tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1513704378254120283.post6185095428917865894..comments2024-01-23T13:58:48.688-08:00Comments on The Trenches of Discovery: The Higgs: To be, or not to be?Shaun Hotchkisshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04832423210563130467noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1513704378254120283.post-91695176841467330692012-06-26T01:18:23.106-07:002012-06-26T01:18:23.106-07:00Hi David,
Excluding Higgs boson(s) from the curre...Hi David,<br /><br />Excluding Higgs boson(s) from the currently studied mass window below 1 TeV would be as close to disproving the existence of a Higgs field as it gets. There are theoretical considerations forbidding the boson to have a mass much above 1 TeV, and any odd tweaks would make the theory look unnatural. From an experimentalist's point of view, if the boson is not where we're looking right now, the theory should go the way of the aether, i.e. it may not be fully disproven, but becomes very uninteresting and eventually withers away (and is replaced by something more interesting).<br /><br />Did I mention Michelson-Morley experiment is one of my all-time favorites?Mikko Voutilainenhttps://blogs.helsinki.fi/higgshunters/author/manvouti/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1513704378254120283.post-34089737688034959142012-06-26T01:05:53.669-07:002012-06-26T01:05:53.669-07:00Hi David, thanks for the comment.
The answer to ...Hi David, thanks for the comment. <br /><br />The answer to your question depends on what you mean by a "Higgs field". If you simply mean a scalar field that is "a perfect isotropic field filling the universe" then no, there is no way of proving that no such field exists. If such a field existed but didn't couple (or only coupled extremely weakly) to anything we can observe then there would be no way of ever observing it.<br /><br />If instead you mean you are wondering if there is a way of showing that that nature does not contain the standard model Higgs field, then yes there is a way. That is, by looking for it and failing to find it. If the LHC doesn't find excitations of the standard model Higgs field, then its existence will be ruled out at *all* masses. Its effects would have shown up.<br /><br />Of course, something must break electroweak symmetry. If it isn't the standard model Higgs field it must be something else. However, whether you give that something else the label "Higgs" or not is an issue of semantics, not physics. It needn't be a perfectly isotropic scalar field. <br /><br />I actually disagree with the sentiment expressed in your quote. If the standard model Higgs field doesn't exist, it is only the death-knell for one particular quantum field theory, not all quantum field theories. I would be much more inclined to expect that it was a different quantum field theory that was responsible for electroweak symmetry breaking than a deviation from quantum field theory entirely.<br /><br />I apologise if I haven't answered your question. If so, could you be more specific about what you mean by "Higgs field"?Shaun Hotchkisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04832423210563130467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1513704378254120283.post-1443851586285558952012-06-25T14:17:57.116-07:002012-06-25T14:17:57.116-07:00“The Higgs field is a triumph of quantum field the...“The Higgs field is a triumph of quantum field theory, using the most advanced theories of our time and building on the successes of decades of research. But then the Higgs field has similar properties to the aether, it’s a perfect, isotropic field filling the universe. It interacts with everything, but it’s surprisingly difficult to see, no matter how hard we look. If we don’t see the Higgs boson, but instead see something else then we could be in for another glorious revolution in physics, and the quantum field theories could seem like quaint approximations of a bygone era.” — Aidan Randle-Conde<br />http://www.quantumdiaries.org/2011/09/08/higgs-skeptic Higgs Skeptic – Quantum Diaries, Sept. 8, 2011<br />Is there any conceivable way to prove that nature does not contain a Higgs field?David Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10537922851243581921noreply@blogger.com