Central Idea and Evidence: Higgs Boson Particle

7 Fermilab physicist Don Lincoln compares the Higgs field to water. In this analogy, the water plays the role of the field. The individual water molecules (H20) are the Higgs bosons that make up the field.

8 A barracuda, he says, is a narrow fish that interacts only slightly with the water around it, so it can move very quickly. The barracuda would represent a very light subatomic particle, like an electron, or one of the massless particles that we’re trying to catch at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica.

9 A less aerodynamic animal, like a person swimming, doesn't move as quickly, in part, because of their drag in the water. The person would represent a very large subatomic particle.

10 For particles that travel through the Higgs field (ie - all of them), the buildup of Higgs bosons in their path creates push back, or resistance, which explains the existence of mass. (Large particles encounter more resistance in the field, so they have more mass. Some particles encounter no resistance, thus are considered to be massless.)

11 So, why is this discovery so important? Mass is a fact. People have mass. Particles have mass. Though, before this we couldn’t necessarily say why. The Higgs boson is the final piece of the puzzle for a few items in the Standard Model.