The God Particle for Atheists and Agnostics

The God Particle for Atheists and Agnostics

Vikram Vyas

18 November 2013

The God Particle for Atheists and Agnostics

Outline
1 Caveat 2 The Standard Model 3 The Electro-Weak Interactions 4 The Beauty of the Local Symmetry 5 Problem in the Paradise 6 Higgs is Hiding the Symmetry 7 Higgs Particle: Making Waves in Vacuum 8 More Things Under the Heaven

The God Particle for Atheists and Agnostics Caveat

Caveat

However, this does not mean that I have tried to write an easy book ... I picture the reader as a smart old attorney who does not speak my language, but who expects none the less to hear some convincing arguments before he makes up his mind. Steven Weinberg (Introduction to First Three Minutes) The complement of truth is clarity. Truth and clarity are complementary. Neils Bohr

The God Particle for Atheists and Agnostics The Standard Model

Inward Bound

The God Particle for Atheists and Agnostics The Standard Model

The Standard Model

The God Particle for Atheists and Agnostics The Electro-Weak Interactions

Light: The Electromagnetic Interaction

The way we see the world. Long range - we can see almost to the edge of the universe. Mirror world is a possible world. The force carrier is the photon: A massless particle

The God Particle for Atheists and Agnostics The Electro-Weak Interactions

Weak Interaction

It is short range - relevant only when particles are at distance of the order of nuclear sizes. It is responsible for radioactivity. Mirror world is NOT A POSSIBLE WORLD. The force carrier are massive particles.

The God Particle for Atheists and Agnostics The Electro-Weak Interactions

Some examples of weak interaction

Scattering of neutrinos from proton e + p e + p Scattering of electron from proton e + p e + n Decay of neutron n p+e+ e Nuclear Fusion

The God Particle for Atheists and Agnostics The Beauty of the Local Symmetry

The Photon

A particle with zero mass. It has two helicity or polarization.

The God Particle for Atheists and Agnostics The Beauty of the Local Symmetry

Quantum Field Theory

Mathematical language to describe creation and annihilation of identical particles. With each fundamental particle we associate a set of numbers at each point in space which change with time All these numbers together called a eld.

The God Particle for Atheists and Agnostics The Beauty of the Local Symmetry

QED: The Quantum Theory Photons

What is the Quantum Field For Photons? We need two numbers at each point for describing two types of photons. But such a theory would lead to a description which would give dierent laws of nature for diers observers. We add two redundant numbers so at each point of space we have four numbers describing photons.

The God Particle for Atheists and Agnostics The Beauty of the Local Symmetry

Redundancy is Symmetry

Symmetry By symmetry we mean that there is some thing we can do to an object such that after having done that the object still looks the same.

The God Particle for Atheists and Agnostics The Beauty of the Local Symmetry

Local Symmetry of QED

In QED the symmetry is that we can add redundant numbers to a given eld and still the corresponding eld would describe the same situation as the one described by the original eld. Further these number can be dierent at dierent points of space and time, and so we say that the symmetry is local.

The God Particle for Atheists and Agnostics The Beauty of the Local Symmetry

Gauge Symmetry = Massless Particle

Theorem A quantum eld theory which has local gauge symmetry describes massless particles like photons.

The God Particle for Atheists and Agnostics The Beauty of the Local Symmetry

The Beauty of the Local Symmetry

In 1950-60s many physicist realized that one can extend the idea of local symmetry from photon eld to other elds. Such theories are called Yang-Mills theory. One of the simplest such extension would describe four photon like particles, in that they are massless and have two polarizations.

The God Particle for Atheists and Agnostics The Beauty of the Local Symmetry

The Electro-Weak Unication

One of the particle behaves just like photon. It turns out that the way other three particles interacted with electron and quarks could precisely describe the weak interactions between them and these, then hypothetical particles, were called Z0 , W + , W . This was the electro-weak unication!

The God Particle for Atheists and Agnostics Problem in the Paradise

Massless Particles = Long Range Force

Faradays Field Lines

Force goes as inverse square law - never becomes zero!

The God Particle for Atheists and Agnostics Problem in the Paradise

Problem in the Paradise - 1

We have a problem! If the weak interaction is described by Yang-Mills theory then weak interaction cannot be a short range force.

The God Particle for Atheists and Agnostics Problem in the Paradise

Weak World is not a Mirror World

If electron is massless then it comes in two varieties

Left Hand of Weak Interaction Weak interaction requires eL carries weak charge and er has no weak charge.

The God Particle for Atheists and Agnostics Problem in the Paradise

Problem in the Paradise - 2

We have a problem! If weak interaction is described by Yang-Mills theory then electron and quarks must be massless.

The God Particle for Atheists and Agnostics Higgs is Hiding the Symmetry

Vacuum is Not Nothing: Mexican Hat

Weinberg-Salam Model Electromagnetic and weak interactions are described by a Yang-Mills theory in which there is an additional eld, the Higgs eld, which has two important properties It carries weak charge. It has non-zero value in the ground state of the theory.

The God Particle for Atheists and Agnostics Higgs is Hiding the Symmetry

Symmetric Theory Asymmetric Vacuum

Hiding the Symmetry The universe is immersed in a eld that carries weak charge - this is the Higgs eld.

The God Particle for Atheists and Agnostics Higgs is Hiding the Symmetry

Curious Properties of Quantum Vacuum

Electro-Weak Vacuum The vacuum has indenite amount of weak charge. It has no electric charge. The weak charges (and eld lines) can disappear into the vacuum.

The God Particle for Atheists and Agnostics Higgs is Hiding the Symmetry

Higgs+Faraday:Massive Gauge Bosons

Since the vacuum caries weak charge, the eld-lines of weak charge can disappear in vacuum. Weak-force can become zero - has nite range - the corresponding particle is massive!

The God Particle for Atheists and Agnostics Higgs is Hiding the Symmetry

Dirac:Massive Electrons

Dirac Electron A massive electron oscillates between left-handed electron and right-handed electron.

The God Particle for Atheists and Agnostics Higgs is Hiding the Symmetry

Dirac+Higgs: Massive Electron from Massless Electron

A massless left handed electron can interact with the Higgs eld and get converted into a massless right handed electron without violating conservation of charge and becomes a massive particle.

The God Particle for Atheists and Agnostics Higgs Particle: Making Waves in Vacuum

The Higgs Particle: That God Damm Particle

If the universe is immersed in Higgs eld then we should be able to create waves in this medium. The quanta of this wave should be a particle - the Higgs particle.

The God Particle for Atheists and Agnostics Higgs Particle: Making Waves in Vacuum

Producing and Detecting Higgs Particle: The Theorist Cartoon

The God Particle for Atheists and Agnostics Higgs Particle: Making Waves in Vacuum

Higgs in LHC

The God Particle for Atheists and Agnostics More Things Under the Heaven

Why these Masses?

The God Particle for Atheists and Agnostics More Things Under the Heaven

Where is the Dark Matter?

The Unnished Journey The motion of stars in galaxies tell us that the our Universe must contain other types of particles which interact through gravity but are not part of the standard model. This is the so called dark matter. Therefore we know that the standard-model is incomplete. What are those new particles and interactions? We hope LHC will provide us the with clues to them, and so we wait for LHC to start again!