Today, we celebrate our freedom from symmetry – libertas ex symmetria. If the universe respected Electro-Weak symmetry, the fundamental building blocks of nature would have no mass. Thankfully, the massless oppression of that symmetry is broken in nature. As a consequence, subatomic building blocks of nature can possess mass through their interaction with the Higgs particle. One positive result? We exist at all.
The discovery of a new particle, consistent with the Higgs particle, was presented today by both the ATLAS and CMS Experiments. So let us together all celebrate our #FreedomFromSymmetry!
Let us also thank the outstanding physicists and engineers who conceived of, built, and operated these incredible machines. We should also celebrate the many Ph.D.s that have resulted and will result from the hunt for the Higgs particle and from all of the other fascinating physics topics that can be explored at multi-purpose collider-detector experiments like CDF and DZero (Tevatron), and ATLAS and CMS (LHC).
Many thanks to Joseph Tuggle for sharing the term “Higgsdependence Day” with me; I don’t know if he invented it or not, but am certainly grateful. Happy July 4th everybody!
My live blog of the results from the ATLAS and CMS seminars is available here:
