As we all know the science of Physics is involved in everything during our life, whether it is by velocity, acceleration, gravity, mass of objects and any type of force existent in our planet involves physics. Although thanks to physics we can describe, explain and prove many things, there was always one particular thing that physics could not simply grasp… Why some fundamental particles have mass when the symmetries controlling their interactions should require them to be massless? Why the weak force has a much shorter range than the electromagnetic force? These two questions could be simply answered with one theory: Higgs boson or commonly known as “God particle” because it's said to be what caused the "Big Bang" that created our universe billions of years ago.
Higgs boson, an elementary particle, was first mentioned and made a theory in 1964 by six physics who proposed it. This theory was finally discovered after forty eight years on July 4, 2012. "The preliminary results with the full 2012 data set are magnificent and to me it is clear that we are dealing with a Higgs boson though we still have a long way to go to know what kind of Higgs boson it is" said CMS spokesman Joe Incandela. This discovery has been very important in physics history since it confirms the existence of the Higgs field, which has very important role in the Standard Model of particle physics which concerns the electromagnetic, weak and strong nuclear interactions, and many other theories within particle physics. The confirmation was crucial because the model explains how the basic pieces of matter act with each other. This discovery is a huge step for physics since now any scientist missing some essential values in the field of particle physics, quantum mechanics or basically in any field of physics can now deduct and use this discovery in their advantage. If this great discovery would have backfired there would have been a serious problem in particle physics and quantum mechanics since many assumptions were made in base of this theory and a lot of technological advances would have been false. Kyle Cranmer, an assistant professor of Physics at New York University, sent an email to CBS News with the following words:
"Quantum mechanics is about as esoteric as it gets, and it's the subject of several philosophies of science books focusing on determinism and physical reality, but it was also led to the invention of the transistor, the key ingredient for all modern electronics. Quantum mechanics also led to the invention of the laser and other medical technologies like MRI's, PET scans. The list goes on and on, and none of these practical applications were anticipated by those that developed quantum mechanics."
The statement made by this person demonstrates how important the discovery is for the human race. Still CERN says that the research is not finished since the detection of the boson is very rare and in order to clarify exactly what kind of Higgs boson was discovered they'll have a lot more research to do.
Personally, I am very grateful since they did an MRI to my left knee showing a serious problem I have and if this theory would have been false I would have to live with this problem for many years. Not only me but many important health issues are discovered thanks to the “God Particle”. Also as an engineer-to-be I love when these great discoveries are done. These discoveries show and explain many things and will help in the future for the discovery of many other mysteries still waiting to be discovered.
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