The efforts to detect the existence of Higgs boson particle have become frequent news in the recent past. What is /are the importance/importances of discovering this particle?
1. It will enable us to understand as to why elementary particles have mass.
2. It will enable us in the near future to develop the technology to transfer matter from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them.
3. It will enable us to create better fuels for nuclear fission.
Select the correct answer using the codes given below(2013)
a) 1 only
b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only
d) 1, 2 and 3
Answer: A
- The Big Bang occurred approximately 13.75 billion years ago, and it is responsible for the creation of the Universe.
- But after the Big Bang, the universe was a gigantic soup of particles racing around at the speed of light without any mass to speak of.
- That’s where Higgs field comes into the picture.
- Higgs field is the invisible energy field that exists throughout the universe. It consists of Higgs boson particles (God particles).
- When the particles scattered from Big-bang crosses the Higgs field, the former attains mass and slows down as their weight increases.
- If the Higgs didn’t provide mass to particles, then all particles float in the universe with the speed of light and there will be no gravity and no life.
- More interaction of particles with Higgs fields gives heavier mass to the particles = they settle down at one place = creation of stars, planets etc.
- The process of giving mass to a particle is known as the Higgs effect.
- Higgs-boson particles are named as God Particles as they are the fundamental particles that provide mass to other particles.
- The Higgs-boson was named after two scientists – Peter Higgs and Satyendra Nath Bose.
