WEBVTT 00:00:06.547 --> 00:00:07.415 Without a doubt, 00:00:07.415 --> 00:00:10.174 the most exciting scientific observation of 2012 00:00:10.174 --> 00:00:12.087 was the discovery of a new particle 00:00:12.087 --> 00:00:13.147 at the CERN laboratory 00:00:13.147 --> 00:00:15.206 that could be the Higgs boson, 00:00:15.206 --> 00:00:18.620 a particle named after physicist Peter Higgs. 00:00:18.620 --> 00:00:19.876 The Higgs Field is thought to give mass 00:00:19.876 --> 00:00:21.592 to fundamental, subatomic particles 00:00:21.592 --> 00:00:22.471 like the quarks 00:00:22.471 --> 00:00:23.053 and leptons 00:00:23.053 --> 00:00:24.955 that make up ordinary matter. 00:00:24.955 --> 00:00:27.551 The Higgs bosons are wiggles in the field, 00:00:27.551 --> 00:00:28.435 like the bump you see 00:00:28.435 --> 00:00:29.937 when you twitch a rope. 00:00:29.937 --> 00:00:32.662 But how does this field give mass to particles? 00:00:32.662 --> 00:00:34.440 If this sounds confusing to you, 00:00:34.440 --> 00:00:35.682 you're not alone. 00:00:35.682 --> 00:00:38.386 In 1993, the British Science Minister 00:00:38.386 --> 00:00:40.715 challenged physicists to invent a simple way 00:00:40.715 --> 00:00:42.728 to understand all this Higgs stuff. 00:00:42.728 --> 00:00:45.192 The prize was a bottle of quality champagne. 00:00:45.192 --> 00:00:47.810 The winning explanation went something like this: 00:00:47.810 --> 00:00:49.698 Suppose there's a large cocktail party 00:00:49.698 --> 00:00:50.730 at the CERN laboratory 00:00:50.730 --> 00:00:53.323 filled with particle physics researchers. 00:00:53.323 --> 00:00:56.418 This crowd of physicists represents the Higgs field. 00:00:56.418 --> 00:00:58.660 If a tax collector entered the party, 00:00:58.660 --> 00:01:00.008 nobody would want to talk to them, 00:01:00.008 --> 00:01:01.969 and they could very easily cross the room 00:01:01.969 --> 00:01:03.264 to get to the bar. 00:01:03.264 --> 00:01:05.503 The tax collector wouldn't interact with the crowd 00:01:05.503 --> 00:01:06.807 in much the same way 00:01:06.807 --> 00:01:09.641 that some particles don't interact with the Higgs field. 00:01:09.641 --> 00:01:11.212 The particles that don't interact, 00:01:11.212 --> 00:01:12.897 like photons for example, 00:01:12.897 --> 00:01:14.441 are called massless. 00:01:14.441 --> 00:01:17.186 Now, suppose that Peter Higgs entered the same room, 00:01:17.186 --> 00:01:19.030 perhaps in search of a pint. 00:01:19.030 --> 00:01:20.092 In this case, the physicists 00:01:20.092 --> 00:01:22.022 will immediately crowd around Higgs 00:01:22.022 --> 00:01:23.155 to discuss with him 00:01:23.155 --> 00:01:24.862 their efforts to measure the properties 00:01:24.862 --> 00:01:26.566 of his namesake boson. 00:01:26.566 --> 00:01:28.763 Because he interacts strongly with the crowd, 00:01:28.763 --> 00:01:30.930 Higgs will move slowly across the room. 00:01:30.930 --> 00:01:32.194 Continuing our analogy, 00:01:32.194 --> 00:01:33.926 Higgs has become a massive particle 00:01:33.926 --> 00:01:36.039 through his interactions with the field. 00:01:36.039 --> 00:01:37.948 So, if that's the Higgs field, 00:01:37.948 --> 00:01:40.320 how does the Higgs boson fit into all of this? 00:01:40.320 --> 00:01:42.177 Let's pretend our crowd of party goers 00:01:42.177 --> 00:01:44.552 is uniformly spread across the room. 00:01:44.552 --> 00:01:46.957 Now suppose someone pops their head in the door 00:01:46.957 --> 00:01:48.342 to report a rumor of a discovery 00:01:48.342 --> 00:01:50.677 at some distant, rival laboratory. 00:01:50.677 --> 00:01:52.673 People near the door will hear the rumor, 00:01:52.673 --> 00:01:54.258 but people far away won't, 00:01:54.258 --> 00:01:56.138 so they'll move closer to the door to ask. 00:01:56.138 --> 00:01:58.297 This will create a clump in the crowd. 00:01:58.297 --> 00:01:59.846 As people have heard the rumor, 00:01:59.846 --> 00:02:01.258 they will return to their original positions 00:02:01.258 --> 00:02:03.120 to discuss its implications, 00:02:03.120 --> 00:02:06.178 but people further away will then ask what's going on. 00:02:06.178 --> 00:02:08.067 The result will be a clump in the crowd 00:02:08.067 --> 00:02:09.758 that moves across the room. 00:02:09.758 --> 00:02:12.534 This clump is analogous to the Higgs boson. 00:02:12.534 --> 00:02:13.763 It is important to remember 00:02:13.763 --> 00:02:15.623 that it is not that massive particles 00:02:15.623 --> 00:02:17.372 interact more with the Higgs field. 00:02:17.372 --> 00:02:18.906 In our analogy of the party, 00:02:18.906 --> 00:02:21.676 all particles are equal until they enter the room. 00:02:21.676 --> 00:02:24.620 Both Peter Higgs and the tax collector have zero mass. 00:02:24.620 --> 00:02:26.512 It is the interaction with the crowd 00:02:26.512 --> 00:02:28.591 that causes them to gain mass. 00:02:28.591 --> 00:02:29.990 I'll say that again. 00:02:29.990 --> 00:02:33.036 Mass comes from interactions with a field. 00:02:33.036 --> 00:02:34.488 So, let's recap. 00:02:34.488 --> 00:02:36.298 A particle gets more or less mass 00:02:36.298 --> 00:02:38.126 depending on how it interacts with a field, 00:02:38.126 --> 00:02:40.258 just like different people will move through the crowd 00:02:40.258 --> 00:02:43.940 at different speeds depending on their popularity. 00:02:43.940 --> 00:02:45.033 And the Higgs boson is just a clump in the field, 00:02:45.033 --> 00:02:47.097 like a rumor crossing the room. 00:02:47.097 --> 00:02:48.945 Of course, this analogy is just that -- 00:02:48.945 --> 00:02:50.165 an analogy, 00:02:50.165 --> 00:02:51.315 but it's the best analogy 00:02:51.315 --> 00:02:53.118 anyone has come up with so far. 00:02:53.118 --> 00:02:54.310 So, that's it. 00:02:54.310 --> 00:02:55.171 That's what the Higgs Field 00:02:55.171 --> 00:02:57.277 and the Higgs boson is all about. 00:02:57.277 --> 00:02:59.418 Continuing research will tell us if we found it, 00:02:59.418 --> 00:03:01.176 and the reward will probably be more 00:03:01.176 --> 00:03:03.543 than just a bottle of champagne.