Cern & Higgs Boson particle

Standard model

• a theory of Particle Physics, which says all the material around us is made up of 12 matter particle (Fermions)
• 11 particles predicted by the model have been found and only Higgs particle was not yet found, so the CERN was trying to find it.

Higgs Boson particle

• theoretically responsible for mass, without which there would be no gravity & no universe hence named God Particle
• was proposed in the 1960s by British physicist Peter Higgs as a way of explaining why other particles have mass

Big Bang & Universe Formation

• Big Bang occurred approximately 13.75 billion years ago, responsible for the creation of Universe
• But after the Big Bang, the universe was a gigantic soup of particles racing around at the speed of light without any mass to speak of
• It was through their interaction with the Higgs field that they gained mass and eventually formed the universe
• Thus finding the Higgs particle can throw more light on how universe was formed

European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN)

• situated at Geneva, along France-Swiss border,
• operating several particle accelerators the latest one being Large Hadron collider

Large Hadron collider (LHC)

• world’s biggest and most powerful particle accelerator
• Two beams of protons are fired in opposite directions around it before smashing into each other to create many millions of particle collisions every second

Above stated process is an attempt to recreate the conditions which could have occurred, a fraction of a second after the Big Bang, when the Higgs field is believed to have ‘switched on’ and did the magic

CERN scientists discovered two subatomic particles belonging to the family of baryon

• six times as massive as protons
• made up of 3 strongly-bound elementary particles called quarks like protons
• heavy weight due to their spins in opposite directions in which their quarks configure

Centre’s nod for India’s associate membership in CERN

Currently, India has observer status in CERN, which has 21 member states. The status of associate member is also the pre-stage to full membership.

• To be an associate member, India will have to pay $10.7 million annually.
• As an associate member, India would be entitled to attend restricted sessions of the organization
• Allow Indian industry to participate in bids for Cern contracts across various sectors

Trivia

• Israel is the first (and currently only) non-European country granted full membership.
• CERN is also the place the World Wide Web was first implemented.

Forces found in nature

• Strong Nuclear force (Short range force)
• Electromagnetic force (Short range force)
• Weak Nuclear force   (Short range force)
• Gravitational force      (Short range force)

Order → Strong Nuclear Force > Electromagnetic Force > Weak Nuclear Force > Gravitational Force