The Higgs Boson Was Discovered In 2012
Fact of the day: The Higgs boson was discovered in 2012.
There are two types of particles, bosons and fermions. Fermions (quarks and leptons) are what makes up matter, and the 'substance' of the universe. Bosons are the force carrying particles of the universe. There are five elementary bosons in the standard model of elementary particles, the photon, the gluon, the w bosons, the z boson, and the Higgs boson. I have briefly discussed the first four bosons on that list, as they carry the fundamental forces, and is one of my previous topics.
According to Bose-Einstein statistics, any particle that has integer spin is a boson (e.g. 1, 2, 3, etc...). This means that, technically, any particle that is made up of an even number of fermions is a boson, because fermions have half integer spin (e.g. 0.5, 1.5, 2.5, etc...). A helium-4 nucleus (the most common type of helium) is technically a boson, as it contains four hadrons, or two protons and two neutrons, or 6 up quarks and 6 down quarks. However, a helium nucleus may not have some properties of elementary bosons.
• Photon (γ) - The carrier of the electromagnetic force* and is a gauge boson.
• Gluon (g) - The carrier of the strong nuclear force**, along with the pion. The gluon is a gauge boson.
• W Boson (W−,W+) - One of the carriers of the weak nuclear force*** along with the Z boson. The W bosons are gauge bosons.
• Z Boson (Z) - The other carrier of the weak nuclear force*** along with the W bosons. The Z boson is a gauge boson.
• Higgs Boson (H0) - The Higgs boson is the carrier of the Higgs field. The Higgs field is said to spread across the whole universe. It is the only scalar boson in the standard model of elementary particles (so far). The Higgs boson was not discovered until 2012, and it was considered to be the central problem in particle physics for 70 years. The Higgs boson and the Higgs field explains why some fundamental particles have mass, when based on the symmetries controlling their interactions with other particles and waves, should be massless. The Higgs field 'gives' particles mass (remember, an objects mass is an objects resistance to movement) by resisting the particles movement, a bit like when you throw a brick into water, it is much harder to move, and 'resists' movement slightly.
(above) The boson section of the standard model of elementary particles.
*For more information on the electromagnetic force, see my post 299,792,458 m/s - The Speed Of Light.
**For more information on the strong nuclear force, see my post There Are Six Types Of Quark.
***For more information on the weak nuclear force, see my post There Are Three Main Types Of Radioactive Decay.
****For more information of gravity, se my post Every Single Object In The Universe Has A Slight Gravitational Effect On Every Other Object In The Universe.
There are two types of particles, bosons and fermions. Fermions (quarks and leptons) are what makes up matter, and the 'substance' of the universe. Bosons are the force carrying particles of the universe. There are five elementary bosons in the standard model of elementary particles, the photon, the gluon, the w bosons, the z boson, and the Higgs boson. I have briefly discussed the first four bosons on that list, as they carry the fundamental forces, and is one of my previous topics.
According to Bose-Einstein statistics, any particle that has integer spin is a boson (e.g. 1, 2, 3, etc...). This means that, technically, any particle that is made up of an even number of fermions is a boson, because fermions have half integer spin (e.g. 0.5, 1.5, 2.5, etc...). A helium-4 nucleus (the most common type of helium) is technically a boson, as it contains four hadrons, or two protons and two neutrons, or 6 up quarks and 6 down quarks. However, a helium nucleus may not have some properties of elementary bosons.
• Photon (γ) - The carrier of the electromagnetic force* and is a gauge boson.
• Gluon (g) - The carrier of the strong nuclear force**, along with the pion. The gluon is a gauge boson.
• W Boson (W−,W+) - One of the carriers of the weak nuclear force*** along with the Z boson. The W bosons are gauge bosons.
• Z Boson (Z) - The other carrier of the weak nuclear force*** along with the W bosons. The Z boson is a gauge boson.
• Higgs Boson (H0) - The Higgs boson is the carrier of the Higgs field. The Higgs field is said to spread across the whole universe. It is the only scalar boson in the standard model of elementary particles (so far). The Higgs boson was not discovered until 2012, and it was considered to be the central problem in particle physics for 70 years. The Higgs boson and the Higgs field explains why some fundamental particles have mass, when based on the symmetries controlling their interactions with other particles and waves, should be massless. The Higgs field 'gives' particles mass (remember, an objects mass is an objects resistance to movement) by resisting the particles movement, a bit like when you throw a brick into water, it is much harder to move, and 'resists' movement slightly.
(above) A simulated collision of two protons at the CMS experiment, at the LHC. The Higgs boson is produced, and then decays into jets of hadrons and electrons.
• Graviton - The graviton is a theoretical particle, as it is not yet discovered. It is the particle that carries gravity****. It is said to be massless, as gravity has an unlimited range.
*For more information on the electromagnetic force, see my post 299,792,458 m/s - The Speed Of Light.
**For more information on the strong nuclear force, see my post There Are Six Types Of Quark.
***For more information on the weak nuclear force, see my post There Are Three Main Types Of Radioactive Decay.
****For more information of gravity, se my post Every Single Object In The Universe Has A Slight Gravitational Effect On Every Other Object In The Universe.
Comments
Post a Comment