Posts RSS5 W’s about Higgs
Who, what, where, when and why Higgs
Who?
• Higgs is a professor emeritus called Peter, by the age of 79, living a quiet life in Edinburgh.
• Stan Bentvelsen is a professor by the age of 42, living a hectic life, both in Amsterdam and Geneva.
What?
• Higgs is a most important theory in the field of particle physics, named after professor Peter Higgs. It’s the missing link in the so-called Standard Model of Elementary Particles, also known in popular science as ‘The Holy Grail’ of physics, even ‘The God particle’; in technical jargon the Higgs boson.
• Stan Bentvelsen is the Project Leader of the Dutch Nikhef-team in search for Higgs.
Where?
• Higgs is expected to be proven correct (or false) by the LHC experiment at Cern (Geneva), the world’s largest particle physics laboratory. Depending on whether or not the Higgs boson will be found.
• Stan Bentvelsen will find Higgs most probably as a message in his mailbox, from one of the members of his team.
When?
• Higgs, the theory, was first published in 1964. Higgs, the particle – íf it exists – is expected to show up during the run of the LHC experiment, which starts in the summer of 2008.
• Stan Bentvelsen hasn’t got the slightest idea, yet, when Higgs – íf it exists – will be found.
Why?
• Higgs is crucial to our final understanding of the structure of matter. It will explain what gives the various elementary particles their different masses and why things are heavy.
• Stan Bentvelsen knows that whoever finds HIGGS first, will not only win eternal fame, but is also guaranteed to land a Noble Prize.
PS
“Before Higgs there was symmetry and boredom.
After Higgs there was complexity and excitement.
Higgs is great.”
(Leon Lederman, Nobelprize in physics 1988)
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