Beyond the Higgs: What's Next for the LHC? - with Harry Cliff

The Royal Institution・2 minutes read

CERN discovered the Higgs boson, completing the standard model and opening doors to new physics beyond expectations like supersymmetry or extra dimensions. Recent experiments showing discrepancies from the standard model suggest a potential groundbreaking discovery, pushing researchers to further investigate for a pivotal moment in particle physics.

Insights

The discovery of the Higgs boson at CERN in 2012 validated the Higgs mechanism, explaining particle mass through interactions with the Higgs field, completing the standard model of particle physics.
Recent deviations from the standard model observed by the LHCb experiment, particularly in lepton universality, hint at potential new physics beyond established theories like supersymmetry or extra dimensions, prompting further research to uncover groundbreaking discoveries challenging existing paradigms in particle physics.

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Recent questions

What is the Higgs boson?
A particle theorized to give mass to others.
What is dark matter?
Mysterious substance constituting a significant portion of the universe.
What is supersymmetry?
Theory aiming to unify forces in physics.
What is the Large Hadron Collider?
Largest scientific instrument for studying particle interactions.
What are the recent discoveries in particle physics?
Deviations from the standard model sparking interest.

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Summary

00:00

"CERN's Higgs Boson Discovery and Research"

CERN announced the discovery of a new boson, later confirmed as the Higgs boson, five and a half years ago.
Particle physics gained widespread attention, with Brian Cox explaining concepts like spontaneous symmetry breaking.
Despite the lack of major breakthroughs since, CERN has been actively researching.
CERN, located near Geneva, houses around 2,500 people and 7,000 physicists from worldwide.
Physicists celebrated the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012, represented as a bump in a graph.
The standard model of particle physics includes electrons, quarks, and neutrinos as fundamental particles.
Protons and neutrons are composed of quarks, with the electron being the first elementary particle discovered.
The standard model also includes force particles like photons, gluons, and W and Z particles.
The Higgs boson was theorized to explain the mass of particles in the standard model.
The Higgs field interacts with particles, giving them mass and is crucial in understanding the universe at a fundamental level.

13:45

Unraveling the Mysteries of Particle Physics

Peter Higgs faced rejection due to his physics work being disconnected from reality, leading him to add a line connecting his theory to experimental measurement.
The Higgs boson, a ripple in the Higgs field, is crucial as it proves the existence of the field and validates the Higgs mechanism for particle mass.
Discovery of the Higgs completed the standard model of particle physics, explaining various phenomena from light bulb functioning to star fusion.
The standard model's predictive power is exemplified by the precise calculation and measurement of the electron's magnetic strength.
The standard model, while successful, doesn't address major questions like dark matter and antimatter, prompting the construction of the Large Hadron Collider.
Gravitational lensing, observed in distant galaxies, indicates the presence of dark matter, a mysterious substance constituting a significant portion of the universe.
Dark matter's role in the universe's structure formation is evident through simulations and lensing observations, highlighting its prevalence over visible matter.
Dark energy, a mysterious force driving universal expansion, comprises a vast majority of the universe, emphasizing the standard model's limitations.
The imbalance between matter and antimatter at the universe's inception challenges the standard model's predictions, suggesting a need for further understanding.
Gravity's weakness compared to other forces poses a significant puzzle in physics, with theories like those explored at the Large Hadron Collider aiming to address these fundamental questions.

27:27

"Supersymmetry and Extra Dimensions in Physics"

Supersymmetry introduces a new kind of symmetry in nature, where every matter particle has a corresponding force particle partner.
In supersymmetry, particles are named with an "S" added to the front of their original name, creating a new table of particles.
Supersymmetry is popular for solving issues like dark matter, with the lightest sparticles often being stable and electrically neutral.
Supersymmetry aims to unify the forces in physics, with experiments showing a potential unification point for the electromagnetic, weak, and strong forces.
Supersymmetry doubles the number of fundamental particles to be discovered, keeping physicists engaged.
Theories involving extra dimensions of space aim to explain the weakness of gravity, with gravity potentially leaking into these extra dimensions.
Extra dimensional theories could lead to the creation of tiny black holes, which are expected to evaporate rapidly according to Hawking's theory.
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Switzerland is the largest scientific instrument ever built, operating by accelerating protons and colliding them to study particle interactions.
The LHC operates underground with liquid helium cooling the superconducting magnets used to steer particles.
The LHC houses massive detectors like the Compact Muon Solenoid and ATLAS, which record collisions to create matter not typically found in the universe.

41:24

"Higgs Boson Discovery and New Physics"

Decay of particles into two high-energy photons, representing the Higgs decay, is analyzed.
Physicists search for collisions producing two high-energy photons to identify potential Higgs bosons.
Energy of the photons is combined to determine the mass of the object created at the collision center.
Graphs are plotted with pairs of photons' energy on the vertical axis and the total mass on the horizontal axis.
A bump at a specific mass value indicates the presence of a Higgs boson due to consistent mass of the Higgs.
Excitement arose in 2012 when both Atlas and CMS experiments observed a bump in the same location.
LHC's successful operation since 2009 led to the Higgs discovery in 2012, followed by a series of challenges for other theories like supersymmetry.
LHCb experiment focuses on indirect measurements of particle decays, contrasting with direct searches by Atlas and CMS.
LHCb studies B quark decays to detect potential deviations from the standard model, indicating new physics.
Recent tests at LHCb have explored lepton universality, revealing discrepancies in decay rates between electrons and muons, challenging the standard model's predictions.

54:51

"New Particle Discovery Sparks Scientific Interest"

In 2014, a significant 2 Sigma effect was observed, leading to numerous papers being published. Recently, a similar experiment was conducted comparing muons and electrons, resulting in a measurement of 0.68 +/- 0.08, deviating slightly from the standard model but aligning closely with the 2014 findings.
Multiple independent measurements, including the mentioned experiment, have shown deviations from the standard model, sparking serious interest in the scientific community. While caution is advised due to the possibility of statistical fluctuations or errors, the consistent discrepancies suggest the potential for a fundamentally new discovery beyond expectations like supersymmetry or large extra dimensions.
The potential discovery could lead to a groundbreaking extension of the standard model, possibly explaining the structure of particle generations and revealing the Higgs as a composite particle. Researchers are actively pursuing further measurements and updates, with expectations of clarifying the validity of these findings within the next year, offering a pivotal moment in particle physics.

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