If Higgs has mass of 125GeV why did the LHC need 3.5TeV?

In summary, the question at hand is why a powerful collider, specifically the LHC running at 3.5 TeV, was necessary to find the Higgs particle with a mass of 125GeV. The answer lies in the fact that at lower energies, the chances of a parton collision producing a Higgs particle are very slim. Additionally, finding the Higgs particle among the many other particles produced in collisions is a difficult task. While it is technically possible to find the Higgs at lower energy collisions, it is not practical due to the extremely low probability and the time it would take (1600 years) to find it at a lower energy collider like the Tevatron. Thus, a higher energy collider like the LHC
  • #1
SheriffPeabody
4
0
Hi, I've tried to find an answer to this question, sorry if it's already been asked. I'm sure I have misunderstood something important here, but if the Higgs was found to have a mass of 125GeV, why did we need such a powerful collider to find it? (I think the LHC was running at 3.5TeV when they found the Higgs particle)

I'm guessing there's more to it than just power, but I'm wondering why it wasn't possible to have found the Higgs at a different lower powered collider?
 
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  • #2
The 3.5 TeV was the energy of the protons being collided. The partons inside the proton (quarks and gluons) only carry a fraction of this energy. At 3.5 TeV, you would need to get very lucky to find a parton collision where the partons each carry a large part of the energy. It is much more likely to have a collision where the partons carry only a fraction of the total energy.
 
  • #3
Ah right so it's technically possible to find it at lower energy collisions, but just incredibly unlikely?
 
  • #4
It is technically possible to produce it at lower energy, just incredibly unlikely. Finding it is even more challenging, because most collisions produce other particles and you have to find the few events with Higgs in them. I wrote an insights article about this.
A higher energy increases the fraction of collisions with a Higgs.
 
  • #5
It's a question of practicality. The Teavtron would have found the Higgs in the 2 photon mode (which is not the best mode for them) had they run long enough. However, "long enough" is 1600 years.
 

1. How does the mass of the Higgs boson relate to the energy of the LHC?

The mass of the Higgs boson is directly related to the energy of the LHC through Einstein's famous equation, E=mc². This means that the higher the energy of the LHC, the greater the possibility of creating a Higgs boson with a higher mass. By increasing the energy of the LHC to 3.5TeV, scientists were able to increase the chances of creating a Higgs boson with a mass of 125GeV.

2. Why did the LHC need such a high energy to create a Higgs boson with a mass of 125GeV?

The mass of the Higgs boson is a measure of its energy, and it requires a high amount of energy to create particles with a high mass. In order to produce a Higgs boson with a mass of 125GeV, the LHC needed to operate at an energy of 3.5TeV, which is one of the highest energies ever achieved by a particle accelerator.

3. What other factors besides energy are important in creating a Higgs boson with a specific mass?

In addition to energy, other factors such as the type of particles being collided and the accuracy of the detectors play a crucial role in creating and detecting a Higgs boson with a specific mass. The LHC also had to carefully control the intensity and stability of the particle beams in order to create and detect the Higgs boson with a mass of 125GeV.

4. What would have happened if the LHC had not been able to reach an energy of 3.5TeV?

If the LHC had not been able to reach an energy of 3.5TeV, it would have been much less likely to create a Higgs boson with a mass of 125GeV. This would have made it much more difficult to confirm the existence of the Higgs boson and would have required scientists to continue searching for it at even higher energies.

5. How does the discovery of a Higgs boson with a mass of 125GeV impact our understanding of the universe?

The discovery of a Higgs boson with a mass of 125GeV was a major breakthrough in our understanding of the fundamental building blocks of the universe. It confirmed the existence of the Higgs field and provided evidence for the mechanism of electroweak symmetry breaking, which explains how particles acquire mass. This discovery has helped to further our understanding of the laws of physics and the origins of the universe.

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