Higg’s Boson: A Race to the “God Particle”

Why Europe just became the new center for physics

What is Higg’s Boson?

“Well, either we’ve found the Higgs boson, or Fred’s just put the kettle on.”

Skotnicki, the way, and physics is SWEET.. "The Higgs Boson Particle « Life, the Universe and Everything." Life, the Universe and Everything. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2011. <http://jskot.wordpress.com/2007/07/24/higgs-boson/>.

" Higgs boson still eludes capture – but now we know where it isn't | Science | guardian.co.uk ." Latest news, comment and reviews from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk . N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2011. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/jul/26/higgs-boson-eludes-capture>.

The Tevatron

“How are we going to feel if they find it at the LHC?” Dr. Randall said. “The Tevatron had the capacity to give us complementary information.”-Dr. Randall

Installed: 1983Size: 4 miles around

Europe’s Large Hydron Collider

" APOD: 2008 February 25 - Dawn of the Large Hadron Collider ." Astronomy Picture of the Day. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2011. <http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080225

Installed: 2008Size: 17 miles around

NASA Compared to CERN

• Nasa is shutting down the Tevetron and announced that the James Webb Space Telescope (it’s largest project) is $1.5 billion over budget

• The LHC will shut down either in late 2011 or 2012 for maintenance, but not permanently

So What? "Many of us theorists would find that failure much more interesting than if we just find another boring old particle that some theorists predicted 45 years ago.“- John Ellis, physicist

"Humankind differs from a collection of ants. We have intellectual curiosity; we need to understand the mechanisms of life and the universe." - Peter Jenny, physicst

“I'm making a bet that the universe is simple, symmetric, and aesthetically pleasing “- George Smoot, Physicist

“the hypothesized Higgs boson, which physicists hope to produce with the collider, might be so abhorrent to nature that its creation would ripple backward through time and stop the collider before it could make one, like a time traveller who goes back in time to kill his grandfather”. - Dennis Overbye, Time science witer

God Particle - National Geographic Magazine." National Geographic Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2011. <http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/03/god-particle/achenbach-text/6>.

"The Tevatron - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/

GLANZ, JAMES. "To Be Young and in Search of the Higgs Boson." UNL | Department of Physics & Astronomy . N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2011. <http://physics.unl.edu/~bloom/nyt.html>. OVERBYE, DENNIS. "Remembering Fermilab’s Tevatron Particle Accelerator - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011

" Did God stop CERN from discovering the “God particle”? | Analysis & Opinion | ." Analysis & Opinion | Reuters. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2011. <http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2009/10/13/did-god-stop-cern-from-discovering-the-god-particle/>. "CERN - Missing Higgs." CERN - the European Organization for Nuclear Research. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2011. <http://public.web.cern.ch/public/en/science/higgs-en.html>.

Bibliography