Science
Related: About this forumParticle physicists bemoan a perfect theory
by Chris Lee -
I'm very glad that I'm not a particle physicist. In the excitement of the LHC starting up, breaking, starting up again, performing beautifully, and finding the Higgs Boson, we seem to forget that particle physics is in a really odd situation. In any other field of science, getting experimental results to agree with theory is considered a champagne moment. The most common boast I hear at conferences goes something along the lines of "...a nd the line represents the theory, which is not a fit, it has no free parameters, and you can see that it agrees very well with the experimental data."
Yet in particle physics, smiles turn upside down and presenters shuffle about uncomfortably as they say, "As you can see, the Standard Model accounts for all our data over umpteen gazillion orders of magnitude." That is a magnificent achievement and should be celebrated. Instead, it is being treated like ashes in the mouth. And that was the undercurrent of a session on particle physics that I attended at Physics@FOM.
The theorists seem to be starting to take the attitude that maybe there simply isn't anything thereor, actually, the two theorists who presented had that opinion (though for different reasons); the majority still thinks the LHC will find something. Their presentations were filled with pre-LHC (and pre-LEP) quotes from people expecting to find great and wonderful things as soon as the power was turned on at the LHC. More seriously, though, the theorists are starting to ponder models that don't have supersymmetry and probably won't produce a whole new zoo of particles.
What does that mean? It means that things like inflation, dark matter, and dark energy, which are currently things not described by the Standard Model, are due to what are described as singlet particles. Singlet particles (like the Higgs) don't fall into some complicated family of particles. The implication is that these particles will be very hard to find for experimentalists.
more
http://arstechnica.com/science/2014/01/particle-physicists-bemoan-a-perfect-theory/
longship
(40,416 posts)Where things really happen is when they hear, "What is this? Isn't this peculiar?"
New science happens at the edges, not at the core. The Standard Model has withstood nearly all attempts to break it for decades. Now that all the pieces seem to be in place, the next discoveries will nearly have to break new ground. One hopes the LHC has enough energy to probe the domains to get there.
We should have completed the SSC (Superconducting Super Collider) in the 1990's instead of spending a couple of billion dollars to shut it down. It would have made the LHC look like a kid's toy.
Alas, Congress is so short sighted.
xocet
(3,871 posts)Here is an interesting (sad) article on the demise of the SSC:
The Higgs boson, a particle that has shaped the theories of modern particle physics, was discovered at a super collider in Geneva. It was a hugely significant moment for Big Science, one that received a Nobel Prize earlier this yearand it should have been discovered in Texas.
by Trevor Quirk
Mon October 21, 2013 1:15 pm
When the discovery of the last particle in the Standard Model of physics, the Higgs boson, was announced in the spring of 2012 many physicists, afflicted by an anxiety special to their profession, soon began hedging that same announcement. Most were reluctant to claim outright that what theyd observed at the CERN particle collider in Geneva was indeed the elusive Higgs, the subatomic particle that could explain how all matter acquires mass. Eventually their reticence suffused the name of the particle itself, as it was quickly described as a Higgs-like particle.
That summer, at the official announcement in Geneva, Rolf-Dieter Heuer, the stately director general of CERN, declared I think we have it. It was an enormous scientific discoveryarguably one of the biggest of the 21st century, a claim bolstered by its recent Nobel Prize awardbut the celebration, on the whole, was restrained. Mild applause ensued, a man removed his glasses and dabbed a handkerchief at his tears. The conference room then reassumed its churchlike sobriety.
Physicists are a shrewd species. History has shown them the political consequences of premature announcements. A year before, a team of physicists at CERN announced the observation of neutrinos rushing faster than the speed of light. If the phenomenon was real, almost all we knew about physics would crumble. Most physicists were incredulous, and rightfully so, as the superluminal neutrinos turned out to be an artifact of miswired fiber optics and a bad atomic clock. It was embarrassing; people resigned. Many physicists condemned the announcement as sensational, a swat at the hard reality of modern experimental physics, which is forevermore Big Science: a political animal of bureaucracy, real estate, diplomacy, rhetoric, and tax-based funding. People have to trust physicists more than ever before, a tall order considering the arcane nature of theoretical science. And yet the tools required to prove or disprove certain hypotheses often require significant amounts of money.
The international operation of CERN marked a monumental success in this respect. To prove the existence of the Higgs boson, which has been contentiously described as the God particle, required $9 billion, ten years of study, thousands of careers, and a seventeen-mile collider ring which bores out of the earth on the Franco-Swiss border. At fourteen Teraelectron-volts (TeV)*, it is the most energetic super collider ever built, and also one of the largest, most complex scientific experiments in history. Many have called it a modern-day cathedral.
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http://www.texasmonthly.com/story/how-texas-lost-worlds-largest-super-collider?fullpage=1
I went by the SSC grounds a few years ago to take photos. There was an inquisitive herd of cows (the current photo from Google maps even has such a herd almost right where the earlier herd was) just across the road from one of the parking lots. The police came by to ask what I was doing - apparently, there had been several copper thefts from the site. Now, Magnablend, a chemical company, owns the site - .
Aug 7, 2013
Twenty years after the closing of the former Superconducting Super Collider, U.S. Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX06) returned today to tour the revitalized Ellis County facility following a year of renovations by Waxahachie chemical manufacturer Magnablend. Early in his congressional tenure Barton was instrumental in bringing the SSC facility to Ellis County.
...
During the tour, Rep. Barton observed the companys production of guar slurry, used in hydraulic fracturing. With manufacturing facilities in key locations for all major domestic shale plays, superior customer service and best-in-class research and development capabilities, Magnablend remains uniquely positioned to support U.S. energy development and independence.
The development of shale gas has been key to the economy of North Texas and is fueling the growing energy market in the U.S., said Barton. I was truly amazed by the extra lengths Magnablend has gone to in developing state of the art facilities. The companys dedication to producing quality products while committing to employee safety and environmental protection is impressive.
Our SSC facility is capable of producing a diverse range of oil field products for the energy service industry, said Pendery.
...
http://www.magnablend.com/sscjbtour2013.html
Of course, one wonders why Magnablend wanted the facility:
JAMIE STENGLE 10/ 3/11 09:13 PM ET
WAXAHACHIE, Texas A fire sparked as workers mixed chemicals at a plant south of Dallas shot massive plumes of black smoke and bright orange flames into the sky Monday, forcing schoolchildren and residents to evacuate or take cover indoors to avoid possible exposure to dangerous gases.
Flames engulfed a large complex at a Magnablend Inc. facility in Waxahachie. The fast-moving blaze overwhelmed a sprinkler system and consumed a fire truck, but no injuries were reported from the fire or resulting smoke.
Waxahachie Fire Chief David Hudgins said it wasn't immediately clear what chemicals were involved in sparking the fire.
About 1,000 residents who had been evacuated were allowed to return to their homes early Monday evening, said Waxahachie Fire Department spokeswoman Amy Hollywood. Waxahachie, 30 miles south of Dallas, has about 25,000 residents.
...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/03/magnablend-chemical-plant-burns-waxahachie-texas_n_992537.html
Regulation seems to work oh so well in Texas....
Victor_c3
(3,557 posts)It's a shame. Money can come out of the woodwork for a $35 billion dollar aircraft carrier that we don't need for our national defense, but we can't do the same for our understanding and further pushing our country to be a leader in science and technology.
There is no excuse. The Higgs boson should have been an American discovery. Just as the multi-billion dollar experimental fusion reactor should be an American project built on American soil as well. Instead, it is being built in France
exboyfil
(17,862 posts)of the evolution deniers are so ridiculous. If we did dig up a bunny rabbit at the same layer as a dinosaur, it would be thoroughly documented, examined etc just like when we had the report of particles traveling faster than light. Careers are made on new discoveries not by hiding inconvenient fact