higgs boson particle for dummies

any explanations on the particle accelerator and the elusive 'God particle'. I have tried to understand this in laymens terms, so far it seems to suggest that particle is untraceable because it 'jumps', dimensions, if anyone can help me get a handle on this i would be most appreciative. remember i am a dummy 🙂

i found this site which is a little helpful

http://plus.maths.org/latestnews/sep-dec08/lhc/index.html

The main reason why it's so hard to detect is that gravity is so weak. That's all.

Originally posted by KazetNagorra
The main reason why it's so hard to detect is that gravity is so weak. That's all.

Ok, why would that have a bearing on it?

The Higgs boson explains why particles have mass. But the effect of mass is very weak compared to other forces. So it's difficult to isolate this effect from others and consequently to find the Higgs boson among other particles.

Originally posted by KazetNagorra
The Higgs boson explains why particles have mass. But the effect of mass is very weak compared to other forces. So it's difficult to isolate this effect from others and consequently to find the Higgs boson among other particles.

One other possible reason for not finding the Higgs boson is that it might not be a Higgs boson at all.

I'm just saying...

Originally posted by adam warlock
One other possible reason for not finding the Higgs boson is that it might not be a Higgs boson at all.

I'm just saying...

True that. But if it does exist, it's still hard to find.

Originally posted by KazetNagorra
The Higgs boson explains why particles have mass. But the effect of mass is very weak compared to other forces. So it's difficult to isolate this effect from others and consequently to find the Higgs boson among other particles.

mmm, its like an assumption, is that correct? one assumes the presence of the particle because of its effects, like gravitons, they have never been observed but it is assumed that they exist from the 'force', or the effect that they exert? Is this correct?

i am really pleading with you Kazety to forgive my ignorance, because i know practically nothing about this and it seems the more questions i ask, the less i seem to actually understand, in fact, i am scared of asking even more for i know the sea is deep and i shall be washed out and engulfed in ignorance. 🙂

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
mmm, its like an assumption, is that correct? one assumes the presence of the particle because of its effects, like gravitons, they have never been observed but it is assumed that they exist from the 'force', or the effect that they exert? Is this correct?

i am really pleading with you Kazety to forgive my ignorance, because i know practically n ...[text shortened]... g even more for i know the sea is deep and i shall be washed out and engulfed in ignorance. 🙂

Well, clearly something has to explain why things have mass. The Higgs boson is just an explanation that fits in nicely with the Standard Model of elementary particles (the model that explains everything except mass, relativity and gravity).

Originally posted by KazetNagorra
Well, clearly something has to explain why things have mass. The Higgs boson is just an explanation that fits in nicely with the Standard Model of elementary particles (the model that explains everything except mass, relativity and gravity).

hi, i found this amazing site for noobs, the particle adventure, its awesome 🙂

http://www.particleadventure.org/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_God_Particle:_If_the_Universe_Is_the_Answer,_What_Is_the_Question%3F

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
any explanations on the particle accelerator and the elusive 'God particle'. I have tried to understand this in laymens terms, so far it seems to suggest that particle is untraceable because it 'jumps', dimensions, if anyone can help me get a handle on this i would be most appreciative. remember i am a dummy 🙂

i found this site which is a little helpful

http://plus.maths.org/latestnews/sep-dec08/lhc/index.html

Will we be fried by cosmic rays? Sucked into LHC-produced back holes? Hoovered up by wormholes to be dumped in a parallel Universe in another time? Will the world be tipped into a state in which we can't exist? No, no, no and no. The LHC can do nothing that nature hasn't done already, and we've survived it. It isn't expected to produce any black holes, or wormholes, whatsoever, and even if it does, they'll be extremely tiny, disappear in an instant, or be completely harmless. As for vacuum bubbles in which we couldn't exist, if the LHC could create them, then so would nature, but this has never happened.

As for those people who are reportedly suing CERN for endangering humankind — well, maybe they'd be a lot happier in a parallel universe anyway.

i like how much effort they put into soothng these worries. totally not biased.

an interesting read otherwise.

Is the Higgs boson particle the same thing as what use to be called Omega minus ?

Originally posted by jaywill
Is the Higgs boson particle the same thing as what use to be called Omega minus ?

No. Omega-minus baryon definitely exists - it's a baryon comprising three 'strange' flavour quarks. Higgs is a boson which is theorized to imbue particles with mass, and it may or may not exist, the LHC should enable us to decide.

Originally posted by avalanchethecat
No. Omega-minus baryon definitely exists - it's a baryon comprising three 'strange' flavour quarks. Higgs is a boson which is theorized to imbue particles with mass, and it may or may not exist, the LHC should enable us to decide.

Thanks. Very interestng. I think the last book I looked at said that Dr. Barry Gell Mann (?) was theorizing about the existence of Omega minus and they were searching for it.

It seems that since then it has been discovered. Cool.

But wasn't omega minus suppose to have been the last and tiniest sub-atomic particle ?

Originally posted by jaywill
Thanks. Very interestng. I think the last book I looked at said that Dr. Barry Gell Mann (?) was theorizing about the existence of Omega minus and they were searching for it.

It seems that since then it has been discovered. Cool.

But wasn't omega minus suppose to have been the last and tiniest sub-atomic particle ?

All of the quarks predicted by the standard model have been observed. Omega minus is not an elementary particle since it consists of three strange quarks.

More information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_model