From CERN, another science press release with a “could” and “preliminary” caveat. Sigh. I expected fireworks. It is encouraging though. 5 sigma isn’t anything to sneeze at.
I have to wonder though, if the fact that CERN delayed this press release (from Monday when it became known) to today, the 4th of July, wasn’t a final dig at the legacy of the failed US effort with the superconducting supercollider. They write at the CERN page:
Higgs within reach
Our understanding of the universe is about to change…
The ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN today presented their latest results in the search for the long-sought Higgs boson. Both experiments see strong indications for the presence of a new particle, which could be the Higgs boson, in the mass region around 126 gigaelectronvolts (GeV).
The experiments found hints of the new particle by analysing trillions of proton-proton collisions from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in 2011 and 2012. The Standard Model of particle physics predicts that a Higgs boson would decay into different particles – which the LHC experiments then detect.
Both ATLAS and CMS gave the level of significance of the result as 5 sigma on the scale that particle physicists use to describe the certainty of a discovery.
One sigma means the results could be random fluctuations in the data, 3 sigma counts as an observation and a 5-sigma result is a discovery. The results presented today are preliminary, as the data from 2012 is still under analysis. The complete analysis is expected to be published around the end of July.
The press release:
CERN experiments observe particle consistent with long-sought Higgs boson
Geneva, 4 July 2012. At a seminar held at CERN1 today as a curtain raiser to the year’s major particle physics conference, ICHEP2012 in Melbourne, the ATLAS and CMS experiments presented their latest preliminary results in the search for the long sought Higgs particle. Both experiments observe a new particle in the mass region around 125-126 GeV.
“We observe in our data clear signs of a new particle, at the level of 5 sigma, in the mass region around 126 GeV. The outstanding performance of the LHC and ATLAS and the huge efforts of many people have brought us to this exciting stage,” said ATLAS experiment spokesperson Fabiola Gianotti, “but a little more time is needed to prepare these results for publication.”
“The results are preliminary but the 5 sigma signal at around 125 GeV we’re seeing is dramatic. This is indeed a new particle. We know it must be a boson and it’s the heaviest boson ever found,” said CMS experiment spokesperson Joe Incandela. “The implications are very significant and it is precisely for this reason that we must be extremely diligent in all of our studies and cross-checks.”
“It’s hard not to get excited by these results,” said CERN Research Director Sergio Bertolucci. “ We stated last year that in 2012 we would either find a new Higgs-like particle or exclude the existence of the Standard Model Higgs. With all the necessary caution, it looks to me that we are at a branching point: the observation of this new particle indicates the path for the future towards a more detailed understanding of what we’re seeing in the data.”
The results presented today are labelled preliminary. They are based on data collected in 2011 and 2012, with the 2012 data still under analysis. Publication of the analyses shown today is expected around the end of July. A more complete picture of today’s observations will emerge later this year after the LHC provides the experiments with more data.
The next step will be to determine the precise nature of the particle and its significance for our understanding of the universe. Are its properties as expected for the long-sought Higgs boson, the final missing ingredient in the Standard Model of particle physics? Or is it something more exotic? The Standard Model describes the fundamental particles from which we, and every visible thing in the universe, are made, and the forces acting between them. All the matter that we can see, however, appears to be no more than about 4% of the total. A more exotic version of the Higgs particle could be a bridge to understanding the 96% of the universe that remains obscure.
“We have reached a milestone in our understanding of nature,” said CERN Director General Rolf Heuer. “The discovery of a particle consistent with the Higgs boson opens the way to more detailed studies, requiring larger statistics, which will pin down the new particle’s properties, and is likely to shed light on other mysteries of our universe.”
Positive identification of the new particle’s characteristics will take considerable time and data. But whatever form the Higgs particle takes, our knowledge of the fundamental structure of matter is about to take a major step forward.
Contact:
CERN press office, press.office@cern.ch
+41 22 767 34 32
+41 22 767 21 41
Further information:
UPDATE: My friend John Coleman at KUSI-TV in San Diego has produced an interesting video report based on input from the WUWT thread. Watch it here
Discover more from Watts Up With That?
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Eppur si muove
Regardless Of Whatever Whoever Say Higgs Particle YOK
Regardless Of Whatever Is Said By Whoever Says It –
Higgs Particle YOK.
S Hawking is simply wrong. Obviously wrong.
Everyone who accepts the story of the Higgs particle is simply wrong.
Plain commonsense. Singularity and the Big Bang MUST have happened with the smallest base universe particles, the gravitons, that MUST be both energy and mass, even if they are inert mass just one smallest fraction of a second. All mass formats evolve from gravitons, convert into energy i.e. extricate from gravitons clusters into mass formats in motion, energy, and end up finally as mass again in a repeat singularity. Universe expansion and re-contraction proceed simultaneously..
Dov Henis (comments from 22nd century)
http://universe-life.com/
Let’s see if I have this correct, the Higgs boson gives us mass, mass gives us density, density infers pressure via temperature, so… Higgs boson is the ultimate source of all supposed “Global Warming”…. and they are going to create lots of those bosons in that LHC from now on for us bozos. Leif, that PR just couldn’t wait. (:-<) /sarcoff
Happy 4th.
@Eric, you wrote: “I mean, they’ve found something “consistent” with the Higgs pariticle. It’s like the Higgs particle, it could be, maybe. Notice there is a huge publicity burst now, and the general feeling is that the Higgs has been found, which will justify funding. Expect this to be “walked back” slowly, when few are paying attention, it will dribble out, in the coming weeks and months.”
This is a LOT more careful than the warmists. The headlines for warmists would be
* “New Particle Closes the Case” ; or
* “Why One-Sigma Means No More Snow;”
* “Honest Skepticism No Longer Possible after Higgs Discovery;'” or
* “Will Canada Survive the new Particle? Our Brutal Future;” or
* “Higgs Particle Causes More Volcanoes. Scientists Rush to Save World.”
@Eric: And of course, the most important one–“Higgs Amplifies CO2 Sensitivity. Only One Month Left. Massive Research Funding Urgently Needed. ”
University of Virginia scientists plugged the newly discovered Higgs boson into their climate models and the results are sobering. The Earth’s climate sensitivity to CO2 increases to 2,365,444.666689032 +/- .000000002. Mickey Man, prominent climate scientist, said: “Higgs Amplification is burning up the American West. Although I know nothing about statistics, these 4.9 sigma results are incredibly significant and irrefutable. They mean that the Earth will burn up next month. 4.9 sigma finishes the case. No further discussion should be allowed–only funding. The hockey-puck is flying straight up! It’s almost as if the Higgs puts a rocket on the puck.”
I heard a line the other night on a syndicated Numb3rs episode from “mathematician Charles Epps” that fits in so well with “climate science”, also applying to the Higgs boson search, that I wrote it down:
I have a theory and it’s far too elegant to not be true.
The amount of Noodly Appendages depicted seems to be the final, irrefutable empirical evidence of the existence of God (as a particle) for the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
@ur momisugly John Coleman says:
July 4, 2012 at 11:02 am
http://www.lhc.ac.uk/About+the+LHC/11837.aspx
Technological spin-offs:
“Many technologies developed for use at CERN find their way into everyday use – the most famous is the World Wide Web, developed by Sir Tim Berners Lee while he was working at CERN.”
“In the most recent development proton accelerators are now being adopted for hadron therapy. The advantage of protons is that they deposit all their energy in the same place, making them ideal for treating tumours near to delicate organs.”
In 2013 the LHC will close for maintenance. When the experiment is started again in 2014/15 the LHC will be running at much higher energy and physicists will be hoping to discover something about dark matter.
http://www.lhc.ac.uk/The%20Particle%20Detectives/21st%20Century%20Time%20Machine/13687.aspx
John Coleman, maybe this might help, picked it up from the CBC
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2012/07/04/f-god-particle-higgs-boson.html?cmp=rss
Interesting comments about the god particle.
I thot for a moment I heard a muffled giggling, followed by a long sad sigh; emanating from a grave marked Ockham over in a Franciscan Convent in Munich …….seems like another particle is way too many now. I suspect the efforts to avoid Dirac’s math are becoming exponentially more convoluted. In Biblical exegetical circles the phenomenon is called “proof texting.” In allopathic medicine, it is called treating the side effects…Ah…guess I’ve been reading a bit too much Hotson, and others….
WTF, they weren’t looking for the ‘scource of the universe’, they were looking for the Higgs – hence the news.
This is not a trivial achievement.
It is the first real result after decades of work by thousands of people from all over the world..
If you watched the presentation you would have seen that the reaction of the audience was like the reaction in a football field when a goal is made. Somebody made that comment (Higgs? he was present there) at the time, that one would not expect a physics lecture to be like a football gathering!
Now as far as applications, the spin offs from this research should be enough to satisfy any industry. Just consider the computing GRID that made the analysis possible, distributed in tens of labs the world over, it may change computing the way the world wide web ( spin off from the LEP experiments) revolutionized communications. Also in supeconducting magnets, in radiation hard materials and electronics, etc.etc.
I am sure that nobody in the 19th century could have foreseen the tremendous importance of Maxwell’s equations to the progress of civilization. The basic research of one age becomes the technology of the next, and hopefully this trend will continue as we unravel the mysteries of nature.
My two cents (adjusted for inflation):
1. Had no idea what a Higgs boson was until they said they think they’ve found it. Still don’t.
2. I remember a similar excitement gripping society as Geraldo cracked open Al Capone’s secret vault.
I think the CERN folk would like July 4th to be known in future as “Higgs Day”.
Pretty neat to have a day named after the particle that gives mass to everything in the Universe 😉
I think we should have a worldwide holiday on Higgs Day from now on – this is something we can all celebrate…
For John Coleman. For you others, please be gentle with me if there are inaccuracies below – I do not claim to be an authority on any of this.
For examples of “very basics … physics of the Universe … practical payoff”, look at quantum theory and Einstein’s theory of relativity (no, I don’t know if it’s the general or special theory)..
Quantum Mechanics:
The transistor – radios, integrated circuits, the computer.
Lasers – CDs players, light-speed comms, DIY range finders and spirit levels!
LEDs – flat screen TVs and mobile device screens, low energy lighting.
The electron microscope
MRI scans
Relativity:
The clocks in GPS satellites run slower than on earth because they are moving quickly in orbit – a relativistic effect. GPS would not work without compensating for this.
Uses of the Higgs? Inertia-less travel? Pure speculation, but isn’t it fun trying to predict the future?
“It is entirely possible that there may be as many elementary particles as there is funding available to investigate them.” David Berlinski, “The Devil’s Delusion”, p. 53.
“Ah. There’s your problem. You listen to crackpots who don’t know what they are talking about.”
but of course. They are uncritically reading WUWT – what else would you expect?
By the underlying tone of comments on the article, it is apparent how much damage Global warming has done to the credibility of scientific community. If at all, It will take very long to win the trust of the people – not mine.
Identifying and exposing the black sheep will go long way in helping repair the damage.
What do you get when you mix a smoking gun and a boson that looks like a duck with the parable of the goose that laid the golden egg?
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/04/us-science-higgs-idUSBRE86008K20120704
John Coleman said on July 4, 2012 at 11:02 am:
It will not give us a device that will power your entire home that’s the size of your thumb.
It will not cure cancer.
For physicists it is one confirmation of a model of how our universe works. Many more confirmations are needed.
But the technology that was developed for the search will ripple outwards, lead to more developments, and make the lives of your children and grandchildren a little easier.
Since the Higgs has been hypothesised since 1964, the physics world has had nearly 50 years to contemplate the Higgs field, contemplate how it gives mass. So confirming something that you suspected to be true 50 years ago, moves physics into greater understanding, exactly how?
I can’t say that I can comprehend the implications of finding a “Higgs Boson” but I am very pleased with the implications of my wife’s experiences with Braxton Hicks 21+ years ago.
I hope they really did find the Higgs boson particle; however at the same time we need to have some doubt and everything must be double checked by outside scientists including some with doubts about it. While this may take years, open review of everything and verification makes for the most solid science we can have. (Unlike AGW research.)
So their announcement is basically “bring more money.”
The Higgs field sounds like a rehash of the ether; a medium like molasses that drags on everything requiring force to overcome; and voilla ! mass happens. Sans mass, no force is needed.
But didn’t old Isaac tell us that absent force, and a particle would just kep moving forever; unless it is already stopped, and Einstein, said there isn’t any stopped or even a place to stop.
So how does the heaviest particle bring mass to the lightest of particles, Rocks are not made out of mountains; usually it’s ‘tother way round.
But hey, I’m a believer. Too many PhDs over there for me to not believe; at least one of them must be within 5 sigmas of knowing.
Nice to see Anna v popping up there on this first Higgs Day. Anna, if you say this is cool, that is good enough for me; I figure, you are the expert. Must make you feel good, that something new, may have finally come out of what you had a career in.
George
Higgs bison found, how appropriate for the 4th of July, I thought this noble creature was extinct.