Higgs Boson

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Yesterday was a  big day for physics. A new particle was discovered, a boson, at the energy 126GeV, with every indication it is probably the much sought after Higgs, one of the last pieces of the widely experimentally confirmed Standard Model of Particle physics yet to be observed.

Here’s a video offering a decent explanation why this matters:

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And here’s a collection of tweets from live-blogging physicists, all of whom I recommend you follow.

  1. astropixie
    higgsteria (new blog post): http://bit.ly/LV6Oou

    ★ amanda bauer ★

    Thu, Jul 05 2012 00:10:02

  2. jonmbutterworth
    🙂 “@profserious: @jonmbutterworth http://twitpic.com/a42tkt (courtesy boingboing)” #higgs

    Jonathan Butterworth

    Thu, Jul 05 2012 00:18:58
  3. FQXi
    Backreaction: Hello, Higgs. What now? http://backreaction.blogspot.com/2012/07/hello-higgs-what-now.html?spref=tw @skdh

    FQXi Physics

    Wed, Jul 04 2012 05:05:57
  4. corbett_inc
    another suggestion from the particle physicists–let’s drive around honking horns, waving flags #eurocup #lhccup

    Christine Corbett

    Wed, Jul 04 2012 05:07:45
  5. corbett_inc
    PhD theoretical particle physics students at lunch considering retiring.

    Christine Corbett

    Wed, Jul 04 2012 04:37:54

  6. sc_k
    Okay, the sleepy felis Klein says it’s time for me to go back to bed. ‘But *which* Higgs?’ questions are for later. http://pic.twitter.com/wJTGqyQq

    Sarah Kavassalis

    Wed, Jul 04 2012 01:52:30
  7. CatherineQ
    Peter Higgs looking totally overwhelmed, elated and emotional. #LHC

    Catherine

    Wed, Jul 04 2012 01:58:06
  8. BilgeDemirkoz
    Higgs decaying to 2 photons 🙂 Looks very good… #CERN

    Bilge Demirkoz

    Wed, Jul 04 2012 00:32:06
  9. FQXi
    Making an exit: MT @tomscott At end of #higgs announcement, one of CERN team will nonchalantly say “oh, one more thing”, then teleport away.

    FQXi Physics

    Wed, Jul 04 2012 01:56:17
  10. CMSexperiment
    a weighted Higgs to gamma-gamma plot. Very nice bump over a lot of background as expected.I would call this a money plot.
    @CMSexperiment

    CMS Experiment CERN

    Wed, Jul 04 2012 00:30:16
  11. CMSexperiment
    #ICHEP2012 #Higgs seminar @CERN: It’s impressive how billions of events can be distilled into a handful. Lot’s of smart sieving.

    CMS Experiment CERN

    Wed, Jul 04 2012 00:36:21
  12. FQXi
    “It was the last month of running that did it!” 5 sigma and applause. #Higgs

    FQXi Physics

    Wed, Jul 04 2012 00:38:49
  13. ProfBrianCox
    And combined – 5 sigma. Round of applause. That’s a discovery of a Higgs – like particle at CMS. They thank LHC for the data!

    Brian Cox

    Wed, Jul 04 2012 00:38:41

  14. CatherineQ
    Nice – slide of the day. RT @astroengine Incandela says: “that’s pretty significant.” Bump screenshot: http://twitpic.com/a3pblc

    Catherine

    Wed, Jul 04 2012 00:39:42
  15. ryanchris
    Last week’s “let’s pretend we’re constitutional scholars” on Twitter was fun, but tomorrow’s stab at “quantum theoretician” will be awesome.

    Ryan Freitas

    Wed, Jul 04 2012 00:37:37
  16. ProfBrianCox
    5 sigma is the usual particle physics threshold for discovery. It roughly means that you’re 99.9999% sure

    Brian Cox

    Wed, Jul 04 2012 00:40:50
  17. CMSexperiment
    Beautiful collision images with two photons in the CMS detector: https://cdsweb.cern.ch/record/1459459/ #Higgs #ICHEP2012 Check these out!

    CMS Experiment CERN

    Wed, Jul 04 2012 00:23:20
  18. CatherineQ
    On a side note – when was your twitter stream this loaded with science, let alone particle physics? WIN!

    Catherine

    Wed, Jul 04 2012 00:44:51
  19. TaraShears
    To remind you – we need to test all these channels to see if we’re seeing a Standard Model Higgs or not.

    Tara Shears

    Wed, Jul 04 2012 00:45:25
  20. BadAstronomer
    When they combine all the results, they get a 4.9 sigma (~99.9999% certainty) that a decay energy seen at 125 GeV is real. #Higgs

    Phil Plait

    Wed, Jul 04 2012 00:49:20
  21. matt_bellis
    CMS final slide: we observe a boson at 125 GeV. Very nice. Very conservative statement. <3 science.

    Matt Bellis

    Wed, Jul 04 2012 00:51:14
  22. TaraShears
    And wow. The first 7 twitter trending items are higgs-related…

    Tara Shears

    Wed, Jul 04 2012 00:55:21

  23. sc_k
    These colours really make this hard for me to look at… but yay, ATLAS time! #ICHEP2012 http://pic.twitter.com/YyFmfv2K

    Sarah Kavassalis

    Wed, Jul 04 2012 00:57:25
  24. KaronMcB
    #Higgs On reflection, I think I’d have been disappointed if Fabiola Gianotti hadn’t used comic sans.

    Karon McBride

    Wed, Jul 04 2012 00:58:37
  25. gwendolynregina
    A brief history of a boson: timeline of Higgs – 03 July 2012 – New Scientist http://bit.ly/LVauwD

    Gwendolyn Regina T

    Wed, Jul 04 2012 01:03:03
  26. TaraShears
    Still thinking about the CMS signal. You know, this is just the start. We are starting to unfold the universe that little bit more.

    Tara Shears

    Wed, Jul 04 2012 01:03:10
  27. sc_k
    CERN ATLAS & CMS combined press release: “new particle, at the level of 5 sigma, in the mass region around 126 GeV” http://press.web.cern.ch/press/PressReleases/Releases2012/PR17.12E.html

    Sarah Kavassalis

    Wed, Jul 04 2012 01:07:32
  28. CMSexperiment
    Joe shows some properties of the new object. A new boson! Compatible with Higgs so far. Can’t wait to hear the next talk! @CMSexperiment

    CMS Experiment CERN

    Wed, Jul 04 2012 00:52:45
  29. jonmbutterworth
    Higgs boson fever fills Cern with 24-hour particle people http://gu.com/p/38mqf/tw via @guardian

    Jonathan Butterworth

    Tue, Jul 03 2012 10:11:34
  30. bgreene
    Big question: Will the CERN press conference set for July 4 announce discovery of the Higgs particle or just give more tentative evidence?

    Brian Greene

    Sun, Jul 01 2012 07:26:15
  31. bgreene
    The five living physicists who discovered the Higgs idea have been invited to the CERN announcement, suggesting Wednesday’s news may be big.

    Brian Greene

    Mon, Jul 02 2012 21:46:37

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