Higgs rumors prior to CERN seminar

[rhody]

I did a search before posting. Posted yesterday, The Register,

Rumours of Higgs sightings precede latest results seminar

The press statement is careful to manage expectations about what will be discussed at the seminar:

These results will be based on the analysis of considerably more data than those presented at the summer conferences, sufficient to make significant progress in the search for the Higgs boson, but not enough to make any conclusive statement on the existence or non-existence of the Higgs.

But this has only seemed to fuel the rumours that the boffins have indeed had sight of the particle, just not enough to be “conclusive”.

The rumours, on the Vixra Log and Not Even Wrong blogs, are that the Higgs boson has been ‘seen’ by both ATLAS and CMS, and with a mass in the range of prediction at 125 GeV (giga-electron volts).

and
However, the two experiments are only seeing the particles at 2.5 to 3.5 sigma (the measure of statistical certainty).

At 2.5 sigma, there is a 1 per cent chance that the results are a fluke, and at 3.8 sigma, that chance drops to 0.01 per cent.

This could mean that CERN is ready to announce that they have spotted evidence of the particle, but they wouldn’t say they had ‘discovered’ it at this level of uncertainty

Form this link correct me if I am wrong, 3.5 sigma would be equal to:

22750 defects per million opportunities

and 5 sigma, 233 parts per million would be enough confidence that the Higgs had been cornered, so to speak.

Rhody...

 

[humanino]

I find it very strange how some scientists pay attention to rumors. They must have too much time.

 

[suprised]

I find it very strange how some scientists pay attention to rumors. They must have too much time.

Whom do you mean? The bloggers are not scientists.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Please reread the PF Rules again, everyone. We do not discuss unpublished results and rumors here.