Higgs boson

[Munkeh]

Can anyone explain to me in simpler terms about what the higgs boson is that they are hoping to find from the big bang experiment ?

[jake-the-peg]

The particles that make up the universe are well known - there are 16.

Electrons you've heard of and photons perhaps but there are 14 others and they make up everything we know of.

They are described by a theory called the "Standard model".

But this theory has a problem - it says everything should have no mass!

We should all be weightless!

So in 1964 a guy called Peter Higgs came up with a change - a fix that gave everything mass and made everything work right.

Trouble is was he right?

CERN should be able to prove it one way or the other. If they can make a Higgs Boson they'll have proved that Peter Higgs was right!

If not someone else will need to fix the standard model.

This is all about understanding how mass and by implication how gravity works

[bustergutt]

I just thought of something!.. The scientists in charge of the HADRON say that the bits of protons and other stuff that will collide will only last a split second after collision!...Why? Surely if they have created the correct environment in which they can recreate the beginnings of the universe why don`t they think it will become anything bigger?
Something else!!!... If there wasn`t anything around before the big bang, where did the protons and other bits come from and what gave them the power to collide together?

One more last thing! ... Stephen Hawking said not to worry about this experiment as these collisions happen all the time in space, or somewhere? Couldn`t they have saved themselves 5 billion by just filming it happen through the space station window.

I have got to stop thinking! I can feel an headache coming on, I wonder if there`s a Higgs Boson particle in my cocodamol tablets?

[beso]

The idea that the LHC will recreate the conditions present in the Big Bang has been taken way too far. They are trying to create a very very very small peice of the Big Bang and as such they aught to call it the Little Bang.

Some of the exagerations put forward are the equivalent of saying one drop of salt water is recreating the entire oceans on our planet. And those suggestions that the experiment would consume the planet are like saying we will all drown in that drop of water.

[bustergutt]

Talking about water, when the Earth formed where did the water come from? We know its Hydrogen and 2 Oxygen so can it be re-created? If not why?

[R1Geezer]

Oh dear bustergutt, as you have vetured into science I will at least attempt to answer your questions.
The scientists in charge of the HADRON say that the bits of protons and other stuff that will collide will only last a split second after collision!...Why? Surely if they have created the correct environment in which they can recreate the beginnings of the universe why don`t they think it will become anything bigger?
Standard mis information I'm afraid, contrary to the press and others, the experiment will not recreate the big bang, it will recreate some of the conditions that existed shortly after the big bang, temperature for example
Something else!!!... If there wasn`t anything around before the big bang, where did the protons and other bits come from and what gave them the power to collide together? there is no before the big bang, you have to suspend normal thoughts and imagine the singularity as a 1D, 0 size infinite density point (NOT in "Space")
One more last thing! ... Stephen Hawking said not to worry about this experiment as these collisions happen all the time in space, or somewhere? Couldn`t they have saved themselves 5 billion by just filming it happen through the space station window. Cosmic rays collide in the upper atmosphere all the time with the same energy as the collider will provide, unfortunatley it is almost impossible to lift the tons of detectors to the edge of space, filming is far to insensitive to detect what is being sought.

I have got to stop thinking! I can feel an headache coming on, I wonder if there`s a Higgs Boson particle in my cocodamol tablets? good idea, I recommend reading up on particle physics a little more!