What is a Higgs Boson?

Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln describes the nature of the Higgs boson. Several large experimental groups are hot on the trail of this elusive subatomic particle which is thought to explain the origins of particle mass

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  Science & Technology

[sabatino1977]

Anyone know if this same particle physicist has a video explaining how it was discovered? Or rather, how can we measure it is there.

[fermilab]

All of his videos on the Higgs that are on the Fermilab channel are in the Higgs playlist.

[MrTomPhilo]

I really appreciate this video.

[Mads Kofod]

Did he just do a double rasengan?...!!!

[Omtatsatup]

paramatma

[ScienceNinjaDude]

It's an analogy, so it is imperfect. Google "Waldegrave Challenge" for another analogy.

[RobertsMrtn]

I am far from convinced that the Higgs field exists. The analogy with water is not a good one. A large object moving through water will be slowed down by the water and brought to rest. Bust a massive particle moving through space is not slowed by the Higgs field. It continues its velocity until it experiences a force. Not the same thing at all.

[Fernando Dall'Agnol]

I did not understand. The Higgs field should react to acceleration. The explanation given misleads to a viscuous vacuum.

[MrTws1220]

Same reason light or photons don't slow down in dark matter or a dark energy field.

[Rob Fisher]

I had assumed that the scientists who claim to have discovered the Higgs Boson would have described what the results would look like both with and without its presence, and *then* measured the results. Are you saying that is not the case?

Or to put it another way, why are you so sure the HB is not having a physical effect on the (real world) detectors?

(AGW doesn't have a consistent hypothesis, never mind a falsifiable one.)

[ScienceNinjaDude]

No, these are unrelated ideas.

[Mokkor]

There is no Higgs Boson. There is only confirmation bias.

Looking for observations which confirm your hypothesis is not how science works. Science needs to be falsifiable. The Higgs Boson must be shown to have a physical effect in the real world. Then the hypothesis can be tested.

There is as much real evidence for a Higgs Boson as there is for anthropogenic climate change. None.

[Jackie Cox]

aether still without a logical explaination

[grimmerMD]

Great video. This is a great elementary explanation of the Higgs boson and field.

I know very little about physics, so this is probably a stupid question, but is the quality of the Higgs boson particle both being a single particle and being a field anything like the wave-particle duality, where an election is both a particle and a wave?