【纪念文章】【近代物理学】【粒子物理学】【MIT】【彼得·希格斯】Commemorating Peter Higgs (1929.5.29~2024.4.8)

引言

曾预言希格斯玻色子（Higgs Boson Particle），又称“上帝粒子”（God Particle）的英国物理学家Peter Higgs于2024年4月8日去世，恰好本期的 MIT技术双月刊（3-4月） 刊登了一篇关于粒子物理学的文章，这里提炼总结一些观点，并给出粒子物理学的基本模型。

Standard Model of Particle Physics

Figure rearranged from A Journey to the Edge of Particle Physics

Explanation:

Fermions and Bosons:

Quarks: Are bound together by gluons. They form composite particles called hadrons, the most stable of which are protons and neutrons, the components of atomic nuclei.

Leptons: Can be charged or neutral. The charged leptons are the electron, muon, and tau. Each of these has a neutral neutrino counterpart.

Gauge bosons: Convey forces. Gluons carry the strong force; photons carry the electromagnetic force; and W and Z bosons carry the weak force, which is involved in radioactive processes.

The Higgs boson: Is the fundamental particle associated with the Higgs field, a field that permeates the entire universe and gives mass to other fundamental particles.

Nobel for the Higgs Boson

Quote from MIT Tech Review:

In 2012, using data from the LHC (Large Hadron Collider), researchers discovered a particle called the Higgs boson. In the process, they answered a nagging
question: Where do fundamental particles, such as the ones that make up all the protons and neutrons in our bodies, get their mass? A half-century earlier, theorists had cautiously dreamed the Higgs boson up, along with an accompanying field that would invisibly suffuse space and provide mass to particles that interact with it. When the particle was finally found, scientists celebrated with champagne. A Nobel for two of the physicists who predicted the Higgs boson soon followed.

Reference

The Technology Review, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, March/April 2024.