It's coming up on a year now since the
confirmation
of the Higgs particle and field. This was an exciting
reaffirmation of the Standard Model of modern particle physics. But
after a year of refining measurements, it seems the version of the
Higgs found fits
too well with the current model and offers no hint of any unexpected
strangeness that could lead physicists to further insights and
discoveries. The Higgs mass has been determined to be 125.7 GeV
(gigaelectronvolts). Quite remarkable measurement but one that
agrees so perfectly with the Standard Model that it leaves little
room for current theories that tried to go beyond it to a more
unified physics. Most varieties of supersymmetry and string theory – the simpler, more beautiful ones that physicists prefer
– cannot meet the constraints
imposed by the Higgs value. The current
model cannot account for gravity or relativity and can't explain
dark matter or dark energy. This means that while it can explain
very well 5% of the universe, it cannot say a thing about the
remaining 95%.
But it may be even more interesting to
ponder the fact that the particle that gives other particles mass
also has a mass. The Higgs field interacts with some particles (the
quarks) and gives them mass while others (neutrinos and photons) are
lightly or un-affected and have little or no mass. But if the Higgs
interaction gives mass, what gives mass to the Higgs? This is
another of the strange places that our modern science leads us. (Are
you watching St. Thomas?)
Mass may also be at
the root of time. Things with mass cannot travel at the speed of
light and therefore exist immersed in time. Things without mass do travel at
light speed and therefore are
not subject to time. It's as if mass is really a measurement of
the degree to which stuff is trapped in time, separated out of
what would otherwise be an eternal
now. Or to put it another way, introducing mass is a
way to throw things out of heaven and down to earth?
