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Peter Higgs, physicist who discovered Higgs boson, has died

theguardian.com

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Re: Peter Higgs, physicist who discovered Higgs boson, has died

#11

Post by bee_rider »

ajross wrote: post #8
freddealmeida wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

The same is true of every other boson, except arguably photons in the classical limit (e.g. you can put a multimeter on an antenna and detect them "non-probabalistically"). The Higgs detection is sound. A quick check of wikipedia says 5.9 sigma. Good enough for me, anyway.

> e.g. you can put a multimeter on an antenna and detect them "non-probabalistically"

I think I get what you mean, but we should be clear—every measurement is probabilistic, right? We can measure photons with low enough inaccuracy that we don’t bother quantifying the probability that they might not exist. But, it is actually on some philosophical level a difference of degree, not type. I’m pretty sure.

Re: Peter Higgs, physicist who discovered Higgs boson, has died

#12

Post by dotnet00 »

The story of how Higgs predicted his mechanism was part of what got me into physics as a kid. It fit 10 year old me's obsession with the 'soft-spoken genius' archetype perfectly and formed a pillar in my belief that 'genius' was made through hard work (and some amount of luck) rather than being born with it.

The announcement of the detection at the LHC is a core memory of mine, I still distinctly remember where I was, what I was doing and very excitedly trying to explain how cool it was to my parents at the time.

Re: Peter Higgs, physicist who discovered Higgs boson, has died

#13

Post by KingFelix »

dotnet00 wrote: post #12

The story of how Higgs predicted his mechanism was part of what got me into physics as a kid. It fit 10 year old me's obsession with the 'soft-spoken genius' archetype perfectly and formed a pillar in my belief that 'genius' was made through hard work (and some amount of luck) rather than being born with it. The announcement of the detection at the LHC is a core memory of mine, I still distinctly remember where I was…

That is awesome, we need some more amazing scientists in the public eye to inspire the young. I know there are a lot of amazing scientists, but somehow need to get them on tiktok or something? Can you share the story?

Re: Peter Higgs, physicist who discovered Higgs boson, has died

#14

Post by moelf »

dotnet00 wrote: post #12

The story of how Higgs predicted his mechanism was part of what got me into physics as a kid. It fit 10 year old me's obsession with the 'soft-spoken genius' archetype perfectly and formed a pillar in my belief that 'genius' was made through hard work (and some amount of luck) rather than being born with it. The announcement of the detection at the LHC is a core memory of mine, I still distinctly remember where I was…

Same, same, and same, + currently working on one of the LHC detectors as a phd student -- but it can all be traced back to the lore of the golden age of particle physics and the discovery of Brout–Englert–Higgs boson in 2012.

Re: Peter Higgs, physicist who discovered Higgs boson, has died

#15

Post by lapetitejort »

dotnet00 wrote: post #12

The story of how Higgs predicted his mechanism was part of what got me into physics as a kid. It fit 10 year old me's obsession with the 'soft-spoken genius' archetype perfectly and formed a pillar in my belief that 'genius' was made through hard work (and some amount of luck) rather than being born with it. The announcement of the detection at the LHC is a core memory of mine, I still distinctly remember where I was…

Some of my professors during my physics BS worked with the LHC during the mad scramble to find the particle. I remember people saying tongue in cheek "The Higgs particle doesn't exist, but it's inside this energy range."

Re: Peter Higgs, physicist who discovered Higgs boson, has died

#16

Post by moelf »

KingFelix wrote: post #13
dotnet00 wrote: post #12

The story of how Higgs predicted his mechanism was part of what got me into physics as a kid. It fit 10 year old me's obsession with the 'soft-spoken genius' archetype perfectly and formed a pillar in my belief that 'genius' was made through hard work (and some amount of luck) rather than being born with it. The announcement of the detection at the LHC is a core memory of mine, I still distinctly remember where I was…

That is awesome, we need some more amazing scientists in the public eye to inspire the young. I know there are a lot of amazing scientists, but somehow need to get them on tiktok or something? Can you share the story?

Specific to Particle physics and Peter Higgs, this book (https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/frank-close/elusive/978166...) by Frank Close is fantastic.

Re: Peter Higgs, physicist who discovered Higgs boson, has died

#17

Post by UncleSlacky »

Lame claim to fame: Higgs was the PhD supervisor of one of my university professors. He told us that Higgs left a message on his desk before going hiking one weekend to the effect that he'd had a great idea and would tell them all about it when he got back.

Re: Peter Higgs, physicist who discovered Higgs boson, has died

#18

Post by ColinWright »

UncleSlacky wrote: post #17

Lame claim to fame: Higgs was the PhD supervisor of one of my university professors. He told us that Higgs left a message on his desk before going hiking one weekend to the effect that he'd had a great idea and would tell them all about it when he got back.

I wonder if he got the idea from Hardy, who before undertaking a journey on a very small boat sent a postcard saying he had proved the Riemann Hypothesis:

Hardy stayed in Denmark with Bohr until the very end of the summer vacation, and when he was obliged to return to England to start his lectures there was only a very small boat available…. The North Sea can be pretty rough, and the probability that such a small boat would sink was not exactly zero. Still, Hardy took the boat, but sent a postcard to Bohr: “I proved the Riemann Hypothesis. G.H. Hardy.” If the boat sinks and Hardy drowns, everybody must believe that he has proved the Riemann Hypothesis. Yet God would not let Hardy have such a great honor and so He will not let the boat sink.

-- https://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~mcleod/Riemann/Hardy.html

Re: Peter Higgs, physicist who discovered Higgs boson, has died

#19

Post by lupire »

dotnet00 wrote: post #12

The story of how Higgs predicted his mechanism was part of what got me into physics as a kid. It fit 10 year old me's obsession with the 'soft-spoken genius' archetype perfectly and formed a pillar in my belief that 'genius' was made through hard work (and some amount of luck) rather than being born with it. The announcement of the detection at the LHC is a core memory of mine, I still distinctly remember where I was…

What makes you think he wasn't born with it?

I can see in own kids that each one is built differently, with different inmate propensities despite similar environment.

Re: Peter Higgs, physicist who discovered Higgs boson, has died

#20

Post by icepat »

freddealmeida wrote: post #6
hobo_mark wrote: post #2

He didn't discover the Higgs, but he formulated it (along with other people) in 1964. Its discovery was not until 2012.

[flagged]

It sounds like this comes from a misunderstanding of probability and how it applies to physics. Can you explain what you mean?
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