Of Particular Significance

How The Higgs Field Works

The workings of the Higgs field — how it gives mass to the particles of nature; what the Higgs particle or Higgs “boson” has to do with it; why we knew some aspects of the Higgs field before the LHC but needed the LHC to tell us about the particle; why the particle in turn will tell us more about the field — these are all mysterious to the curious non-expert.

Fortunately, the story of the Higgs field and its particle really is not so complicated.  I’m still thinking about how best to explain this to a completely general audience.  But for someone who has a vague memory of a physics course from advanced pre-university or beginning-university education, it’s quite reasonable to try.

Not that it won’t take a little learning and a little thinking; but a lot of that learning and thinking is also basic to particle physics, so anyone who tries this will not only learn about the Higgs but will also come away with a deeper understanding of particle physics in general.  I hope that will be plenty of motivation for many of you to follow the sequence of articles that follow — which I’ve decided belatedly to store in another location.

5 Responses

  1. Hello Matt,
    I was listening to CBC 1:45 to 1:55 pm PST May 16 2024 out here in BC Canada… I was so fortunate to have heard your explanation on the Bob McDonald program…Querks and Quarks?…so clear and easy to understand… your explanation of Mass, Particles, Fields, Ripples within the Higgs, and what happens if the Higgs field changes and what the frequency change does to an existing mass..Also the other fields that exist in this world and outwards into the vastness of the universe… Frequency change of the Higgs and right mass of a specific particle/element/compound/complex compound…will definitely allow us someday…to go places where none have gone before… So bravo…your Theoretical Physics is on the correct/precise path. Experiences of life do give us little flashes of light…the deeper than deep wave within…and when focused…the generated thoughts do point out hidden forks in the long road of life..one wonders why one was so lucky…
    I am soon to turn 75…early 1970’s got my majors science degree.. never professionalized…life just plunked those hidden ripples…those very enlightening forks on a very long road…for some deeply hidden reason it was always the 15th or 16th year fork that revealed what you so clearly outlined to us listeners today…..thank you Matt…

  2. A deeper higgs field, every atom shift, recorded in nature at the sub atomic level

    All history recorded, atom pattern shifts, of light and sound retrievable

    being able to tune to a time and place in the past and see and hear what happen there.

    Fact or Fiction

    Crazy or True

    WTF

    WatchThisFriday.com

    The MESH is real.

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