Re: Is the search for the Higgs boson a farce?

On Mar 10, 1:03 am, frankli...@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
I have been doing some research on what it would mean to discover the
Higgs boson. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that any
positive discovery of any particle over about 100 GeV would be
immediately accorded the discovery of the Higgs particle.


Not just any particle in that range. The Higgs has to be a scalar.


Now this seems wrong to me. First, the standard model doesn't even
predict a precise value for the Higgs Boson, so even if somebody found
something in the theoretical range of for the mass of a Higgs Boson,
how could they possibly prove that it was a Higgs particle and not
something else?


Finding a scalar and not a vector would probably be a very good sign.


Second, even if you could justify the discovery by the mass value, how
could you then prove that this is the particle responsible for
creating the Higgs field? Could it not just be another new particle
with none of the properties of the Higgs? Mass is not the only
property of the Higgs. This is the thing that gives everything mass.


Actually, it's the Higgs field that gives everything mass. The Higgs
particle is a by-product of that interaction. As far as I can tell,
there is no other attribute of the Higgs particle other than mass. It
has neither charge nor spin.



Third, why would we think the Higgs particle would decay so that it
could be detected in particle accelerators?


Why would it have to decay?


If the Higgs boson forms
an all pervasive field, then in order to persist, it should not decay
at all. If you managed to produce a Higgs particle, I would say that
it would just happily join the rest of the Higgs particles that
supposedly fill all of space - why on earth would it decay if it is
normally stable everywhere? If this Higgs doesn't decay, isn't it
hopeless to look for it in particle accelerators since we can only
study the charged decay products? If it doesn't instantly decay, then
how can it possibly have the properties ascribed to it?


Decay has nothing to do with it. The Higgs should be a boson
exchanged between fermions. But an energy at least equal to its mass
is required in order to see it.


Fourth, how can they claim such high probabilities for the existence
of a particle based on a handlful of results? The supposed hint of a
discovery at LEP was apparently confirmed by 1 event and collaborated
by 2 others. Wow, 3 events out of a bizillion collisions. Yet the
chance of this being noise was said to be something like 1 out of 250.
3 events out of a bizillion IS noise. If you discover something as
pervasive as the Higgs, then you better see a huge percentage of
collisions result in the particle you are looking for. The number of
collaborating events should approach a million at least to claim
discovery.


The Higgs may or may not actually exist. But that doesn't mean we
shouldn't look for it. There may yet be alternative mechanisms that
provide mass, but I'm not aware of any reputable theories in that
regard.


So how about it - these are simple and I think fair questions to ask
of the basic science involved in the discovery of the Higgs boson - so
many billions of dollars have been spent on the search - it should
make sense.

-fhuhiggs

.

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