Could a Higgs Boson Announcement Be Imminent From the LHC?

[Kronuise]

Physicists at the Large Hadron Collider could be getting an early Christmas present: the Higgs boson. According to the latest rumors, scientists at the LHC are seeing a signal that could correspond to a Higgs particle with a mass of 125 GeV (a proton is slightly less than 1 GeV).

Public talks are scheduled to discuss the latest results from ATLAS and CMS, two of the main LHC experiments, on Dec. 13. This follows one day after a closed-door CERN council meeting where officials will get a short preview of the findings, whatever they may be.

“Chances are high (but not strictly 100%) that the talks will either announce a (de facto or de iure) discovery or some far-reaching exclusion that will be really qualitative and unexpected,” wrote theoretical physicist Lubos Motl on his blog.

Motl also mentioned that an internal email sent to the CERN community suggests that results on the elusive Higgs — which is required under the Standard Model of particle physics to provide mass to different particles — will be inconclusive. This could mean that the finding is below the five-sigma threshold needed to definitively declare a discovery in physics.

But if the rumors are true, and the Higgs has been seen at 125 GeV, it could bolster the idea that there is physics beyond the Standard Model that describes the behavior of subatomic particles. A 125 GeV Higgs is lighter than predicted under the simplest models and would likely require more complex theories, such as supersymmetry, which posits the existence of a heavier partner to all known particles.

Source : http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/12/higgs-lhc-anticipated/

[hectorlca]

Very interesting.

I have a nagging feeling that whichever way this goes, it would be a major step in the right direction if it prompted the entire world to reassess what we know about physics, the nature of the universe, and especially time, our window into a higher density.

At one point I had the crazy idea that if the LHC ever found anything, it would be a particle of 'observation' implying that paradoxically, our existence and interaction with our environment is what creates it... I'm not trained in science...but I still really like the idea of something cool like that totally blowing our minds!

Thanks for the article!

[alienHunter]

My personal opinion is still that the Higgs boson doesn't exist...I won't be devastated if they uncover it, in any case.

120 GeV/c2 or less requires supersymmetry.

Earlier results:

Preliminary results from the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the LHC as of July 2011 exclude a Standard Model Higgs boson in the mass range 155 GeV/c2 - 190 GeV/c2[23] and 149 GeV/c2 - 206 GeV/c2,[24] respectively, at the 95% confidence level.

[zebowho]

Very interesting, the synchronicity seems high today. I follow Wade Frazier's "A Healed Planet" thread and an update there today sent to my phone brought the Higgs-Boson and my comment here to thought. So I came here to post and saw this thread!

Wouldn't it be interesting if in fact they are discovering the mechanics of the law of attraction and how "intent" controls that law. A couple scientists at CERN (can't remember their names or find the article) have postulated that possibly because they are thinking about it, or trying to find it, may be why its so illusive. Could it be that their intention isn't in line with what is required to allow the particle to be seen. It is, after all "The God Particle"!

Personally I think at some point people will realize that the LHC isn't smashing particles so much as its smashing thoughts and not in the allegorical sense. Are your thoughts not, particles being excited by a charge, electrical current. Particle Physicists have even witnessed particles interacting with each other at distances, which the standard models do not explain.

Puts a whole new meaning to "I think there for I am" doesn't it?

-z

[Alex Laker]

Very interesting, the synchronicity seems high today. I follow Wade Frazier's "A Healed Planet" thread and an update there today sent to my phone brought the Higgs-Boson and my comment here to thought. So I came here to post and saw this thread!

Wouldn't it be interesting if in fact they are discovering the mechanics of the law of attraction and how "intent" controls that law. A couple scientists at CERN (can't remember their names or find the article) have postulated that possibly because they are thinking about it, or trying to find it, may be why its so illusive. Could it be that their intention isn't in line with what is required to allow the particle to be seen. It is, after all "The God Particle"!

Personally I think at some point people will realize that the LHC isn't smashing particles so much as its smashing thoughts and not in the allegorical sense. Are your thoughts not, particles being excited by a charge, electrical current. Particle Physicists have even witnessed particles interacting with each other at distances, which the standard models do not explain.

Puts a whole new meaning to "I think there for I am" doesn't it?

-z

Actually, the term God Particle is a misnoma, and this term has been taken out of all context by the media and is now scorned by all physicists. The Higgs boson isn't actually so important as far as our understanding of the universe is concerned. At least its not what the LHC was solely designed for discovering. Indeed, if the Higgs is confirmed in the near future, it will have only required that the LHC operates at half of its total collision energy, which will not be reached until some time around 2013/2014. The aim is to discover far more profound things than the Higgs boson. Things which we didn't even anticipate existed.

I think you're alluding to quantum entanglement, with particles interacting at distance. Of course, the standard model is incomplete, and I think some theory of quantum gravity will eventually encompass the nature of entanglement. For me, this phenomenon is one of the most intriguing, because it could help explain consciousness. For example, the theory states that any number of sub-atomic particles interacting will inherently share the same quantum state. If our consciousness is created as one, then all of its consituents are intrisincally part of it, i.e. that is how my consciousness stays together - that is what keeps it as a defined entity. This is also what causes events to 'happen' when outside electrons interact with my consciousness, they cause the electrons in my consciousness to change state, and so I 'notice' an event.

I really do think if the LHC can help explain how gravity works, it can explain a lot of other things. Indeed, as you say it's like "I think therefore I am, and so is everything else."