God Particle aka Champagne Bottle Boson bottled!!!!!

The deeper we search, the more we find there is yet to know- Einstein

Though currently basking in the glory of their new discovery ‘Higgs Boson’, I am sure scientists at CERN are fully aware of the arduous task they have in their hands.  

Scientists at Europe's CERN research centre have found a new subatomic particle, a basic building block of the universe, which appears to be the boson imagined and named half a century ago by theoretical physicist Peter Higgs. God Particle aka Champagne Bottle Boson aka Higgs Boson has been “seen!!!”

"We have reached a milestone in our understanding of nature," CERN director general Rolf Heuer told a gathering of scientists and the world's media near Geneva on Wednesday.

CERN research director Sergio Bertolucci said: "It's hard not to get excited by these results. 

One possible signature of a Higgs boson from a simulated proton-proton collision. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higgs_boson 

 

"We stated last year that in 2012 we would either find a new Higgs-like particle or exclude the existence of the Standard Model Higgs. With all the necessary caution, it looks to me that we are at a branching point: the observation of this new particle indicates the path for the future."

Though, it’s time to uncork the bubbly it’s also the time to contemplate on certain aspects.

"We still much we don't know about particles - this is only the beginning of a new journey. We have closed one chapter and opened another," Peter Knight of Britain's Institute of Physics said.

Oliver Buchmueller, a senior physicist on one of the research teams, told Reuters: "If I were a betting man, I would bet that it is the Higgs. But we can't yet say that definitely yet. It is very much a smoking duck that walks and quacks like the Higgs. But we now have to open it up and look inside before we can say that it is indeed the Higgs."

What scientists do not yet know from the latest findings is whether the particle they have discovered is the Higgs boson as described by the Standard Model. It could also be a variant of the Higgs idea or an entirely new subatomic particle that could force a rethink on the fundamental structure of matter.

As I had already posted, is this Higgs Boson, the Primordial energy, the Ultimate, Advaita that we talked about? I think Time (4^th dimension) wombs the answer, for more research is needed to come to a conclusive finding that the particle that’s “seen” is indeed Higgs Boson.

Whether this new discovery leads to unlocking the secret of universe remains to be seen, but it most certainly leads to a new frontier of questions whose answers need to be searched.

The fitting comment on this perennial search of ‘What’s Before’, ‘What’s After’ comes from the man hailed as the father of modern Physics Sir Isaac Newton

“I do not know, what I may appear to the world, but to myself, I have been only like a boy-playing on the sea-shore and diverting himself in now and then finding a smooth pebble or prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.”

 

 

Hello…smash…smash…‘God Particle’…‘The Champagne Bottle Boson’…Are you home?

The previous article on Advaita and E= mc², ended with a question on what happened before Big Bang, though the question still remains unanswered, scientists are in hot pursuit to find out what happened after Big Bang and how many particles ‘received’ mass. 

Scientists at CERN physics centre near Geneva are smashing protons after protons with extremely high energy particle beams inside 27-Km long circular tunnel, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which has become the cynosure of physicists and particle physicists in particular. The objective is to find Higgs Boson, the princesse lointaine of particle physics.

One possible signature of a Higgs boson from a simulated proton-proton collision. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higgs_boson 

Scientists have to smash something to find something…hmm…

I am damn sure many would be asking 'Why this Kolaveri' about God Particle, why this ado about God Particle?

Well, let’s take help of "Five Ws" (and one H) or six honest serving-men of Rudyard Kipling (What, Why, When, How and Who) and keep ourselves abreast with this imaginary particle that is known by various names, like God Particle (this is a popular term and a term that scientists hate to love) or Higgs Boson (this term is what scientists love) and as per the renaming competition the alternate name that emerged was Champagne Bottle Boson, since the bottom of a champagne bottle is in the shape of the Higgs potential

I will address some pertinent questions-

What is God Particle, Higgs Boson? 

Higgs Boson is a hypothetical elementary particle predicted by the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics. It belongs to a class of subatomic particles known as bosons. Named after British physicist Peter Higgs, is posited to have been the agent that gave mass and energy to matter after the Big Bang creation of the universe 13.7 billion years ago. 

Why it is so important to find it?

The Higgs boson is regarded as the Holy Grail, the cornerstone to understanding how the universe came into being.

Existence of Higgs Boson would further validate the SM as essentially correct, as it is the only elementary particle predicted by the SM that has not yet been observed in particle physics experiments and would also explain why elementary particles have mass.

Physicists theorize that before the Big Bang, there was only one, unified fundamental force, and every particle was massless and the after the bang, within milliseconds or even within smaller time frame, the universe cooled, these forces split and as universe started to cool an invisible force known as the Higgs field formed.

This Higgs field, permeated the entire universe and was made up of zillions of tiny particles called as Higgs Boson. This Higgs Boson is believed to be the carrier of Higgs field and as other particles pass though it, they ‘receive’ mass through their interactions with Higgs Boson. So it is necessarily, the Higgs Boson that lends mass to the earlier massless particles that existed before Big Bang, as without this mass, such particles would vroom through the universe at the speed of light making it impossible to bind these fast and massless particles so as to form atoms that form this entire universe.

The absence of Higgs Boson would mean that our mission to understand fundamental nature of matter and what happened after big bang continues a little bit more….

When and Who postulated Higgs Boson?

The existence of the Higgs boson was first postulated in 1964 by Edinburgh University physicist Peter Higgs and that the very reason why this imaginary particle gets its name Higgs Boson.

It would be interesting to know from where and who coined the term God Particle. In his very popular and very aptly titled book The God Particle: If the Universe Is the Answer,What is the Question? Leon Lederman first came up with this term called God Particle. Lederman said he gave the Higgs boson the nickname "The God Particle" because the particle is "so central to the state of physics today, so crucial to our final understanding of the structure of matter, yet so elusive," but jokingly added that a second reason was because "the publisher wouldn't let us call it the Goddamn Particle, though that might be a more appropriate title, given its villainous nature and the expense it is causing."

Needless to say ever ravenous for new names media guys lapped up this new term and moniker struck the chord with people and is stuck to Higgs Boson.

 

How will scientists find it?

Scientists at CERN physics centre near Geneva will smash protons with extremely high energy particle beams inside 27-Km long circular tunnel, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). This energy is at such a scale that it hasn’t yet been achieved, certainly not so after the formation of the universe. Thus quintessentially, scientists will be mimicking conditions akin to the moment just after Big Bang. After each impact, the mammoth detectors of LHC will collect data for evidences showing the existence of boson particle. However this particle would be very difficult to trace since it decays almost immediately into two jets of hadrons and two jets of electrons

ATLAS detector

 

CMS detector at CERN

Source for Atlas and CMS (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2073037/Higgs-boson-God-particle-Atom-smasher-reveals-key-universe.html)

The recent reports from two distinctly different experiments (without technical mumbo-jumbo, about how different these experiments are, all I can say is one experiment is conducted in the United States and other in Europe!!!) are indicative of the existence of Higgs Boson, however, they are still far from being conclusive.

Is this Higgs Boson, currently imaginary particle, the Primordial energy, the Ultimate, Advaita that we  talked about? I think Time (4^th dimension) wombs the answer… 

But CMS scientist Bruce Kennedy, of the Science and Technology Facilities Council, said: ‘If the Higgs is found, it will only be the start. ‘We will have to understand its properties and if it fits in correctly with our theoretical explanations'.  

This never ending quest of ‘What before’ and ‘What After’ will continue, for this quest has kept mankind afloat for eons and would continue to do so… 

    

   

Advaita version 2.0 i.e E = mc2

14^th March 2012 would be Albert Einstein's 133^rd birth anniversary and on this propitious occasion I pay my rich tributes to the great scientist, who gave the most famous mathematical equation in Physics, E = mc² 

4-meter-tall sculpture of Einstein's 1905 E = mc² formula at the 2006 Walk of Ideas, Berlin, Germany

 

This is not just an equation, but was a watershed moment in the world of Physics, for it challenged for the first time the then Physics which was based on the Newtonian Principles, and made these Newtonian Principles, a bit irrelevant. This mathematical equation, this oneness of mass and energy as put forward by Einstein was what Indian/ Hindu philosophers knew conceptually and preached for a long time i.e. ‘Advaita’. In today’s software parlance, E = mc² is clearly, Advaita version 2.0, whereas version 1.0 existed, taught, preached since eons.

Let us discuss these versions in details in reverse chronological order.

Advaita v2.0 i.e. E = mc²

Einstein put forward mass–energy equivalence in 1905, by means of famous equation:   E = mc² where, E is energy, m is mass, and c is the speed of light in vacuum. By this equation he also proved that energy and matter are inter convertible and that the inter convertibility happens at the speed of 'Light'. When a body i.e. a 'material object' moves at the speed of 'Light' it is converted into energy of any form to be subsequently converted into the 'Ultimate'; and at that speed ‘Energy’ can be converted into Matter of any form which we perceive as 'Universe'.

So in nutshell, energy can neither be created nor destroyed, and energy, in all of its forms, has mass and on the other hand, mass also can neither be created nor destroyed, and in all of its forms, has energy. According to the theory of relativity, mass and energy as commonly understood, are two names for the same thing, thus neither one exists without the other existing also, as a property of a system. Rather than mass being changed into energy, the view of special relativity is that rest mass has been changed to a more mobile form of mass, but remains mass.

Advaita v1.0

Advaita, the 'Primary or fundamental energy' is one and only one, even though the same energy expresses in various forms, mainly four: light, electricity, magnetic force and electromagnetic force and gravitational force, sound etc being their other variants. Though expressed in various forms they essentially are the 'expressions of the primordial energy'.

Note: Scientific proof of the fact that all forms of energies can be combined was given by many scientists most notably by Maxwell, who could combine electric and magnetic forces and later trio of Abdus Salam, Sheldon Glashow and Steven Weinberg could unify three forces (Electromagnetic and Weak Forces) for which they were awarded Nobel Prize.

Einstein desired to quantify 'Advaita' but failed to do so because he could not quantify 'total matter' and though he could prove interchangeability of matter and energy, he could not answer ‘Why this happens’.

Saankhya philosophers followed by Lord Krishna in Geeta attempted to answer why interchangeability of matter and energy exists, though in terms of philosophy for which no mathematical equation exists. A quote from ‘Bhagvat Geeta’ (अध्याय 4, श्लोक 6 i.e. Chapter 4, verse 6) 

अज: अपि सन् अव्ययात्मा भूतानां ईश्वर: अपि सन्
प्रकृतिं स्वाम् अधिष्ठाय संभवामि आत्म- मायया

i.e. by my (= that of primordial energy) intrinsic property (property of energy) I express myself (and the universe comes into being). 

This thought was subsequently also adored by Shankaraachaarya, Vivekaananda and many others. Thus "माया" (Maya) theory came into vogue. (Personally I disagree because energy and matter behave in accordance with their intrinsic properties e.g. light 'glows', electricity gives 'shocks', heat 'warms' or even 'burns', gravitational force 'pulls' etc.) 

Then an inquisitive mind will ask how can one perceive that 'Ultimate'? Patanjali, the founder of 'Yogasootra' says 'तस्य वाचक: प्रणव:' (OM/AUM- ॐ depicts 'It'). Chanting of OM ( ॐ ) can lead one to perceive the Ultimate and understandably so, since OM ( ॐ ) being in vibration and Ultimate being also in vibration, OM ( ॐ ) can resonate with the Ultimate. ‘Idol worshipers can connect with the Ultimate through the idol of the god they believe in’ say the ‘idol worshiper sages’. 

Few questions that still remain unanswered are:

1. What existed before Advaita?
2. What happened before, then existing matter exploded during ‘big bang’, which is said to be the beginning of universe?   

Well, as said by Veer Savarkar, “First page of history can not be found and history begins from second page", probably that is why Swami Vivekananda says, “As energy is the Ultimate and stable form we have to assume that energy existed, not attempting to explain how it existed and thus the Ultimate or ‘Advaita is the beginning of the universe. 

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti ( ॐ  शान्ति:  शान्ति: शान्ति: ) 

(Acknowledgement: This article would not have been able to reach this form and shape without scholarly inputs from Dr Vinze.) 

 

Kiss of 5 planets- A rare Celestial Feast!!!

In a rare celestial event, as many as five planets will be visible in the night sky for almost two weeks starting from February 23.

Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn would be visible by naked eye. While Mars with its reddish hue would be on rise for an hour after the sunset in the eastern horizon will be seen almost throughout the night, Venus would be visible towards west after sunset till 9 pm and Jupiter can be seen above Venus till 11 pm (during these coming two weeks). Saturn will be seen in the east close to midnight in the coming days.

Saturn, Mars, Mercury Venus and Jupiter surrounding the Earth

Viewpoints differ with every person, those practicing astrology would shout Armageddon, since this is a congregation of dreaded planets like Saturn (Satan), Mars and Jupiter, the largest of the known planets.

Astronomers, amateur or professionals, alike, would be focusing their telescopes to watch and study these planets and study whether this chance get-together of 6 planets (earth included) has any effects on the earth, i.e. changes in cosmic radiation, changes in electromagnetic fields etc.. 

For an avid sky watcher like me; this really is a celestial feast, so I would be posting myself on the terrace to watch this rare celestial event. 

A Tale of Two Sisters..

There I was hanging out in coffee bar listening to some good music and sipping hot coffee on Sunday afternoon. Through the glass door my roving eyes were searching for PYTs, but none were in sight. “How sad” I said to myself.

Old habits die hard..I was gazing through the glass pane again and my attention was drawn towards an old lady; probably in her early 60s and seemingly from well to do family, having an animated discussion with auto and taxi drivers. Looked like she was almost pleading to them to take her to desired destination. But auto/taxi drivers being what they are did not pay much heed to her.   

Somehow I was drawn towards this. In a flash; I gulped down coffee, tendered the bill and moved out of the coffee bar. Just to gauge the situation, I parked myself close to the scene of action and I realized that the old lady wanted to reach out to the far end of city and our friends in uniform were not much interested to go that far. Surprising I thought, generally these guys refuse to ply the shorter distance and today they were refusing the higher tariff!! ‘Human acts never fail to surprise you, isn’t it?’ 

For reasons quite unknown to me, I decided to help the old lady. “I can drop her to her destination and can also meet Rajesh, whom I haven’t met for a long time”. 

With this dual purpose in my mind I asked old lady “Can I drop you to your sister’s place ma’am”. 

“Are you sure, you can drop me there?” My emphatic affirmation brought a wry smile on her face. “OK, then let’s go”.

“Since I was going to friend’s place, who stays nearer to your sister’s place, I thought I can drop you on the way.” “Thank you, so nice of you my boy”. The compassion in her voice sounded very genuine. 

The old lady started off immediately “We have no blood relation but Kalpita, is just like my sister, we are very similar in nature. She stays so far that I have not visited her yet or have spoken to her; somehow I have not been able to reach her. I recently saw some of her photographs and I was amazed by the beauty of place where she stays.” 

I could not understand and believe that her sister was not contactable or reachable. Old lady was moving full speed but so was my car.

Not the one to stop or pay any attention to my reactions, the old lady continued in the same vein. “This was also very nice place some time back; not only were the people nice to each other but this place was also very beautiful. But look at it now. People are becoming more insular and this place is becoming filthier day by day. I had seen much better place and can just say ‘How green was my valley’. 

The old lady had practically given up hope and all my efforts to soothe her feelings were futile. So I chose the best possible option: to keep mum and thrust my foot on the accelerator. 

“Here we are! Now you can meet your sister”

“Thanks my son, I hope I can meet my sister” said old lady and vanished in the crowd in speed belying her age. 

Though surprised and amused by this event, I continued to drive in direction of my friend’s place. I was still thinking about the old lady and the turn of events. “I am Vasundhara, can you drop me to my sister’s place” the familiar sound of old lady crashed my thought process…and my sleep….

“What! The lady was asking for a lift once again, she did not reach her sister’s place and how come she did not recognize me?” as I asked flurry of questions to myself, I realized that I was on my couch and was staring at my reflection in the mirror. Soon I realized that it indeed was my dream and not a reality!!! 

This dream lingered in my mind for long time; even errands could not put off my mind wavering towards this dream. 

On one innocuous day, I was browsing through the net and stumbled upon the news- Super Earth discovered/ Twin sister of earth discovered etc. I read avidly and realized that Kepler-22b, which is around 600 light years away, could be the best hope yet for future human habitation, it could have continents, oceans and creatures. The article also said that Kepler- 22b, contains the right atmosphere to potentially support life. Kepler 22b is the first so-called "super-Earth" known to lie within the "habitable" zone- of a star similar to our Sun. This habitable zone, dubbed as the ‘Goldilocks Zone’ is the band where temperatures are just right to allow the existence of surface liquid water throughout its orbit.

 

Somehow, I could see the parallel in the information about Kepler- 22b and events that unfolded in my dream and as I started to dovetail my dream and information on Kepler-22b, I was struck by thunderbolt!!!!

“Gee, Did I meet mother Earth? Was that old lady the personification of mother Earth?”

Analyzing further I realized that the hints were aplenty, only I couldn’t pick them up. For starters, her sister was staying far away and as the old lady said, she somehow could not speak to her sister, Kalpita.”

“Well the names of two sisters should also have rung the bell. Old lady was Vasundhara, which means ‘The Earth’ and her distant sister’s name was Kalpita, which means ‘imaginary’”. I could not help but to conclude that I met The Earth in my dream.

“Wow! That makes me the first person to have seen and talked to Earth” As I started to revisit my discussions with the mother Earth, I realized that she was very unhappy about the surroundings and how bad the current conditions are. Her plight saddened me. “Promise yourself, that you would do everything in your capacity to make this a better place once again” I said to myself.  

Artist's impression of Kepler-22b (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler-22b)

We celebrate World Environment Day but it’s still a Day, what we do throughout the year would decide how long we could ‘celebrate’ such days. I was reminded of famous lines from Robert Frost poem, 

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
and miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep

Hey folks, can we take a vow to make our mother Earth, one of the most unique places in this entire universe, really unique, beautiful and a better place. The onus, my friends, is well and truly on us.