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Dumb question from non-physicist - if the 'Standard Model' is a good theory, why don't we have a good idea of where to find particles [ ie. predict their mass a
by jgord 11y ago
Dumb question from non-physicist - if the 'Standard Model' is a good theory, why don't we have a good idea of where to find particles [ ie. predict their mass and other properties ]?
Is the problem that its just hard to compute these values ?
Or does the theory not predict particle masses ?
Or do we need a fully unified theory of all fundamental forces, before we can predict particle properties from first principles ?
- toth 11y agoWell, we have found all the particles predicted by the Standard Model, last one missing was the Higgs boson. However, no-one really believes that the Standard Model is the ultimate theory. There must be other stuff out there that we have found yet. What people are looking for now are deviations from the standard model.
- Someone1234 11y agoDoes the standard model explain quantum entanglement? edit: Nevermind, read this article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics_beyond_the_Standard_Model https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physics_beyond_the_Standard_Mo...
- aurhum 11y agoAt the moment the limiting factor is energy -- The energies required to create these collisions (and hence, the possibility of these new particles) is enormous. In a way that's the only way the LHC exisists; to create higher energy collisions than before. As for computing values: It's nice to have a theory, but it's nicer still to have it confirmed/falsified by expermiment.
- InclinedPlane 11y agoWhat do you mean? It predicted the Top and Charm quarks, the W and Z bosons (and their masses), and many other phenomena. We know the Standard Model isn't a complete theory or a "grand unified theory" though because there are too many empirically determined constants in it, and because it doesn't adequately explain all known particle physics.
- euyyn 11y agoHow were the masses of the W and Z bosons predicted by the Standard Model? And why didn't that work, to predict where to find the Higgs?