Unlocking the Universe: The God Particle

Jul 27, 2011
Chris McKee

Scientists are racing to discover the details and location of Higgs Boson, the particle which is the key to defining how and why our universe works.

Known as the God Particle, its discovery would be the greatest breakthrough in scientific history. With scientists knowing that such a particle exists, they would be able to confirm masses of other substances leading to uncovering the greater secrets of our universe. More specifically, finding Higgs Boson would mean a full understanding of the Standard Model which is an arrangement of elementary particles explaining the four basic forces in nature. The European Organization for Nuclear Research, abbreviated internationally as CERN, is leading the search with research and equipment costing billions of US dollars.

The Reasons Behind Finding Higgs Boson

Experiments to discover the God Particle are being carried out in Geneva, Switzerland. The world’s largest particle accelerator is housed 300 feet below the ground, and it is designed to collide particles, which are traveling just short of the speed of light when they smash together.

Heading the project is Professor Rolf Heuer and he is confident that a breakthrough is imminent, but in a recent interview with The Independent, he said: “Don’t expect too much too quickly.” This came after a premature announcement was made about the supposed discovery of the Higgs Boson particle, following unexplained number readings that resulted from a collision at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) . “You have to be careful about combining small figures because you can easily be fooled," Heuer added.

The Media Spotlight on the Large Hadron Collider

This is the second appearance of the LHC in media in recent years. The first being in September 2008 when the public feared a doomsday scenario after news circulated that colliding protons would result in the creation of a micro-black hole within the Earth.

Since that time, two CERN-commissioned safety reviews examined these worries and concluded that the experiments at the LHC present no danger and that there is no reason for concern. It's a finding that's expressly endorsed by the American Physical Society in their published safety document.

Changing Science As We Know It

While researchers are optimistically searching for the so-called God particle, there is still a possibility that the particle does not even exist. If this is found to be the case, scientists will need to abandon their fundamental theory on how particles interact with one another, as detailed in the Standard Model.

During an international meeting at Grenoble to review the LHC’s data, Professor Heuer reinforced claims about no particle existing, saying, “The Higgs is not like any other sub-atomic particle. The difference is that with the Higgs we know everything about it, but whether it exists is another matter. We are still missing this key particle to complete the Standard Model. If we cannot find it, then the Standard Model has a big problem.”

On the 19th of July 2011, Heuer was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Liverpool. In his acceptance speech he spoke of the CERN project in high regard, saying how modern science needs to be brought to the public's attention and that he “hopes the first big discovery will come by the end of 2012.” Heuer concluded by saying “I have learnt in life to be patient, something will come.”