Science Bulletin Nov/Dec. 2013 Nobel Prize Edition | Page 17

The Standard Model shows all known paricles in the universe.

so called graviton yet.

If the higgs boson is a boson, what is its fundamental force? Instead of being associated with a force, the thought of higgs boson would govern the property of mass. Our now understanding of how mass is given to particles now is with the higgs field. The more a particle interferes with the field, the more mass it has. This can be simplified with an analogy of a party in an enclosed room. The people at the party, evenly spread, represent the higgs field. When a famous person comes into the room, people near by group by the person that represents a particle with mass. The famous person takes longer to travel through the room because she is constantly interacting with the people. A person with the flu comes into the room next. No one interacts with them because they are obviously sick. This person

represents a massless particle.

Why do we need mass? The reason certain things need mass is to explain how they are all not traveling at the speed of light. Have you ever noticed that it is harder to push something very large in comparison to something small? This works the same way—if nothing had mass, you could push them at the same speed with the same force. Where does the higgs fit into all of this, though? The higgs boson shows scientist evidence that there is a higgs field because the higgs boson is a sort of clump or buildup. These buildups are known as an excitation in the field. So next time you hear about mass, be glad you don’t have the flu.