Rumores de que o maior esmagador de átomos do mundo encontrou a sub-partícula atômica HIgss boson, conhecida como a ‘partícula de Deus’ inundaram a Internet ontem, (25/4).
A especulação foi baseada em uma nota interna que vazou, a qual alegadamente partiu de um físico do Grande Colisor da Hádrons – LHC, um acelerador de partículas de 27 km próximo de Geneva, na Suíça.
Os rumores começaram quando uma postagem anônima parcial da nota foi colocada no blog de Peter Woit, um professor de matemática da Universidade de Columbia.
Enquanto alguns físicos estão dizendo que a nota foi uma farsa, outras dizem que o achado poderia ser um grande avanço na compreensão do funcionamento do universo.
O físico Sheldon Stone, da Universidade de Syracuse disse: “Se for real, será muito empolgante.”
Teorisa-se que a partícula Higgs boson exista dentro da teoria conhecida como Modelo Padrão. Os físicos acreditam que a Higgs boson fornece massa para todas as outras partículas e foi crucial para a formação do comos após o Big Bang.
Os grandes esmagadores de átomos, como o LHC e o Tevatron da Femilab, no estado de Illinois, EUA, por muito tempo têm procurado pela Higgs e outras partículas sub-atômicas. Estes aceleradores fazem as partículas colidirem à velocidades enormes, gerando uma “chuva” de outras partículas.
A nota que vazou sugere que o experimento de detecção de partícula ATLAS, do LHC, pode ter pego uma assinatura da elusiva partícula Higgs.
Stone disse: “É ilegítimo e não científico falar em público sobre materiais de colaboração interna antes que sejam aprovados. Assim, este ‘resultado’ não é considerado resultado até que a colaboração oficial seja publicada.”
O sinal pode ser evidência de alguma outra partícula, disse Stone. “Isto em alguma forma seria ainda mais interessante, ou poderia ser o resultado de uma nova física além do Modelo Padrão“, complementou.
Tudo que podemos fazer por agora é esperar se haverá uma confirmação oficial da notícia.
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Fonte: www.dailymail.co.uk
The Higgs boson explains why all other particles have mass and is fundamental to a complete understanding of matter.
Dr Renton’s assessment of the Higgs hunt is published in Nature magazine.
His paper in the journal reviews the current state of play.
“There’s certainly evidence for something, whether it’s the Higgs boson is questionable,” Dr Renton, a particle physicist at Oxford, told BBC News Online.
“It’s compatible with the Higgs boson certainly, but only a direct observation would show that.”
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 It’s compatible with the Higgs boson certainly, but only a direct observation would show that  Dr Peter Renton, University of Oxford
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If correct, Dr Renton’s assessment would place the elusive particle’s mass at about 115 gigaelectronvolts.
Unstable particle
This comes from a signal obtained at the large electron positron collider (LEP) in Geneva, Switzerland, which has now been dismantled to make way for its replacement – the large hadron collider (LHC).
However, there is a 9% probability that the signal could be background “noise”.
Before the LEP accelerator was decommissioned, physicists used it to send particles called electrons and positrons careering in opposite directions around its circular pipe, which had a circumference of about 27km.
When these particles collided, they created bursts of high energy. Such collisions themselves are too small to study but new, heavier particles can appear amongst the debris.
The Higgs boson is thought to be highly unstable and, once produced, should quickly decay.
Dr Renton cites indirect evidence taken from observations of the behaviour of other particles in colliders that agrees with the figure of 115 gigaelectronvolts for the mass of the Higgs boson.
The LEP’s huge ring was used to study the particles in our universe
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“It’s controversial. The data is possibly indicative, but it needs confirmation,” said Bryan Webber, professor of theoretical physics at the University of Cambridge.
“Its mass is right at the maximum energy they could run the [LEP] at. But the indirect indications are that the Higgs boson should be close to that value.”
Mass giver
Physicists have observed 16 particles that make up all matter under the Standard Model of fundamental particles and interactions.
But the sums do not quite add up for the Standard Model to be true if these particles are considered alone. If only 16 particles existed, they would have no mass – contradicting what we know to be true in nature.
Another particle has to give them this mass. Enter the Higgs boson, first proposed by University of Edinburgh physicist Peter Higgs and colleagues in the late 1960s.
Their theory was that all particles acquire their mass through interactions with an all-pervading field, called the Higgs field, which is carried by the Higgs boson.
The Higgs’ importance to the Standard Model has led some to dub it the “God particle”.
Dr Renton said he hoped that once the large hadron collider was up and running in 2007, the Higgs boson would be detected within a year or two.
The LHC is a more energetic accelerator which will allow a much higher mass range to be explored. It will also be capable of producing much more intense particle beams which means that data can be aggregated much faster.
It is also possible the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory outside Chicago, US, could make the discovery.
Researchers there are hopeful they can secure enough data to prove the Higgs’ existence before the LHC comes online.
