1y ago

Peter Higgs, physicist who theorised Higgs boson, dies aged 94

www.bbc.com /news/science-environment-68774195

31 comments

Surely one of the most massive names in modern physics. RIP.
- massive
I’m so happy he lived to see the discovery of the particle and the confirmation of his theory
- It’s really quite astonishing.
  Speaks to how quickly technology can advance over one’s lifetime and how much of a pioneer scientists are.
People will say his name for as long as our civilisation lasts. Like Volta, Ampere or Watt.
- Tesla, Newton, Coulomb, Faraday
  
  Albert Einstein, Immanuel Kant, Ron Jeremy, Mia Khalifa
  ...what were we doing again?
I still have no clue what the Higg boson is or what it does. Something to do with gravity, probably?
- No. There are two types of particles. Particles that go at light speed and particles that don't.
  The particles that don't go at light speed don't do this because they have rest mass. The particles that do go at light speed do so because they have no rest mass. They are massless.
  Now what makes massless and massful particles different? This is where the Higgs Boson comes in. There is a field called the Higgs field, which is made by the Higgs Boson.
  Particles that interact with the Higgs field are massful. Particles that don't are massless. They thus can go at the speed of light.
  For example, photons (that make light) do not interact with the Higgs Field. Hence, they go at light speed. Electrons however do interact with the Higgs field. They thus have rest mass. They thus do not go at light speed.
  The Large Hadron Collider verified the existence of the Higgs boson. This is what the "god particle" stories were about in the past decade.
  
  I think it also has something to do with mass creation which is probably just an even simpler version of what you're saying.
  
  Why do some particles interact with the Higgs Field while others do not?
  
  So, if we can somehow manipulate the Higgs field or the Higgs boson, we can make something "massless" and travel at speed of light? Maybe even with zero time dilation since they have no mass to cause a gravitational field to slow down time?
He fixed the standard model of particle physics. He was also the reason why this was built to prove his theory.
Godspeed, I hope you get to meet your particle.
I studied his work over 20 years ago. I had no idea he was alive at the time. I just figured he long gone like all the other pioneers.
- I just got my master's in physics, I also just assumed he was long dead.
Ok, now who will inherit all those bosons?

31 comments