CERN tour notes, part 21: Prof. Elam Gross: The discovery of the Higgs is the beginning of the new science of the XNUMXst century

Prof. Elam Gross from the Weizmann Institute, who headed the Higgs discovery group in the Atlas project, summarized the discovery and what is expected in the future, and like his colleagues, he also set out to defend basic science from the threatening sword of cuts. Prof. Gross said these things to a group of Israeli journalists who visited Saran at the invitation of the National Academy of Sciences

Prof. Elam Gross. Photo: Weizmann Institute
Prof. Elam Gross. Photo: Weizmann Institute

"The Israeli group contributed an important part in the construction of the detector. In 2012, three Israeli scientists played key roles in the discovery of the Higgs." This is what Prof. Elam Gross from the Weizmann Institute, who headed the group that searched for the Higgs and finally also discovered it in the Atlas project at CERN, told members of a delegation of Israeli journalists who came to CERN on a tour organized by the National Academy of Sciences and Arts, following Israel's accession as a full member of CERN.

"We drive science by curiosity. Imagination is more important than information, science driven by innovation."

"If we were to do applied science all our lives, we would walk around with candles, maybe more sophisticated candles. Thanks to scientists starting with Maxwell, and Farday in the 19th century, we advanced the understanding of electromagnetism. Science has already brought us forward and electronics is only catching up." Gross also noted Cern's contribution to humanity, which already covered the cost of the accelerator several generations ahead - the WWW protocol.

To the journalists he said: "We need your help to explain to the world that the fact that we discovered the Higgs does not mean that we discovered everything, the governments need to understand that."

"Physicists try to answer four questions: What are we made of? Why do we exist? How did it all begin? And what is the fate of the universe?"

"The answers to all these questions are related to mass and therefore, the Higgs boson is the basis for all of these. In a universe with nothing in it, every particle can move at the speed of light. But then whoever came and filled the universe with the Higgs field a tenth of a billionth of a second after the big bang. The particle has an interaction with the field And so his movement slows down."

"In 18995 Thompson discovered the electron and said "to the useless electron". To perform the experiment, Thompson needed equipment worth $100, today billions of dollars are needed to find the basis for the other forces to build detectors. The standard model can be built from a few particles and put on puzzle, but the completion of the puzzle was not successful because a particle is missing. We built a technology that allows you to see particles like you see me Bionic is more sophisticated than our eye (referring to the AB accelerator)."

Section of an old accelerator in the open museum at CERN. Photo: Avi Blizovsky
Section of an old accelerator in the open museum at CERN. Photo: Avi Blizovsky

"The matter we see is 5% of the universe and the rest is dark energy or dark matter, two factors that we are sure must be there but we do not find them. We continue to do experiments because we have no idea where they are supposed to be. This is the reason for building the accelerators and it also answers The question is why with previous accelerators we were unable to find clues about dark matter and dark energy."

According to Einstein's famous formula E=mc², to produce particles you need to invest energy that is at least equal to the mass of the particle we need to find, if I didn't find a particle up to a certain energy level then either it doesn't exist or it is heavier. Could be a super symmetric particle or a dark matter interaction, of an invisible decaying particle. Either in the current accelerator (after being upgraded) or in the next accelerator or we will face a broken trough.

If we hadn't discovered the Higgs we would have been in a situation where we had no idea what was going on. We were almost in this situation but in the end it worked out. This process proved to us that it is necessary to continue researching. Even if we close our eyes, the universe is still there, we have to continue because we are curious, you never know what it will bring, and the universe will continue to exist, but we will not know what it contains.

The Nobel Prize in Physics for 2013, which was won by Peter Higgs and François Englert, received a lot of noise, and for the first time the name of Sarn was mentioned, because normally the Nobel Prize committee does not mention experiments that led to the proof of the theory for which the prize was awarded.

Prof. Gross quotes the member of the Nobel Prize committee, Barbara Cannon, who opened with a passage from chapter 9 of the book of Isaiah: "Those who walk in darkness have seen a great light."

"It is the nature of science, that when we grapple with a problem, we may feel that we are walking in the darkness of the unfathomable. We feel that there must be something that can explain the complexity but we can't put our finger on it... It may be there in the darkness - right in front of us... Another small step ."

"These are the greatest moments in the life of every scientist, when he suddenly feels that he sees something that no one has seen before. A new light breaks out in nature. It can shine like lightning or glow and grow slowly. The scientists are the first to experience the light and this illumination can be in a small detail Or a deep insight that changes our entire perception, but in any case it is a great light in the darkness"

"And this great light is not intended only for us, it is intended for all people, for the whole world, because scientific insight has its nature to be spread over the whole world.... It is a gift to the entire human race. Because once something is lit, it cannot be extinguished. What has been discovered can no longer be hidden , because when new insights come to our overall understanding, they are there forever. They form the basis for more new insights, more new enlightenments that will come in time."

Gross agrees with her and adds: "We walked in the dark for 50 years, trying to illuminate another dark page in the wonderful book of nature. CMS and Atlas, the two great experiments of the LHC illuminated another page in nature for future generations. 6,000 physicists left their mark on history and this is only the beginning of The new science of the 21st century".

Comments

  1. A day after the discovery of the Higgs particle, there was an article in the Ma'ariv newspaper in which Prof. Elam Gross was interviewed and he said in it: "Now it will be possible to write the complete mathematics needed by scientists like me to understand how the galaxies are built and the stars are formed." This mathematics was written and published by George Spencer Brown in the book "Laws of Form" which can be obtained on Amazon for 25 euros.

  2. Oh Ilana
    Silence is beautiful for the wise and wise, they say
    Where did you get that the Higgs is a gravitational particle?
    Where did you get the universe to recede?
    Where did you even get everything you say from?
    like I said
    A sea of ​​silence

  3. What are we made of? Why do we exist? How did it all start? And what is the fate of the universe?"
    Possible answers as lines of inquiry:
    We are made of a core of consciousness (created by the source of all consciousness for its development) and an energetic body that resonate together. The angetic body consists of a mixture of four different fields of energy that together respond to consciousness and it learns to control them.
    how it all began? There are many beginnings, not sure we will ever know them all
    The fate of the universe - to gather back for the next new universe pulse in a chain of universes that continue to develop one after the other until we return home to the same great source that was also created by any cause...

    It is dark energy that pushes the universe to that point of termination
    The dark matter is the "warehouse" of the four types of fields that we consume and make use of when they are in a state of potential and each field is stored separately, therefore they are not an active mixture that illuminates...
    The Higgs is apparently the gravitational particle (one of the 4 types of fields)... Good luck with all the discoveries of the 21st century 🙂

  4. Prince Igor
    What did I say that looks blatant? In my opinion, I am moderate in my statements 🙂 If I said something irrelevant, tell me, and I will correct my ways.

  5. Miracles
    It's been a long time since I noticed that you star in your comments on the science website. You obviously have a lot of knowledge but your responses how to say it are blunt. .It does not leave a good impression about your character. With a little effort change your attitude towards the other commenters. They will listen to you and appreciate you more. I say this from the height of my years. I came into the world in 150 BC.

  6. Miraculously, your age doesn't interest me. Either way, a few examples from the world: the British Parliament is one of the largest in the world, and expense reimbursements are a national sport there. Germany, a former Chancellor works for a Russian government company. , across the street from the President's house. Israel is facing the difficulties!

  7. Anonymous user
    You must be very young. Someone a little older sees a very clear and very problematic trend in Israel.

    You wrote that in Israel they don't plaster. If it wasn't so sad I would laugh. Is anyone in jail for all the illegal foreigners in Israel? Is anyone in prison for the fact that IDF soldiers risk their lives to guard illegal settlements? Is anyone passing judgment on Hadassah Hospital? About the poor state of education in Israel? About the embarrassing situation of public medicine? About the situation at Ashdod port? About the corruption called "banking" in Israel? About house prices in Israel?

    There are definitely very smart people in Israel. Except that a great many of them are no longer in Israel, very few of them are in the centers of power.

    I suggested you look for information on the levels of corruption in the world, and see where Israel is located. Japan is placed far above us, and you don't trust them. So how do you trust Israel?

  8. Arrogant miracles. Israel has a plan for atomic energy. (a special area for this in Shivta). And why be afraid, we probably have atomic weapons (quite dangerous isn't it?) So why be afraid of a positive aspect of the atom.

  9. You are so innocent it's sad. You also don't know what's going on in the world. I suggest you check the levels of corruption in different countries and see where Israel is located.
    It is hard for me to think of a system in Israel that is not rotten. So the education system or the health system for example.

    When you grow up, you will understand…..

  10. To Mr. Nissim, in Israel there is no plastering and no discounts. What Olmert did he learned from traveling the world. A reactor can be built on an empty 30 square kilometer area in the Negev or underground.

  11. Anonymous (unidentified) user
    You're kidding, aren't you? We have a president in prison, a prime minister on his way to prison, ministers in prison... continue?

  12. Israel's scientific level is extremely high. And if we have a reputation as a nuclear country, then at least there will be cheap electricity from a nuclear reactor.

  13. Yair
    I don't think it's right. Large scientific projects cost many billions. I don't see anyone going to make money off the Higgs boson, or sending a spaceship to smash into the solar system.

    Even two hundred years ago there were those who funded science. And long before that - see the chapter "Tycho Brahe", for example.

  14. "It doesn't bother any of the scientists. We drive science by curiosity" a comment that was true 200 years ago. Today, science is driven by economic, political and political interests, all of which are interests of power, note that in the past scientists funded their work themselves, today all science is funded by the state

  15. Honi
    Which of the four questions can't we find an answer to?
    Note, the second question is "what caused our existence", not "for what purpose we exist". The first formulation is physical. The second formulation assumes that there is a creator...

  16. "Physicists try to answer four questions: What are we made of? Why do we exist? How did it all begin? And what is the fate of the universe?"

    I have no doubt that physics will eventually find an answer to three of these questions, but one of them probably never will...

    And by the way..every person engaged in innovation encounters moments of "ah-ah" and light that overwhelms the darkness of consciousness, not necessarily scientists
    (artisans, engineers, businessmen)...

    The most important thing is that he likes what he does, and that next time he remembers that the funding for what he does comes from the green and the zabetan, and that he should move.

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