The Particle at the End of the Universe summary

If atoms are the building blocks for matter, what are the building blocks for atoms? As it turns out, scientists have discovered more, even smaller subatomic particles.

But how did they discover something so tiny?

What would happen if you jumped out a window? Would you soar off toward the horizon, or glide down like a leaf?

Well no. Instead, you’d hit the ground with a loud thud.

Have you ever thought about why some things are heavier than others? The answer lies in understanding mass.

You can think of mass as the resistance that you feel when you push against an object. For example, pushing a car up a hill is far more difficult than pushing a bicycle. The essential difference is that the car has more mass.

All this talk of quarks, bosons and muons may leave you feeling a bit overwhelmed. Particle physics is not an easy subject, and keep in mind that some of the most talented people on the globe spend their entire lives deciphering how all these elements work together.

To simplify, let’s return to the concept of the Higgs field and consider two analogies.

By the time it was turned “on” in September 2008, the Large Hadron Collider outside Geneva had already generated quite the buzz not only in the scientific community but worldwide.

But what does this machine do, exactly?

What happens when two cars collide? In the crash, the car’s parts – screws, shards of glass, pieces of plastic – are tossed about, revealing material usually hidden beneath the car’s frame.

This example illustrates what scientists seek when they smash particles together in the LHC. The hope is that, rather than screws and shards of glass, the collision of two protons might reveal a Higgs boson.

Once the Large Hadron Collider performed these groundbreaking experiments, scientists could finally begin their search for evidence of the Higgs boson. It wasn’t easy at first.

To verify whether the Higgs boson actually had been discovered, scientists first needed to sift through reams of statistical analysis from the experiments.

You might be asking, “What was the point of all this? Why did scientists sink so much time and money into looking for the Higgs boson?”

Importantly, the discovery of the Higgs boson can help us better understand some of the deeper mysteries of the universe.