The Higgs Mechanism Explained

A fascinating tour of particle physics from Nobel Prize winner Leon Lederman. At the root of particle physics is an invincible sense of curiosity. Leon Lederman embraces this spirit of inquiry as he moves from the Greeks' earliest scientific observations to Einstein and beyond to chart this unique arm of scientific study. His survey concludes with the Higgs boson, nicknamed the God Particle, which scientists hypothesize will help unlock the last secrets of the subatomic universe, quarks and all--it's the dogged pursuit of this almost mystical entity that inspires Lederman's witty and accessible history.

A Nobel Prize–winning physicist’s “funny, clever, entertaining” account of the history of particle physics and the hunt for a Higgs boson (Library Journal). In this extraordinarily accessible and witty book, Leon Lederman—“the most engaging physicist since the late, much-missed Richard Feynman” (San Francisco Examiner)—offers a fascinating tour that takes us from the Greeks’ earliest scientific observations through Einstein and beyond in an inspiring celebration of human curiosity. It ends with the quest for the Higgs boson, nicknamed the God Particle, which scientists hypothesize will help unlock the last secrets of the subatomic universe. This is not only an enlightening journey through baryons and hadrons and leptons and electrons—it also “may be the funniest book about physics ever written” (The Dallas Morning News). “One of the clearest, most enjoyable new science books in years . . . explains the entire history of physics and cosmology. En route, you’ll laugh so hard you won’t realize how much you are learning.” —San Francisco Examiner “The story of the search for the ultimate constituents of matter has been told many times before, but never with more verve and wit. . . . His hilarious account of how he helped persuade President Reagan to approve the construction of the Super Collider is itself worth the price of the book.” —Los Angeles Times

The Standard Model explains how the universe works at distances a billion times smaller than the size of an atom. However, in the Standard Model, none of the particles have mass, yet one only has to look around to see that things do have mass. Explaining the source of mass has been the goal of particle physicists for over half a century, culminating in the discovery of the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider in 2012. Supporting the Next Generation Science Standards' emphasis on scientific collection and analysis of data and evidence-based theories, this book simplifies the difficult concept of the Higgs mechanism through analogies to everyday experiences as well as pictures, diagrams, and intuitive explanations.

"The Higgs boson ... is the key to understanding why mass exists and how atoms are possible. After billions of dollars and decades of effort by more than six thousand researchers at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland--a doorway is opening into the mind-boggling world of dark matter and beyond. Caltech physicist and acclaimed writer Sean Carroll explains both the importance of the Higgs boson and the ultimately human story behind the greatest scientific achievement of our time"--Publisher

"The book is a merciless critique of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN and of the theoretical model on which the world's most expensive experiment is based. Unzicker, a German physicist and award-winning science writer, argues that the greatest physicists such as Einstein, Dirac or Schrödinger would have considered the "discovery" of the Higgs particle ridiculous. According to the author, the standard model has grown unbelievably complicated and doesn't solve any of the great riddles of physics. Moreover, with their increasingly intricate techniques, particle physicists are fooling themselves with alleged results, while their convictions are based on group-think and parroting. Altogether, the data analysis cannot be overseen by anybody"--

A clear, plain-English guide to this complex scientific theory String theory is the hottest topic in physics right now, with books on the subject (pro and con) flying out of the stores. String Theory For Dummies offers an accessible introduction to this highly mathematical "theory of everything," which posits ten or more dimensions in an attempt to explain the basic nature of matter and energy. Written for both students and people interested in science, this guide explains concepts, discusses the string theory's hypotheses and predictions, and presents the math in an approachable manner. It features in-depth examples and an easy-to-understand style so that readers can understand this controversial, cutting-edge theory.

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2013 in the subject Physics - Theoretical Physics, grade: 71 points, King`s College London, language: English, abstract: An overview of the steps that lead to the discovery of the Higgs boson is presented. Starting with the theoretical background framework, the Standard Model of particel physics, the Higgs field will be introduced as an addition. This extra field provides the mechanism for spontaneous symmetry breaking, that is needed to explain the existence of massive particles. An overview of the steps of the experimental search to the discovery of the Higgs boson is given in the second part of this article. Its mass has been measured to be 125.4 ± 0.4(stat) ± 0.5(sys) GeV. The Standard Model is briefly summarised. The Higgs mechanism is derived from an Abelian Model, applied to the gauge bosons of the electroweak model of Weinberg and Salam. A simple estimate of the Higgs mass is given by its derivation and the estimation of its self-coupling and vacuum expectation value. Experimental results will be presented from the CMS and ATLAS detectors at the LHC, alongside with a description of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN and possible directions for future experiments beyond the Standard Model.

The recent observation of the Higgs boson has been hailed as the scientific discovery of the century and led to the 2013 Nobel Prize in physics. This book describes the detailed science behind the decades-long search for this elusive particle at the Large Electron Positron Collider at CERN and at the Tevatron at Fermilab and its subsequent discovery and characterization at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Written by physicists who played leading roles in this epic search and discovery, this book is an authoritative and pedagogical exposition of the portrait of the Higgs boson that has emerged from a large number of experimental measurements. As the first of its kind, this book should be of interest to graduate students and researchers in particle physics.

At what point does theory depart the realm of testable hypothesis and come to resemble something like aesthetic speculation, or even theology? The legendary physicist Wolfgang Pauli had a phrase for such ideas: He would describe them as "not even wrong," meaning that they were so incomplete that they could not even be used to make predictions to compare with observations to see whether they were wrong or not. In Peter Woit's view, superstring theory is just such an idea. In Not Even Wrong , he shows that what many physicists call superstring "theory" is not a theory at all. It makes no predictions, even wrong ones, and this very lack of falsifiability is what has allowed the subject to survive and flourish. Not Even Wrong explains why the mathematical conditions for progress in physics are entirely absent from superstring theory today and shows that judgments about scientific statements, which should be based on the logical consistency of argument and experimental evidence, are instead based on the eminence of those claiming to know the truth. In the face of many books from enthusiasts for string theory, this book presents the other side of the story.

The Standard Model explains how the universe works at distances a billion times smaller than the size of an atom. However, in the Standard Model, none of the particles have mass, yet one only has to look around to see that things do have mass. Explaining the source of mass has been the goal of particle physicists for over half a century, culminating in the discovery of the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider in 2012. Supporting the Next Generation Science Standards' emphasis on scientific collection and analysis of data and evidence-based theories, this book simplifies the difficult concept of the Higgs mechanism through analogies to everyday experiences as well as pictures, diagrams, and intuitive explanations.