HIGGS BOSON

A new mystery unfolded about formation of the universe amidst this streaming world of researches at the Largest Hadron Collider at CERN, Geneva. The most astonishing fact found is that the particle which accounts for the mass of a body is itself a mass-less, charge-less particle.

Let’s start it from the beginning by understanding the division of elementary particles according to the standard model. Elementary particles were classified as leptons, hadrons, mesons and bosons. There were three types of bosons known according to the standard model but the success of this experiment discovered yet another boson which is  the most elementary particle and which provides mass for every atom and hence every object. Earlier, when two protons collided, the particles obtained were leptons, quarks and neutrino particles. The setup at LHC collided two protons inside a long tunnel at the speed of light (4 TeV) which caused the Higgs bosons to form in addition to the earlier known particles. The Higgs bosons were large in size and hence unstable to observe. The protons were thus collided with such tremendous energy so as to observe Higgs bosons, which were now observed fragmenting into smaller components.

The LHC lies in a tunnel 27 kilometres beneath the France-Switzerland border near Geneva. It is   designed to collide opposing particle beams of either protons at up to 7 TeV.  It was built in collaboration with over 10,000 scientists and engineers from over 100 countries, as well as hundreds of universities and laboratories.

Pakistan scientist Abdus Salam indeed played a vital role in this discovery when he discovered that  electromagnetic and nuclear forces don’t need particles with mass to work. But the particles do have mass, so we needed an explanation for why. In 1964, Peter Higgs of Scotland’s University of Edinburgh was the real cause behind it.  This discovery of Abdus Salam was the earliest breakthrough in this field when it was discovered that two (Nuclear and Electromagnetic) out of four basic forces governing the universe did not deed particles and mass to interact.

The discovery of Higgs boson would be very vital in finding the secrets of the universe which were earlier known as ‘dark matter’.   Dark energy and the force of gravity were some other terms which the Standard Model couldn’t explain. It can also be helpful in finding if there is something like parallel universe that exists.

The discovery has received several recommendations for Nobel Prize, which is finding itself in controversies of how this discovery can be useful for humanities. Till date the significance and use of Higgs Bosons are not numerous but it will surely be, in the near future.  For instance, none of us could find a single use of Microwaves and Radiowaves when they were discovered but they are serving the social life at their best till date.