Higgs Boson

[SterlingRed]

For those of you confused by todays news, let me put it in btw terms. The higgs boson is to quantum physics like placenta is to birth. That is all.

[Ribky]

Even sorta looks like a magnificent placental spray...

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[Haidaes]

Even sorta looks like a magnificent placental spray...

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Well they all look like that tbh :).

Anyway the best thing is its another nail in the coffin of the string theory :P Even though they are just sure to have found another new particle yet, chances are good that they finally found the higgs boson this time.

[Husbag3]

We had a discussion about it in a physics lesson today, to sum it up, it's the thing that gives mass its mass.

[Foxy Boxes]

The Higgs Boson walks into a church and the priest says: "We don't allow Higgs Bosons in here."
The Higgs Boson replies: "But without me how can you have mass?"

[MoRmEnGiL]

[01:27:14] <MoRmEnGiL> I'm still mad they called it boson higgs. when a simple letter change would make it an awesome name. just swap the n with an m :p
[01:27:38] <Syruse> bosom higgs? LOL
[01:27:56] <MoRmEnGiL> ;]

[DIG_down]

Hogg's Basin?

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[SterlingRed]

Sorry for the lack of a real explanation of the news about higgs. I posted this about as soon as it hit my twitter feed as I was boarding a plane. Now I've been awake for like 20 hours and I'm very much in need of sleep so maybe I'll put more info up tomorrow if there's interest?

[tedium]

A Higgs Boson walks into a bar. The barman says "What's the matter? You look like the weight of the world rests on your shoulders..."

[Flesh_Engine]

A Higgs Boson walks into a bar. The barman says "What's the matter? You look like the weight of the world rests on your shoulders..."

lol :)

[DIG_down]

Sorry for the lack of a real explanation of the news about higgs. I posted this about as soon as it hit my twitter feed as I was boarding a plane. Now I've been awake for like 20 hours and I'm very much in need of sleep so maybe I'll put more info up tomorrow if there's interest?

Is my picture not an accurate depiction of current events???

[FlowerChild]

Is my picture not an accurate depiction of current events???

+1 for the Dukes of Hazard reference, but really not sure how many youngins will catch it ;)

[DIG_down]

Is my picture not an accurate depiction of current events???

+1 for the Dukes of Hazard reference, but really not sure how many youngins will catch it ;)

Thanks! Funny thing is that I was born like a decade and a half after the good ol boys ;)

[redrew89]

+1 for the Dukes of Hazard reference, but really not sure how many youngins will catch it ;)

I feel sorry for any future generations that would miss out on such a vital part of our culture:

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On topic: I think the Higg Boson is an exciting discovery, as it really takes everything we "knew" about particle physics, and basically says "everything you know is wrong." confirms it. The discoveries that this could lead to in the future could shape mankind's technological development for decades.

EDIT: I mispoke. Chalk that up to Daisy being a distraction. :P

[Dr. Kylstein]

On topic: I think the Higg Boson is an exciting discovery, as it really takes everything we "knew" about particle physics, and basically says "everything you know is wrong." The discoveries that this could lead to in the future could shape mankind's technological development for decades.

But it confirms the Standard Model, which basically is "everything we know."

[jorgebonafe]

On topic: I think the Higg Boson is an exciting discovery, as it really takes everything we "knew" about particle physics, and basically says "everything you know is wrong." The discoveries that this could lead to in the future could shape mankind's technological development for decades.

[Mason11987]

On topic: I think the Higg Boson is an exciting discovery, as it really takes everything we "knew" about particle physics, and basically says "everything you know is wrong." The discoveries that this could lead to in the future could shape mankind's technological development for decades.

I don't think this is actually true. The discovery reaffirmed most everything we already knew. The world doesn't look dramatically different then it did before. This isn't a "the whole world has changed" discovery it's a "damn we are good at making predictions of things we've never observed" discovery.

[tedium]

yeh i'm a bit frustrated by all the media hype, because they are retarded in explaining what these recent events mean. my friend was telling me about a dinner table conversation he had to endure where his gf's sister asked "so now we can make people? oh, now we can control mass? oh, now we can..." I can't even remember her other interpretations, they were that stupid. when my friend explained "all this means is that now we can do more science" she was rather disappointed. it's this whole 'god particle' name. i understand how it fits, but they never should have used it.

[walker_boh_65]

it's this whole 'god particle' name. i understand how it fits, but they never should have used it.

Apparently the guy who wrote the book titled God Particle about the Higgs, originally wanted to name it the goddamn particle.

[Eriottosan]

it's this whole 'god particle' name. i understand how it fits, but they never should have used it.

It's better than the alternative, my friend:

The partygoers are like Higgs bosons, the just plain folks are like massless particles, and [Justin] Bieber is like a massive Z boson.

Apparently the guy who wrote the book titled God Particle about the Higgs, originally wanted to name it the goddamn particle.

Heh, when I first heard that, it became my favourite thing about the whole idea of the Higgs Boson :P.

As far as I understand it, the Standard Model (which Higgs "confirms") doesn't include gravity? And yeah, great, we've found the Higgs, but that doesn't actually get us any closer to a unified theory, does it? I remember hearing somewhere that to get evidence of either String or Loop theory, for example, we'd need an LHC bigger than Earth. All the Higgs does is further confirm a theory which has a hole in it. (Although, as that hole is gravity, we won't fall through it ...).

Don't get me wrong, finding it is amazing and all that, and it's an exciting time to be alive, but does it actually give any gravity towards the future of physics, other than "it's consistent with the Standard Model"?

[Urian]

It won't have any immediate effects no, from what I understand it's more about getting more indications that their theories are correct.

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[Haidaes]

The important thing though is that the standard model is correct, or at least close to it. From here on out we can start building new theories about gravity, dark matter and what not. Having a theory that is missing one of its key parts, makes for a really shitty foundation for other theories to build upon. When it comes to gravity I always found it interesting that even with the higgs boson we can't explain it, considering the fact that you learn in school that gravity is dependant on mass after all.

As far as I understand it, the Standard Model (which Higgs "confirms") doesn't include gravity? And yeah, great, we've found the Higgs, but that doesn't actually get us any closer to a unified theory, does it? I remember hearing somewhere that to get evidence of either String or Loop theory, for example, we'd need an LHC bigger than Earth. All the Higgs does is further confirm a theory which has a hole in it. (Although, as that hole is gravity, we won't fall through it ...).

Don't get me wrong, finding it is amazing and all that, and it's an exciting time to be alive, but does it actually give any gravity towards the future of physics, other than "it's consistent with the Standard Model"?

I always disliked the string theory. The math behind it is kind of beautifull all things considered and seems to build upon a logical "schematic" but in the end the theory already started with kind of a religious notion in that you simply can't prove it. Still the idea of a multidimensional approach has at least a nice scifi appeal :).

[TheAnarchitect]

String theory was my introduction to physics back in grade school. It gave me a few weird notions about what higher-level physics should look like. I spent middle school diagramming 10-dimensional metaphysics layouts and sorting them based on notions like "symmetry" and "Beauty" instead of, you know, fitting observable phenomenon or providing testable hypotheses. Then again, I was 12. You wouldn't expect a decent grasp of the scientific principle. Still, all that diagramming skill I developed as a pre-adult comes in handy when coming up with Sci-fi/Fantasy settings for RPG night.

Actually, I take that back. Now that I'm a parent, I'm hell bent on my children understanding what science really is. So to see how I'm doing on that front, I just asked my 10 year old son what science is. His response: "It means to come up with a guess about the world and then test it to see if it's true." Proud father moment here.

Anyway. I've come to really value the standard model of particle physics. Not only because it keeps being supported experimentally, though that's all that should matter. Aesthetically, I love the fact that it's a huge mess. The idea that the way the universe works should be simple and clean is a weird holdover from the idea that the universe was designed.

[orangeweaver]

Are there any books on particle physics that some of you all recommend? I've studied Quantum physics, String Theory and Special / General Relativity in the past but it has been A LONG time. I really enjoyed studying them and kind of want to update myself a bit. I've been reading a lot of Badiou and some Set Theory and thought it would be a good addition.