM (#59191)

      Yes, there are a lot of over-hyped scientific articles in modern journalism that often amount to not very much. But in this case, the Higgs-boson really is quite an amazing discovery.

      I am not a physicist (hopefully someone with a stronger physics background can clarify further), but the Higgs particle was first postulated in the 1960's. Considering it has taken us as a civilisation roughly 50 years to confirm its existence, it really is a pretty amazing piece of science.

      While this knowledge itself may not allow us to do anything immediately amazing. It validates part of the Standard Model of physics allowing future research to be concentrated on specific areas (as opposed to researching both cases where the higgs particle may and may not exist).

      I suppose it is somewhat akin to discovering the existence of protons and electrons. While this knowledge has no immediate practical applications, the knowledge of electrons and how they function lead to all kinds of fun things like electricity, circuits and transistors... The discovery of the Higgs particle is the opening of the doorway to some as yet unknown, but potentially very exciting future discoveries.

      It might not quite be the physics equivalent of putting a man on the moon, but it's at least similar to launching the first unmanned satellite into orbit.

      • (Score: 3, Funny) by Buck Feta on Tuesday June 24 2014, @04:42AM

        by Buck Feta (958) on Tuesday June 24 2014, @04:42AM (#59246) Journal

        > I am not a physicist (hopefully someone with a stronger physics background can clarify further)

        I started as a physics major in college, so I can clarify. This man is not a physicist; he did not study physics; he cannot properly be judged qualified to expound on complex theories of the construction of the universe. I hope that clarifies things, and if you have any further questions, I'm sure someone else here can help.

        --
        - fractious political commentary goes here -
        • (Score: 1) by clone141166 on Tuesday June 24 2014, @08:02AM

          by clone141166 (59) on Tuesday June 24 2014, @08:02AM (#59289)

          No need to be rude; which man? me? I have studied physics also. But if I was horribly misguided and you have a better, more accurate summation please offer it.

          "I started as a physics major in college, so I can clarify." Although it would appear you aren't a physicist either?

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 24 2014, @09:07AM

            by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 24 2014, @09:07AM (#59303)

            I think he was trying to be humorous and missed the mark by a wide margin.

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 24 2014, @10:54AM

              by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 24 2014, @10:54AM (#59325)

              Speak for yourself, I find it to be pretty funny. But I'm not a physicist, so that might be the problem (no further clarification neede).

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 24 2014, @12:41PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 24 2014, @12:41PM (#59355)

              Yeah I laughed out loud. It took a second but it was funny.

          • (Score: 1) by Buck Feta on Tuesday June 24 2014, @01:28PM

            by Buck Feta (958) on Tuesday June 24 2014, @01:28PM (#59379) Journal

            It was a joke, and it was a joke based on misunderstandings over language, not intended to be a joke about you or at your expense. Please forgive me any offense I unintentionally caused.

            --
            - fractious political commentary goes here -
            • (Score: 1) by clone141166 on Tuesday June 24 2014, @11:27PM

              by clone141166 (59) on Tuesday June 24 2014, @11:27PM (#59612)

              Ah sorry, my bad, I think I misread your intent - it was a long day yesterday. No harm done.

      • (Score: 3, Funny) by LoRdTAW on Tuesday June 24 2014, @01:13PM

        by LoRdTAW (3755) on Tuesday June 24 2014, @01:13PM (#59368) Journal

        ". The discovery of the Higgs particle is the opening of the doorway to some as yet unknown, but potentially very exciting future discoveries."

        Friggen hoverboards, man!

    • (Score: 5, Informative) by TrumpetPower! on Tuesday June 24 2014, @02:34AM

      by TrumpetPower! (590) <ben@trumpetpower.com> on Tuesday June 24 2014, @02:34AM (#59218) Homepage

      Few people have put it as well as Sean Carroll does in this video:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vrs-Azp0i3k [youtube.com]

      Also see:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwdY7Eqyguo [youtube.com]

      The short version is that the Higgs is both a particle and a field, just like photons and the electromagnetic field. The particle is mostly only interesting because it's what we can most easily detect. Indeed, the particle -- as are all particles -- is only an harmonic oscillation in the associated field. The field is where the action is at.

      What's unique about the Higgs field is that its natural state has a non-zero energy. As such, whenever other particles interact with the Higgs field, some of the energy of those particles gets sucked up by the Higgs field, somewhat like trying to walk through water instead of air. And it's only the particles with mass -- most familiarly, electrons and quarks (neutrons and protons are each made of three up and down quarks) -- that interact with the Higgs field; particles that don't (most familiarly photons) are massless.

      That's the oversimplified two-paragraph summary from somebody who's not a physicist; watch Sean for a surprisingly understandable and most entertaining introduction to quantum field theory and the Higgs Boson.

      Cheers,

      b&

      --
      All but God can prove this sentence true.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 24 2014, @03:17PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 24 2014, @03:17PM (#59447)

        Thanks for the links. Some of this was explained in my physics book. I only took a year of physics and my teacher covered it a little as well but I forgot a lot of this stuff and I'm not a physics major anyways. The first video (I haven't seen it all yet and I haven't gotten around to the second one yet) is a good supplement to my physics book. Amazing stuff.

    • (Score: 4, Funny) by tftp on Tuesday June 24 2014, @04:31AM

      by tftp (806) on Tuesday June 24 2014, @04:31AM (#59244) Homepage

      What is the practical application of this new understanding?

      You will get either a flying car, or a really good lecture why you can't have one.

    • (Score: 5, Informative) by evilviper on Tuesday June 24 2014, @08:25AM

      by evilviper (1760) on Tuesday June 24 2014, @08:25AM (#59297) Homepage Journal

      What is the practical application of this new understanding?

      It's a shame there's no way for a person to look for and find such information on the internet for themselves...

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higgs_boson#Significance [wikipedia.org]

      --
      Hydrogen cyanide is a delicious and necessary part of the human diet.
      • (Score: 2) by Tork on Tuesday June 24 2014, @08:04PM

        by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday June 24 2014, @08:04PM (#59566)
        "It's a shame there's no way for a person to look for and find such information on the internet for themselves..."

        Thanks for the link, it was very educational! Oh, and in return, here's a link [wikipedia.org] that you'll learn something new from as well.
        --
        🏳️‍🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️‍🌈
  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 24 2014, @02:39AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 24 2014, @02:39AM (#59220)

    We can take the universe apart into it's tiniest building blocks.

    But still not smart enough to get drinking water for more than 8/9 of the world population.

    Karel Kulhavy Twibright Labs [twibright.com]

    • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Tuesday June 24 2014, @06:35AM

      by maxwell demon (1608) on Tuesday June 24 2014, @06:35AM (#59263) Journal

      And it doesn't need much smartness to recognize that the two subjects have little to do with each other.

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    • (Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Tuesday June 24 2014, @02:54PM

      by tangomargarine (667) on Tuesday June 24 2014, @02:54PM (#59436)

      There will always be a bottom 10%.

      --
      "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"