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Asked by brownarc to Jen, Jill, Mel, Phil, Stef on 6 Mar 2013.
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Jill Magee answered on 6 Mar 2013:
A boson particle, known as the Higgs Boson Particle, is named after Peter Higgs who was a Scottish physicist. The particle itself holds key information to understanding the idea of mass. Shortly after the big bang, it is thought that many particles had no mass, but became heavy later on thanks to the Higgs field. Any particles that interact with this field are given mass. The Higgs boson is the main particle within this field.
If we managed to discover this particle then it would perhaps prove the theory known as the Standard Model of Physics. This theory suggests that the universe is made from 12 basic building blocks called fundamental particles and assisted by four fundamental forces.
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Stefan Piatek answered on 6 Mar 2013:
Gosh, this is a bit removed from that I study but I’ll do my best.
We all know that things are heavy (so they have mass), but we don’t know what gives them this property at the really tiny level (smaller than protons, neutrons or electrons!). The Boson Particle or Higgs Boson was proposed to be something that could do just this, give these tiny things mass.
Last year it looked like the LHC found something that seemed to act the way we expect the Higgs Boson to act, so unless more work shows it’s more complicated, it seems to exist.
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Phil Rice answered on 6 Mar 2013:
I am in no way a physics expert but my undersatnding is that the Higgs boson can also, like other particles, be considered to be a “field” so like someone trying to run in treacle and that this is what gives the particles “mass”. Very odd but seemingly true. I am amazed, quite honestly, that we have been able to understand as much as we already have.
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Jennifer Paxton answered on 9 Mar 2013:
Hmmm….I’m a bit out of my comfort zone here, but I’ll give it a go.
As far as I understand, a boson particle, or the Higgs Boson Particle, is a tiny particle that might help us to understand why something has a mass. Now mass is a bit of a weird thing because think about if you have a handful of stones in one hand and a handful of marshmallows in the other. The stones are much heavier which means they have a greater mass…..but why?
All materials are made up of molecules, that are made up of atoms, that are made up of particles. If something is heavier, is it thought that is is because it contains “more of something”…..well that more of something would need to be more molecules, atoms and particles…..yeah?
If you imagine swimming pool filled with water and a swimming pool filled with syrup, what would happen if you tried to walk though them? I’m guessing you would find it much more difficult to walk through the syrup! You would “feel” heavier because it was harder to move through the liquid but your mass hasnt actually changed. The Higgs field is like the swimming pool – and the boson particle is the main particle in the field (or you walking in the syrup!) – things within the field are given a “mass” that requires more energy to move and is therefore heavier.
This was a massive discovery in Physics and it might help to explain how the universe was made. It is all very exciting but very complicated!
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Melissa Brereton answered on 10 Mar 2013:
Hmmm boson particle…. I have to admit I didn’t know! So your question has actually taught me something!
A boson particle is also known as the Higgs Boson Particle and it is missing piece of the “standard model of particle physics”. A lot of long words huh? Well essentially, the standard model of particle physics is everything that makes up the universe; protons, neutrons, electrons and forces except gravity. The Higgs Boson particle interacts with the Higgs field and enables all the particles around us to have a mass (or weight)
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