5 ms·

Higgs in ATLAS, maybe

29 points by Happer 15y ago

jtdowney 15y ago
I can add this blog to the list of things to read when I want to feel stupid. Definitely cool if it turns out to be true.
- jarin 15y ago
  I just chalk it up to the fact that I can't possibly know everything. As long as I'm good at programming and/or business, I'm ok with basking in the glory of science without being an active participant. :)
ohashi 15y ago
Someone care to translate?
- elwin 15y ago
  The LHC's ATLAS detector is finding many pairs of photons with a total energy of 115 GeV. This is usually a sign that the collision produced a 115 GeV particle which decayed into a photon pair. There are suspicions that this particle is the long-predicted Higgs boson, because many models estimate the Higgs' mass at 115 GeV. However, the percentage of collisions which result in this phenomenon isn't in agreement with any of our current models of how the Higgs boson behaves. It's not certain that the new 115 GeV particle is in fact the Higgs; if it is, the Higgs models will need more revising.
  - ohashi 15y ago
    Thank you. This stuff fascinates me but it can certainly be overwhelming at times.
  - mctavjb9 15y ago
    This result should be taken with a large chunk of NaCl until the analysis is internally approved by the collaboration and peer reviewed. Although it's been a while since I got my Ph.D. in experimental particle physics, I do remember that di-photon data sets are subject to significant sources of background from a variety of decay processes that produce one photon + a jet of hadrons, 2 jets, a Z boson decaying to electrons etc. Accurately filtering out and estimating the purity of the data sample is crucial, particularly when claiming the discovery of a new particle. My money is on a some combination of a statistical fluctuation, an inaccurately modeled background, or mis-estimated systematic uncertainty that is creating an artificial "bump." I look forward to being proven wrong and hope that ATLAS and CMS discover something so that high-energy physics doesn't go down in the dustbin of history because it's gotten too bloated and expensive to sustain.
clistctrl 15y ago
I was under the impression the LHC was down until 2012 while some changes were being made.
- lobster_johnson 15y ago
  They are analyzing already-gathered data from 2010 and 2011.
  - mctavjb9 15y ago
    Yes, but the LHC is actually running at this very moment and will be operational through the end of 2012. CERN opted to run at 7 TeV and put off the shutdown required to increase the energy to 14 TeV. In fact, the LHC just set a world record for beam intensity: http://press.web.cern.ch/press/PressReleases/Releases2011/PR02.11E.html http://press.web.cern.ch/press/PressReleases/Releases2011/PR...

29 points by Happer 15y ago

I can add this blog to the list of things to read when I want to feel stupid. Definitely cool if it turns out to be true.

jarin 15y ago
I just chalk it up to the fact that I can't possibly know everything. As long as I'm good at programming and/or business, I'm ok with basking in the glory of science without being an active participant. :)

ohashi 15y ago

Someone care to translate?

elwin 15y ago
The LHC's ATLAS detector is finding many pairs of photons with a total energy of 115 GeV. This is usually a sign that the collision produced a 115 GeV particle which decayed into a photon pair. There are suspicions that this particle is the long-predicted Higgs boson, because many models estimate the Higgs' mass at 115 GeV. However, the percentage of collisions which result in this phenomenon isn't in agreement with any of our current models of how the Higgs boson behaves. It's not certain that the new 115 GeV particle is in fact the Higgs; if it is, the Higgs models will need more revising.
- ohashi 15y ago
  Thank you. This stuff fascinates me but it can certainly be overwhelming at times.
- mctavjb9 15y ago
  This result should be taken with a large chunk of NaCl until the analysis is internally approved by the collaboration and peer reviewed. Although it's been a while since I got my Ph.D. in experimental particle physics, I do remember that di-photon data sets are subject to significant sources of background from a variety of decay processes that produce one photon + a jet of hadrons, 2 jets, a Z boson decaying to electrons etc. Accurately filtering out and estimating the purity of the data sample is crucial, particularly when claiming the discovery of a new particle. My money is on a some combination of a statistical fluctuation, an inaccurately modeled background, or mis-estimated systematic uncertainty that is creating an artificial "bump." I look forward to being proven wrong and hope that ATLAS and CMS discover something so that high-energy physics doesn't go down in the dustbin of history because it's gotten too bloated and expensive to sustain.

clistctrl 15y ago

I was under the impression the LHC was down until 2012 while some changes were being made.

lobster_johnson 15y ago
They are analyzing already-gathered data from 2010 and 2011.
- mctavjb9 15y ago
  Yes, but the LHC is actually running at this very moment and will be operational through the end of 2012. CERN opted to run at 7 TeV and put off the shutdown required to increase the energy to 14 TeV. In fact, the LHC just set a world record for beam intensity: http://press.web.cern.ch/press/PressReleases/Releases2011/PR02.11E.html http://press.web.cern.ch/press/PressReleases/Releases2011/PR...