The Higgs Boson: Explained

                           By: Tsegazeab Beteselassie

Higgs Boson: This is a Higgs Boson.
Link: www.digitaltrends.com.

    In recent years, people started to ask, "why do some particles have more mass than others?".A theoretical physicist named Dr.Paul Higgs was asking the same question. Well, in 1964, he got an answer that explains why particles have mass, and ultimately why we exist at all. The idea is called the Higgs Boson. You may be wondering, "What is the Higgs Boson anyways?" Well, let me explain what it is. The Higgs Boson is the "God particle". The reason it is called "the God" particle is because it is essential for the Higgs Boson to exist. Without it, nothing would have mass. The reason is that when the Standard Model was made, there was a particle missing from it. Without that particle, nothing would have mass. I think by now you know what particle I'm talking about. It is the Higgs Boson. The physicists soon realized this, however. Then they discovered the Higgs Boson. Soon, however, they wondered, "where did the Higgs Boson come from?" The answer is the Higgs field.

    "What is the Higgs field?" you may be wondering. Well, the Higgs field is the "Father" of the Higgs Boson. The field is made of countless Higgs Boson particles (the Higgs Boson itself is a fluctuation). This field explains why some particles are heavier than others, even though they are the same size. It shows why a Tau particle, which is as heavy as a gold particle, is heavier than the electron, even though they are the same size. The reason one is heavier than the other is only because the Tau particle interacts with the Higgs field more than the electron. A particle that doesn't interact at all with the Higgs field, like a photon, will zip around at the speed of light. A quark, however, will start at the speed of light, but, since the Higgs field is there, will slow down and gain mass as it's traveling (mind you, it will not gain infinite mass, it will stop at some point). This is the reason particles have mass: the Higgs field.

    You may be wondering, " how does the Higgs Boson and the Higgs field affect me?" Well, the answer is  that without them, we wouldn't exist. The Higgs Boson and Higgs field are necessary to "create" mass and ultimately, matter itself. Let me explain how. The Higgs Boson creates the Higgs field. And the Higgs field makes the energy turn into matter and slow down. And matter then creates all the things (well, almost all the things) in the universe. Including us. So without the Higgs Boson, there is no us, or matter, or the Big Bang itself. But what are the problems of the Higgs theory? Well, read more to find out.

    The Higgs theory is amazing, making a revolution across the country. But, however, there are, as always, some problems with this theory. First, there are some scientists that discovered that there are actually five Higgs Bosons. Does that mean that we have to change the Standard Model so that it can fit in five Higgs Bosons? We do not know. (Psst! If you don't know what the Standard Model is, click here.)

    Oh, and one more thing, we didn't actually find the Higgs Boson, we just made a theory of it.


Here is a video that explains some concepts in this article.

Email me at Tsegazeab12@gmail.com. Thank you and make sure you subscribe!
    

What Is String Theory?

                       
                                           By: Tsegazeab Beteselassie 

    A few decades ago, a radical theory sends shock waves across the scientific community. The theory is called String theory.You're probably wondering right now," what is String theory?" 

String theory: One of the many strings in an atom.

   String theory is a theory of everything (technically a theory that combines Eisenstein's theory with the quantum  field theory). It says that if you shrink to a quadrillionth of the size of an atom, and then do it again, you'll see vibrating  strings floating inside the atom It sounds like science fiction. But recently, some scientists say it's not. Co-founder of string theory, Michio Kaku says that string theory may be possible. But there were a few flaws in the theory. 

    Albert Einstein went to find the theory but failed. The giants of the 20th century also tried but got lost. The reason they failed is that they don't really know what the theory is. Most string theory specialists have their own theory of everything. None of them can agree because the theory's they have are radically different from each other. But now that they tested all the easy ideas and saw that they were wrong, they now have a new theory that might be the best (and in fact the only) candidate for the theory of everything. Unlike it's rivals, it survived every mathematical challenge thrown at it. Not surprisingly, the theory is radically different from all the other candidates for the theory of everything. The theory is Super String theory. 

Super Symmetry: A diagram on Super Symmetry.

    "What is Super Symmetry?" You might ask. Well, Super Symmetry is a theory that says that for every particle in the universe, there is another invisible particle copy. The only difference is that the Super Symmetry particles are bigger than the original one. The reason Super String theory is the best candidate for the theory of everything is because it has Einstein's theory of gravity in it. It actually needs Einstein's theory or else it won't work. It also uses String theory, being based on subatomic strings vibrating in 10 dimensional space-time fabric. But there is a glaring weak spot. They failed miserably trying to probe the "non-perturbative region". This is extremely important since our whole universe may lie in it. And ultimately, we don't know whether string theory is a theory of every thing, or a theory of nothing! And then duality comes in. It shows an outline of the theory of everything.        

Not knowing what to call it, a physicist named Witten dubbed it, M-theory. In one stroke, M-theory solves all the problems of  the theory, such as why we have 5 super string theories. It may ultimately even solve the question, "where do the strings come from?" 

Made From Stardust

                              

                                           By: Tsegazeab Beteselassie 

Nebula: The birthplace of stars.

    "We are made from stardust". When most people hear that, they are probably going to say, "yeah right!" Well, we are. Let me explain. Everybody knows that we are made of skin,bones, teeth, and so on. Well, where do those come from? From reproducing cells. And where do those come from? When you were born. And where did your mother come from? Your grandmother, and so on and so on. So then we get back to the very first life on earth. It was probably algae (I don't study plant life).  Whatever plant it was, it's energy came from the sun. "But", you say, "that's only energy, not the plant itself. Well, the earth supplies it with nutrients. But the earth came from the leftover debris from the sun. And where the sun come from?

    The sun came from a nebula in outer space. But the nebula couldn't be there from the beginning of time (the big bang). It must have came from something. And I know what it is. It came from a supernovae. Let me tell you what a supernovae is, for the people who don't know what it is. If you already know, skip to the next paragraph. Okay, so here's what a supernovae is. There are stars like our sun. We may think it is big but it is actually very tiny compared to the  stars in our night sky. And stars fuse hydrogen into helium to create energy. Nuclear fusion at work. When they run out of hydrogen, they fuse helium together into lithium and so on. Well, only until the star starts to fuse iron. Then, the power turns off. The core of the star gets crushed into a millionth of it's size, (this is not our star, then it would be impossible for this to happen) by the stars own gravity. With a big star, it can't take the pressure. It blows up. This is called a supernovae (supernova means more than one). So that's a supernova. "But", you say, "what about heavier elements"? "They couldn't be formed by a supernovae". The answer is simple. Bigger stars.

   There are supernovae and then there is type 2 supernova. Also called a hypernova. When there is a hypernova, the energy output is one hundred times greater than a supernova. "What's a hypernova," you might ask. Well, let me tell you. By now, you know what a supernova is. A hypernova is just a bigger supernova. Except for it has a 100 times more energy output than a supernova. "So that's where gold came  from!". So nebulae come from the leftover debris from a hyper or supernova. And so our sun formed from the debris now called a nebulae (one nebula). My right hand might come from a different star than my left hand. So we are made from stardust. 

Email me at Tsegazeab12@gmail.com.

Thank you.