Video: The Higgs Field, explained - Don Lincoln

Introduction

0:06

Without a doubt,

0:07

the most exciting scientific observation of 2012

0:10

was the discovery of a new particle

0:12

at the CERN laboratory

0:13

that could be the Higgs boson,

0:15

a particle named after physicist Peter Higgs.

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The Higgs Field is thought to give mass

0:19

to fundamental, subatomic particles

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like the quarks

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and leptons

0:23

that make up ordinary matter.

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The Higgs bosons are wiggles in the field,

0:27

like the bump you see

0:28

when you twitch a rope.

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But how does this field give mass to particles?

The Higgs Field

0:32

If this sounds confusing to you,

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you're not alone.

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In 1993, the British Science Minister

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challenged physicists to invent a simple way

0:40

to understand all this Higgs stuff.

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The prize was a bottle of quality champagne.

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The winning explanation went something like this:

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Suppose there's a large cocktail party

0:49

at the CERN laboratory

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filled with particle physics researchers.

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This crowd of physicists represents the Higgs field.

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If a tax collector entered the party,

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nobody would want to talk to them,

1:00

and they could very easily cross the room

1:01

to get to the bar.

Peter Higgs

1:03

The tax collector wouldn't interact with the crowd

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in much the same way

1:06

that some particles don't interact with the Higgs field.

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The particles that don't interact,

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like photons for example,

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are called massless.

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Now, suppose that Peter Higgs entered the same room,

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perhaps in search of a pint.

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In this case, the physicists

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will immediately crowd around Higgs

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to discuss with him

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their efforts to measure the properties

1:24

of his namesake boson.

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Because he interacts strongly with the crowd,

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Higgs will move slowly across the room.

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Continuing our analogy,

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Higgs has become a massive particle

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through his interactions with the field.

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So, if that's the Higgs field,

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how does the Higgs boson fit into all of this?

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Let's pretend our crowd of party goers

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is uniformly spread across the room.

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Now suppose someone pops their head in the door

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to report a rumor of a discovery

1:48

at some distant, rival laboratory.

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People near the door will hear the rumor,

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but people far away won't,

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so they'll move closer to the door to ask.

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This will create a clump in the crowd.

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As people have heard the rumor,

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they will return to their original positions

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to discuss its implications,

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but people further away will then ask what's going on.

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The result will be a clump in the crowd

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that moves across the room.

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This clump is analogous to the Higgs boson.

Summary

2:12

It is important to remember

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that it is not that massive particles

2:15

interact more with the Higgs field.

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In our analogy of the party,

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all particles are equal until they enter the room.

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Both Peter Higgs and the tax collector have zero mass.

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It is the interaction with the crowd

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that causes them to gain mass.

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I'll say that again.

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Mass comes from interactions with a field.

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So, let's recap.

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A particle gets more or less mass

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depending on how it interacts with a field,

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just like different people will move through the crowd

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at different speeds depending on their popularity.

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And the Higgs boson is just a clump in the field,

2:45

like a rumor crossing the room.

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Of course, this analogy is just that --

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an analogy,

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but it's the best analogy

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anyone has come up with so far.

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So, that's it.

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That's what the Higgs Field

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and the Higgs boson is all about.

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Continuing research will tell us if we found it,

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and the reward will probably be more

3:01

than just a bottle of champagne.