1 00:00:06,547 --> 00:00:07,415 Without a doubt, 2 00:00:07,415 --> 00:00:10,174 the most exciting scientific observation of 2012 3 00:00:10,174 --> 00:00:12,087 was the discovery of a new particle 4 00:00:12,087 --> 00:00:13,147 at the CERN laboratory 5 00:00:13,147 --> 00:00:15,206 that could be the Higgs boson, 6 00:00:15,206 --> 00:00:18,620 a particle named after physicist Peter Higgs. 7 00:00:18,620 --> 00:00:19,876 The Higgs Field is thought to give mass 8 00:00:19,876 --> 00:00:21,592 to fundamental, subatomic particles 9 00:00:21,592 --> 00:00:22,471 like the quarks 10 00:00:22,471 --> 00:00:23,053 and leptons 11 00:00:23,053 --> 00:00:24,955 that make up ordinary matter. 12 00:00:24,955 --> 00:00:27,551 The Higgs bosons are wiggles in the field, 13 00:00:27,551 --> 00:00:28,435 like the bump you see 14 00:00:28,435 --> 00:00:29,937 when you twitch a rope. 15 00:00:29,937 --> 00:00:32,662 But how does this field give mass to particles? 16 00:00:32,662 --> 00:00:34,440 If this sounds confusing to you, 17 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:35,682 you're not alone. 18 00:00:35,682 --> 00:00:38,386 In 1993, the British Science Minister 19 00:00:38,386 --> 00:00:40,715 challenged physicists to invent a simple way 20 00:00:40,715 --> 00:00:42,728 to understand all this Higgs stuff. 21 00:00:42,728 --> 00:00:45,192 The prize was a bottle of quality champagne. 22 00:00:45,192 --> 00:00:47,810 The winning explanation went something like this: 23 00:00:47,810 --> 00:00:49,698 Suppose there's a large cocktail party 24 00:00:49,698 --> 00:00:50,730 at the CERN laboratory 25 00:00:50,730 --> 00:00:53,323 filled with particle physics researchers. 26 00:00:53,323 --> 00:00:56,418 This crowd of physicists represents the Higgs field. 27 00:00:56,418 --> 00:00:58,660 If a tax collector entered the party, 28 00:00:58,660 --> 00:01:00,008 nobody would want to talk to them, 29 00:01:00,008 --> 00:01:01,969 and they could very easily cross the room 30 00:01:01,969 --> 00:01:03,264 to get to the bar. 31 00:01:03,264 --> 00:01:05,503 The tax collector wouldn't interact with the crowd 32 00:01:05,503 --> 00:01:06,807 in much the same way 33 00:01:06,807 --> 00:01:09,641 that some particles don't interact with the Higgs field. 34 00:01:09,641 --> 00:01:11,212 The particles that don't interact, 35 00:01:11,212 --> 00:01:12,897 like photons for example, 36 00:01:12,897 --> 00:01:14,441 are called massless. 37 00:01:14,441 --> 00:01:17,186 Now, suppose that Peter Higgs entered the same room, 38 00:01:17,186 --> 00:01:19,030 perhaps in search of a pint. 39 00:01:19,030 --> 00:01:20,092 In this case, the physicists 40 00:01:20,092 --> 00:01:22,022 will immediately crowd around Higgs 41 00:01:22,022 --> 00:01:23,155 to discuss with him 42 00:01:23,155 --> 00:01:24,862 their efforts to measure the properties 43 00:01:24,862 --> 00:01:26,566 of his namesake boson. 44 00:01:26,566 --> 00:01:28,763 Because he interacts strongly with the crowd, 45 00:01:28,763 --> 00:01:30,930 Higgs will move slowly across the room. 46 00:01:30,930 --> 00:01:32,194 Continuing our analogy, 47 00:01:32,194 --> 00:01:33,926 Higgs has become a massive particle 48 00:01:33,926 --> 00:01:36,039 through his interactions with the field. 49 00:01:36,039 --> 00:01:37,948 So, if that's the Higgs field, 50 00:01:37,948 --> 00:01:40,320 how does the Higgs boson fit into all of this? 51 00:01:40,320 --> 00:01:42,177 Let's pretend our crowd of party goers 52 00:01:42,177 --> 00:01:44,552 is uniformly spread across the room. 53 00:01:44,552 --> 00:01:46,957 Now suppose someone pops their head in the door 54 00:01:46,957 --> 00:01:48,342 to report a rumor of a discovery 55 00:01:48,342 --> 00:01:50,677 at some distant, rival laboratory. 56 00:01:50,677 --> 00:01:52,673 People near the door will hear the rumor, 57 00:01:52,673 --> 00:01:54,258 but people far away won't, 58 00:01:54,258 --> 00:01:56,138 so they'll move closer to the door to ask. 59 00:01:56,138 --> 00:01:58,297 This will create a clump in the crowd. 60 00:01:58,297 --> 00:01:59,846 As people have heard the rumor, 61 00:01:59,846 --> 00:02:01,258 they will return to their original positions 62 00:02:01,258 --> 00:02:03,120 to discuss its implications, 63 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:06,178 but people further away will then ask what's going on. 64 00:02:06,178 --> 00:02:08,067 The result will be a clump in the crowd 65 00:02:08,067 --> 00:02:09,758 that moves across the room. 66 00:02:09,758 --> 00:02:12,534 This clump is analogous to the Higgs boson. 67 00:02:12,534 --> 00:02:13,763 It is important to remember 68 00:02:13,763 --> 00:02:15,623 that it is not that massive particles 69 00:02:15,623 --> 00:02:17,372 interact more with the Higgs field. 70 00:02:17,372 --> 00:02:18,906 In our analogy of the party, 71 00:02:18,906 --> 00:02:21,676 all particles are equal until they enter the room. 72 00:02:21,676 --> 00:02:24,620 Both Peter Higgs and the tax collector have zero mass. 73 00:02:24,620 --> 00:02:26,512 It is the interaction with the crowd 74 00:02:26,512 --> 00:02:28,591 that causes them to gain mass. 75 00:02:28,591 --> 00:02:29,990 I'll say that again. 76 00:02:29,990 --> 00:02:33,036 Mass comes from interactions with a field. 77 00:02:33,036 --> 00:02:34,488 So, let's recap. 78 00:02:34,488 --> 00:02:36,298 A particle gets more or less mass 79 00:02:36,298 --> 00:02:38,126 depending on how it interacts with a field, 80 00:02:38,126 --> 00:02:40,258 just like different people will move through the crowd 81 00:02:40,258 --> 00:02:43,940 at different speeds depending on their popularity. 82 00:02:43,940 --> 00:02:45,033 And the Higgs boson is just a clump in the field, 83 00:02:45,033 --> 00:02:47,097 like a rumor crossing the room. 84 00:02:47,097 --> 00:02:48,945 Of course, this analogy is just that -- 85 00:02:48,945 --> 00:02:50,165 an analogy, 86 00:02:50,165 --> 00:02:51,315 but it's the best analogy 87 00:02:51,315 --> 00:02:53,118 anyone has come up with so far. 88 00:02:53,118 --> 00:02:54,310 So, that's it. 89 00:02:54,310 --> 00:02:55,171 That's what the Higgs Field 90 00:02:55,171 --> 00:02:57,277 and the Higgs boson is all about. 91 00:02:57,277 --> 00:02:59,418 Continuing research will tell us if we found it, 92 00:02:59,418 --> 00:03:01,176 and the reward will probably be more 93 00:03:01,176 --> 00:03:03,543 than just a bottle of champagne.