Cool! Fake Higgs boson news. (Or at to the lowest degree misleading headline.) https://t.co/RkVRwAoONB
— Lisa Randall (@lirarandall) February 8, 2017
Through a digg tweet, she was referring to the article inwards Vice's Motherboard:
Why the Higgs Boson Found at the Large Hadron Collider Could Be an ‘Impostor’by Farnia Fekri. All 3 key folks inwards this "story" are women: Lisa Randall, Farnia Fekri, together with Usha Mallik, an Iowa experimental particle physicist who is the primary heroine inwards Fekri's article. I demand to emphasize it inwards guild to move sure that the PC people won't accuse me of doing likewise lilliputian to promote the ties betwixt scientific discipline together with the scientifically inferior gender. ;-)
Even though at that spot were another reactions amid Lisa's followers – non genuinely folks who follow particle physics inwards most cases – together with I volition hash out their reactions, my reply was real similar to Lisa's. The championship is mistaken intelligence (and the trunk of the article contains some diluted solution of it). Well, it is a falsehood at to the lowest degree to the extent that the negation of the proffer is much to a greater extent than truthful – together with it is a much to a greater extent than of import truth, too. What's going on?
By belatedly 2011, the LHC had already accumulated a sufficient issue of collisions hence that the folks could analyze those amongst 2 photons at the halt rather finely together with they establish an excess of events amongst 2 photons that seem to arise from a decay of a novel boson of volume \(125\GeV\). In other words, the invariant constructed from the 2 photons' four-momenta \(p^\mu,q^\mu\)\[
(p_\mu+q_\mu)(p^\mu+q^\mu) = m^2
\] was acre equal to \((125\GeV)^2\) inwards many to a greater extent than cases than for other values of \(m\). Because a Higgs boson had to move discovered for the Standard Model to move experimentally completed as a consistent theory together with this volume was consistent amongst everything else, I told yous that a Higgs of this volume was a sure thing, although some people weren't this sane yet. ;-)
Yes, the formality occurred on the Independence Day inwards 2012: a sufficient issue allowed both ATLAS together with CMS to independently claim their 5-sigma discovery. (One detector had 4.8 or 4.9 but it's genuinely an irrelevant historical coincidence now.) The Higgs was source discovered through the decays to \(\gamma\gamma\) i.e. 2 photons or \(ZZ\), 2 Z-bosons, heavier together with as neutral electroweak siblings of the photon.
Because the volume was determined together with the in conclusion set down included the pairs of spin-one bosons, people could move sure virtually a novel particle, its mass, together with its interactions amongst the pairs of spin-one bosons. For the particle to move a Higgs boson or "the Higgs boson", it needed to receive got many other interactions – including those amongst fermion pairs – equal to the theoretically predicted value.
As the experiments at the LHC continued, they receive got proven that many to a greater extent than interactions of the novel particle are precisely as rigid together with receive got precisely the same properties, upwards to the error margins comparable to dozens of percent, as the Standard Model predicted. So doubts that it should move called a Higgs boson gradually evaporated.
So far it genuinely looks similar it is "the Higgs boson", i.e. a Higgs boson amongst the exact properties determined past times the Standard Model that has no extensions, cousins, heavier or charged siblings, together with other things. Experiments boldly yet humbly say that the globe seems ho-hum together with the theorists are 50 years ahead of the experimenters because a flawless confirmation of theories written downwardly 50 years agone is the best matter that the experimenters may exercise inwards the 2010s (naughty teenager decade or whatever is the correct request the teens) – piece they volition alone move able to address some ideas nosotros may already move sure virtually right away around 2060. ;-)
This result, "everything seems compatible amongst the Standard Model", may move interpreted inwards diverse ways, i.e. as an declaration against specific theories that endeavor to supersede the Higgs boson amongst something else or modify it heavily. Such "heavily alternative" theories that nevertheless desire to move compatible amongst the \(125\GeV\) diphoton or \(ZZ\) signal are basically known the Higgs impostor models. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 human being is only making fun of us, is jumping within the detectors, together with pretends that he is Peter Higgs. ;-)
OK, I demand to contrary this joke because 99% of the readers who also read the mainstream media would receive got it literally. No, dearest brainwashed readers, the impostor isn't a man. It is a particle whose demeanour resembles the demeanour of the Higgs boson. It may receive got a incorrect value of the spin or parity or move composite – but the properties may accidentally resemble the CP-even, spin-zero, simple Higgs boson nosotros assume that the novel particle genuinely is.
I could reach yous links to numerous private papers that analyzed the LHC collisions together with determined that the Higgs impostor theories are basically dead. No ane tin emulate Higgs hence accurately. So an of import decision from the LHC experiments – that correspond dozens of hours spent past times hundreds of members of the ATLAS together with CMS collaborations since 2011 or 2012 – is that
The Higgs Boson Found at the Large Hadron Collider Almost Certainly Cannot Be an ‘Impostor’Now, expect at the championship inwards the Motherboard mag again:
Why the Higgs Boson Found at the Large Hadron Collider Could Be an ‘Impostor’Haven't yous seen it somewhere? Yes, this championship is basically exactly the converse of an of import truth. It is non only a falsehood. It is a falsehood that tries to force the readers away from a proffer that is non alone truthful but also important, a proffer that genuinely represents the results of lots of move that has taken house at the LHC.
Is it OK to write such falsehoods? Why has it happened?
Dr Usha Mallik, the Iowa professor, is working on a sub-detector that should move inserted somewhere to the LHC past times 2023. This sub-detector could increase the abilities to abide by pairs of bottom quarks which is hard, as I volition cite inwards a infinitesimal again. And if the measurements of these decays of the Higgs to bottom quark pairs deviates from the Standard Model, together with it is a large if, it could move evidence inwards favor of an impostor theory. But again, fifty-fifty if she succeeds, it's rather probable that the information volition move compatible amongst the Standard Model only similar the information collected amongst the existing detectors hence far.
The mistaken intelligence championship may move "justified" as a shortcut for a to a greater extent than honest championship such as
a woman someone experimenter inwards Iowa is working on some sub-detector that volition almost sure enough regain null novel fifty-fifty subsequently 2023 when it's installed but the move is justified past times the observation that if it could regain some difference from the Standard Model, it would move evidence inwards favor of a Higgs impostor theory, a type of theories that seem almost dead past times now, however.In other words, a lady is doing some ho-hum materials that won't Pb anywhere. This summary doesn't audio hence sexy hence they receive got improved it together with basically claimed that the Higgs that has been discovered "could" move an impostor fifty-fifty though the actual evidence that has been collected seems to imply precisely the opposite – that it cannot move an impostor, at to the lowest degree non a generic one.
Let me cite that the Higgs boson is predicted to decay to\[
h \to b\bar b
\] the span of the bottom quark together with its antiparticle inwards a percent of cases. However, pairs of bottom quarks are created non alone from decaying Higgs bosons but also from the "unavoidable QCD mess" at the LHC – which collides protons i.e. hadrons, messy QCD bound states. You may read virtually this decay channel e.g. inwards this CERN Courier article. The observation of the direct decay to the bottom quark-antiquark span is hard. However, at that spot exists a to a greater extent than complicated process:
It's called the vector-boson fusion, or VBF.
Two quarks from the 2 colliding protons emit 2 massive electroweak guess bosons (W-bosons or Z-bosons) that larn merged into a Higgs boson, together with that Higgs boson decays to the bottom quark-antiquark pair. What is prissy virtually this Feynman diagram is that the in conclusion bottom quarks (the pump correct role of the diagram) aren't straight connected to the quarks together with gluons within the LHC protons through quark together with gluon (i.e. strongly interacting) propagators.
Instead, these bottom propagators are alone connected to the quarks from protons past times electroweak propagators – past times the Higgs and the electroweak spin-one bosons. This fact makes the key part of the Feynman diagram create clean – liberated from the pollution past times the messy QCD effect. Consequently, the complicated QCD effects don't contribute hence much to the background together with the signal may move rather easily separated from the background. And the information already collected at the LHC are already extensive plenty to convey us statistically meaning evidence that the procedure depicted past times the diagram is taking place.
The outcome is almost the same: when the signal is found, the interaction of the Higgs boson to the 2 bottoms is demonstrated. I discussed VBF inwards guild to exhibit that fifty-fifty if Usha Mallik succeeded inwards measuring the bottom quark decays of the Higgs using a novel sub-detector, it in all likelihood wouldn't move a qualitatively novel uncovering that would convey the theorists novel information virtually an interaction betwixt simple particles. The \(hb\bar b\) interaction may move probed differently, without the sub-detectors.
Experimental particle physicists receive got a rather difficult job. Even relatively modest, technical advances that almost sure enough won't "shift the paradigm" require years of move together with sometimes billions of dollars. Even if it were discovered that the Higgs establish inwards 2012 is an impostor, it would move something that 99.9999% of the mankind doesn't attention about. For particle physicists, it could move a revolution. But this revolution is real unlikely to receive got house together with it is arguably fifty-fifty less probable to receive got house because of Usha Mallik's work.
I know that these summaries don't audio as attractive as overhyped titles together with they may move a worse starting indicate for Usha Mallik to larn novel grants etc. However, what I say is far to a greater extent than truthful together with honest than what the Motherboard wrote.
It has unfortunately boot the bucket a measure policy to write falsehoods together with lies as titles of article together with fifty-fifty grant applications together with it's non only the real nasty people known as the journalists who are responsible for that. The scientists sometimes encourage such falsehoods themselves – together with they oftentimes exercise goodness from these lies fifty-fifty to a greater extent than than the journalists do. The ethical standards receive got dropped sufficiently hence that Usha Mallik together with others recollect that "it's only OK to write whatever prevarication amongst keywords related to my research" when her move is beingness described past times the media. Sorry but it is not fine.
I receive got already mentioned that most of Lisa's followers don't receive got a clue. But it was ane physics PhD pupil whose cluelessness was to a greater extent than visible:
@lirarandall #fakenews? Crap, wait, we're scientists. We can't only utilisation "fake news" as an argument, tin we.....stupid ethics.....
— Christopher Jantzi (@great_jantzitsu) February 8, 2017
He was clearly trying to chastise Lisa as if he were some moral authority. What the hell are yous talking about, Christopher? Lisa hasn't tweeted whatever argument. She only made an observation that an article amongst a championship that seems mistaken to her – together with to me and, to a greater extent than importantly, to most particle physicists, likewise – was published inwards a magazine.
The phrase "fake news" has been stylish for several months. It's been used past times the anti-Trump leftist media together with it was oftentimes used inadequately. Many things labeled as "fake news" weren't mistaken at all – together with on the contrary, it was many articles virtually "fake news" together with particularly virtually the origin of these alleged "fake news" (especially when the origin was claimed to move inwards Moscow) that were the actual "fake news".
One may say that the term "fake news" has backfired. It's been used against those who had used it for the source time. There receive got been diverse social processes similar that. But at the end, "fake news" is only a currently stylish synonym for an "untrue article inwards the media". There receive got ever been untrue articles inwards the media together with nosotros ever needed to utilisation some words to depict "untrue articles inwards the media". The term "fake news" does a improve chore than others – it's catchy together with concise plenty – together with it's plausible that its lifetime volition move longer than nosotros mightiness think.
Even if she hasn't posted whatever long weblog shipping service substantiating her views, at that spot is null "unethical" virtually Lisa's usage of the term "fake news" for something that she considers a falsehood published past times the media. Christopher, if yous recollect that "ethics" agency the rules to avoid several phases that yous receive got arbitrarily declared as taboos, such as the phrase "fake news", together with hence your ethics isn't worth much.