Peter Higgs, a relatively less known English theoretical physicist and an emeritus professor at the University of Edinburgh, has a very inspiring story. To say the least, he has suddenly become quite the centre of the universe by the virtue of his sheer brilliance. I don’t know about you but I get well excited when I hear that a man challenged the conventions, and had the heart to put in theory-what he thought was the best explanation for the most difficult questions of our lifetime. That’s what Darwin did, Newton followed and Einstein sustained! Their lives become epitome of inspiration. Their stories tend to make you a believer. Their ideas inject a venom of hope in your blood. And then the incessant thought prevails-If they could, what’s stopping you to rewrite the history. We all are supposed to be the extension of same supreme power after all! Everything boils down to the big-bang. Some would refer that (supreme) energy as God.
Going back to 1960, Higgs explained in his theory, the origin of mass in our universe, a question that is still puzzling the physicists around the world. The particles filling in the broken symmetry of the universe’s electroweak theory are known as higgs boson. Imagine a void space, a complete vacuum-nothing. Now imagine ‘somebody’ putting a tiny ‘drop of nectar’ in this vacuum and then something majestic happens. This nothing explodes and becomes everything we know-we don’t know, we see-we don’t see and beyond. ‘Somebody’ here is also known as God and ‘drop of nectar’ as Higs boson. We knew that energy of big bang converted into mass to make this beautiful, mystic universe. What we did not know is how exactly the energy converts into the mass. Some said its God’s job! Others argued! Peter Higgs said it would be through Higgs boson. And that is where it all began. Yet again!
If what CERN thinks it has found, is actually true, the human race will be at the top of understanding the creation of this universe. Agreed that God created it but man would know how. How very unorthodox and how very amazing! That, however, would not be the end of all. Universe would still stay unfathomable for time to come, perhaps forever. We still have to learn about dark matter. We still have to fathom why the force of gravity is so different than the other forces of nature before we call it the end of science of universe. However, if this research holds its value; then come next Dec (when CERN reaches to a conclusion), and we would be celebrating the life of Professor Higgs as father of the universe.
Needless to say, CERN will have implicit contribution to the mundane world in the field of biology, computer science and mobile technology. Oscillating the subatomic particles may well give way to the fastest and smallest computer, mobile phones that could revolutionalise this wide-world and biological advances that would change the clinical sciences for forever. However, the Higgs boson of particle physics would flirt with the idea of religion and God in the philosophical world, that is bound to take an invincible shape in the minds of generations to come.
Hale the CERN research facility! The world is awaiting the results of your work!
LHC: Higgs boson ‘may have been glimpsed’ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16158374
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