What is the Higgs boson?
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0:03 - 0:04What is the Higgs?
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Not SyncedSince 1964 we've had this idea
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Not Syncedproposed by Englert, Brout and Higgs
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Not Syncedthat empty space is like a medium
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Not Syncedand as particles travel through this medium
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Not Syncedsome of them interact with it,
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Not Syncedsome of them don't interact with it,
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Not SyncedThe ones that do interact with this medium,
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Not Syncedthey acquire masses,
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Not Syncedand the ones that pass through it without interacting,
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Not Syncedthose are massless particles.
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Not SyncedLet me give you an analogy:
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Not Syncedimagine an infinite field of snow
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Not Syncedextending thoughout all of space,
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Not Syncedflat, featureless, going in all directions,
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Not Syncedmaybe the middle of Siberia.
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Not SyncedNow imagine that you're trying to cross
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Not Syncedthis field of snow.
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Not SyncedSo maybe you're a skier,
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Not Syncedand you skim across the top,
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Not Syncedthat's like a particle that a particle that
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Not Synceddoes not interact with the Higgs field,
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Not Syncedit does not sink into the snow, it goes very fast,
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Not Syncedthat's like a particle with no mass travelling at the speed of light.
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Not SyncedBut maybe you've only got snw shoes,
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Not Syncedin that case you sink into the Higgs snow field,
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Not Syncedyou've got less speed that the skier,
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Not Syncedless that the speed of light,
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Not Syncedthat's like a particle with mass, because you are
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Not Syncedconnecting, interacting, with that Higgs snow field.
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Not SyncedAnd then finally if you've just got boots on,
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Not Syncedthen you you sink deeply into the snow,
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Not Syncedyou go very very slowly,
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Not Syncedand that's like a particle with a big mass.
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Not SyncedSo, think of this Higgs field as being
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Not Syncedlike this universal field of snow.
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Not SyncedNow, where does the Higgs boson come in?
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Not SyncedWe all know what snow is made out of.
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Not Syncedit's made out of snow flakes.
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Not SyncedIn the same way this universal Higgs snow fields,
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Not Syncedis made up out of little quanta,
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Not Syncedthose quanta are like snowflakes, that's what we call the Higgs boson.
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Not SyncedThe Higgs boson has this job of giving masses
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Not Syncedto all the other elementary particles.
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Not SyncedIf you look at the basic equations
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Not Syncedof the Standard Model, as written on my T-shirt,
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Not Syncedthey're very symmetric, that way in which
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Not Syncedall the different particles appear is the the same.
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Not SyncedAt least on the top two lines there're nothing
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Not Syncedto distinguish particles that have different masses for eaxample.
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Not SyncedBut this symmetry has to be broken,
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Not Syncedelectrons are lighter than muons,
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Not Syncedthe top quark is much much heavier
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Not Syncedthan the quarks that make up everyday nuclei.
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Not SyncedSo, the top two lines, the symmetric lines,
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Not Syncedcannot be all there is,
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Not Syncedthere has to be something to discriminate,
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Not Syncedto distinguish, between the different types of particle.
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Not SyncedAnd that's the job of the Higgs boson,
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Not Syncedthat's the job of the two bottom lines.
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Not SyncedDepending on how those different types of quark
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Not Syncedor the electron and muon,
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Not Synceddepending on how they connect to that Higgs field,
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Not Syncedthat Higgs boson,
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Not Syncedwe believe they get different masses.
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Not SyncedThe symmetry between these particles is broken.
- Title:
- What is the Higgs boson?
- Description:
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John Ellis,theoretical physicist, answers the question "What is the Higgs boson?" in preparation for the press conference following the seminar on LHC 2012 results on the Higgs boson search, due on July 4 2012 at CERN. For more details: http://cern.ch/press/PressReleases/Releases2012/PR16.12E.html
[video also available via https://cdsweb.cern.ch/record/1458922]
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- Volunteer
- Duration:
- 03:30
irvdel edited English subtitles for What is the Higgs boson? | ||
irvdel edited English subtitles for What is the Higgs boson? | ||
irvdel edited English subtitles for What is the Higgs boson? | ||
irvdel edited English subtitles for What is the Higgs boson? | ||
irvdel edited English subtitles for What is the Higgs boson? | ||
irvdel edited English subtitles for What is the Higgs boson? | ||
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