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Higgs Boson

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IamSmooth

Thu Mar 14 2013, 07:42PM

Registered Member #190 Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 12:00AM
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So I read today that the existence of the Higgs is confirmed.

I have a question for those knowledgeable in quantum physics. If the Higgs is responsible for other particles acquiring mass, which they have all the time, then how come it is no easily detected?

I know that it rapidly decays to other particles, but mass does not change during this decay. If everything has constant mass at rest then why can't the particle be detected all the time since its effect is always present?

Ash Small

Fri Mar 15 2013, 08:39AM

Registered Member #3414 Joined: Sun Nov 14 2010, 05:05PM
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Posts: 4245

The rudimentary understanding I have is that the 'Higgs Field' is comprised of Higgs bosons. When mosst other stuff (the stuff that 'appears' to us to have mass) interacts with the Higgs field, it gives the 'illusion' of mass.

I'd suggest that, when a Higgs is formed inside the LHC, (or the other one, is it Fermilab?), it is 'out of context' in relation to the Higgs field, and therefore decays.

It's not the Higgs that has mass, it is the interaction between other stuff and the Higgs field that gives the 'illusion' of mass.

I understand this to mean that everything is basically 'wavelike' in nature, but that this interaction gives the 'illusion' of mass, and thus the 'illusion' of solid matter.

Newtonian physics takes mass for granted (is based on an apple falling from a tree, due to gravity). This is the fundamental flaw with Newtonian physics.

Paul Dirac 'invented' quantum mechanics in 1927 in order to explain the failings of Newtonian physics, the existence of the Higgs boson was first proposed 40 years later in 1967. It's taken until last year to prove it actually exists.

EDIT: I'll try to give another example. When, say an AC electrical 'wave' interacts with a magnetic 'field, they 'interact' to produce a physical 'force' that you can 'feel'

(Maybe not an ideal explanation, but a wave interacting with a field produces a tangible physical force that can be felt, in the same way that mass can be 'felt'.)

BTW, the 'mass' of the Higgs boson is measured in electron-volts (~125-126GeV)

IamSmooth

Fri Mar 15 2013, 07:08PM

Registered Member #190 Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 12:00AM
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Ash, you explaination is very nice and has helped me a little with understanding the Higg & Field. The Higgs Boson decays quickly in the lab.

However, this field is suppose to be everywhere and give us the illusion of mass. Shouldn't the Higgs be easy to detect if the field is always there?

Or, is it that we can not directly detect the field, and the only way to isolate a Higgs is to create one?

Physics Junkie

Fri Mar 15 2013, 07:57PM

Registered Member #7267 Joined: Tue Oct 16 2012, 12:16AM
Location: Detroit, Michigan
Posts: 407

It is hard to detect because only one collision of protons per trillion of collisions will produce them in the collider. It took two decades and trillions of collisions to detect. So the window for opportunity is very slim.

IamSmooth

Sat Mar 16 2013, 12:10AM

Registered Member #190 Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 12:00AM
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Since we all have mass, does this mean this particle is quite common in the universe?

Physics Junkie

Sat Mar 16 2013, 02:07AM

Registered Member #7267 Joined: Tue Oct 16 2012, 12:16AM
Location: Detroit, Michigan
Posts: 407

Well I'd think it has to be. Or the higgs field rather, is all throughout

Uspring

Sat Mar 16 2013, 11:17AM

Registered Member #3988 Joined: Thu Jul 07 2011, 03:25PM
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IamSmooth wrote:

I have a question for those knowledgeable in quantum physics. If the Higgs is responsible for other particles acquiring mass, which they have all the time, then how come it is no easily detected?

The Higgs boson has a large mass so it needs a big accelerator to be produced. Since it decays rapidly there will never be any around as long as you don't have something continually producing them.

I know that it rapidly decays to other particles, but mass does not change during this decay. If everything has constant mass at rest then why can't the particle be detected all the time since its effect is always present?

The Higgs field iself is not detectable other than by its effect on particles, which is to add rest mass to them. The necessity to introduce a Higgs field arose, when the unification of the electrical and weak field theory was made. That theory required the weak theory particles, e.g. Z, W+ and W- to have no rest mass in obvious contradiction to experiment. The addition of a Higgs field can explain their mass.

IamSmooth

Mon Mar 18 2013, 01:46AM

Registered Member #190 Joined: Fri Feb 17 2006, 12:00AM
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Uspring wrote ...

Since it decays rapidly there will never be any around as long as you don't have something continually producing them.

If the Higgs decays, does this mean eventually there will be none? If this is true, then the Higgs field would disappear and so would rest mass.

Uspring

Mon Mar 18 2013, 10:02AM

Registered Member #3988 Joined: Thu Jul 07 2011, 03:25PM
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You need to distinguish between the field and its excitations. The excitation of a Higgs filed is the Higgs boson, which decays. The field on the other hand stays there.
Think of e.g. an electrical field coming from a charge. It drops off rapidly according to the inverse square law. An excitation of the electrical field would be a photon, which can travel infinite distances. So even if the photon and the electrical field are made of the same stuff, i.e. the electrical field, their properties are different.

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