Why was the LHC required to find the Higgs?

In summary, the LHC was required to find the Higgs particle because it is more difficult to identify in the noise compared to the top quark. The collider has higher luminosity, making it more effective in discovering the Higgs. Additionally, the LHC has newer technology and higher energy hadrons, leading to a larger cross section and more collisions. Antiproton-proton collisions would have been even more effective, but at the LHC energy, this is not significant.
  • #1
copernicus1
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If the Higgs is around 126 GeV, why was the LHC required to find it, when the Tevatron is capable of 1 TeV collisions and had already found the top quark which is quite a bit heavier? Is this because of something special about proton-proton collisions?

Thanks!

PS Please don't say "they did see the Higgs at the Tevatron!" I'm aware of those results, but clearly there must've been some reason why the LHC was thought to be more effective in discovering this particle.
 
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  • #2
It is more difficult to see the Higgs particle in the noise. Identifying the top quark is easier than identifying the Higgs. So you need a collider with higher luminosity, which is the LHC.

Regarding the Higgs being "found" at the Tevatron: I don't think they had 5 sigma significance to declare a discovery.
 
  • #3
Also, at the LHC the production is dominated by gluon fusion process via top loop.

With higher energy hadrons (3.5, 4 TeV) the gluon Parton distribution function is larger and thus the cross section increases.

Also Lhc detectors are newer technology, so in general better
 
  • #4
http://pdg3.lbl.gov/atlasblog/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Picture-1.png [Broken]
The plot is older than the discovery, so there is no line for 126 GeV, but 150 GeV is close enough. At the LHC, the cross-section is more than an order of magnitude larger (even with 7 and 8 TeV), and at the same time the LHC collected more collisions (25/fb integrated luminosity, while the Tevatron experiments got 10/fb). This means the LHC experiments had ~50 times more Higgs particles, with just ~2.5 times more background.
And the LHC detectors are better, of course.

Antiproton-proton collisions would have been even better, but at the LHC energy, that does not matter so much any more.
 
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1. Why was the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) built?

The LHC was built to conduct high-energy particle collisions in order to explore the fundamental building blocks of the universe and answer some of the most pressing questions in physics. It was also built to search for the Higgs boson, a particle that is thought to give other particles their mass.

2. What is the significance of finding the Higgs boson?

Finding the Higgs boson would confirm the existence of the Higgs field, which is believed to give particles their mass. This discovery would also help complete the Standard Model of particle physics, providing a more complete understanding of the fundamental forces and particles in the universe.

3. How does the LHC help in the search for the Higgs boson?

The LHC is able to collide particles at very high energies, recreating conditions that were present in the early universe. This allows scientists to observe the interactions and decay of particles, potentially leading to the detection of the Higgs boson if it exists.

4. What other discoveries have been made at the LHC besides the Higgs boson?

The LHC has also been used to discover new particles, such as the pentaquark and the tetraquark, which are made up of five and four quarks respectively. It has also provided evidence for the existence of the elusive dark matter, a substance that makes up about 27% of the universe.

5. Are there any potential risks associated with operating the LHC?

There is no evidence to suggest that the LHC poses any significant risks to the public or the environment. The energy levels used in the collisions are similar to those that occur naturally in the universe. Additionally, extensive safety measures are in place to ensure the proper operation and containment of the LHC.

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