https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/apr/09/peter-higgs-obituary
"In 1964 the theoretical physicist Peter Higgs, who has died aged 94, suggested
that the universe contains an all-pervading essence that can be manifested in
the form of particles. This idea inspired governments to spend billions to find
what became known as Higgs bosons.
The so-called “Higgs mechanism” controls the rate of thermonuclear fusion that
powers the sun, but for which this engine of the solar system would have
expired long before evolution had time to work its miracles on earth. The
structure of atoms and matter and, arguably, existence itself are all suspected
to arise as a result of the mechanism, whose veracity was proved with the
experimental discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012.
The Nobel laureate physicist Leon Lederman famously described the boson as “the
God particle”. Higgs, an atheist, found this inappropriate and misleading, but
the name stuck and helped bring fame to the idea, and to Higgs. He in turn
became a Nobel prizewinner in 2013."
RIP,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
