The Higgs Boson and Beyond

Professor Carroll tackles the question of why the discovery of the Higgs boson is such a big deal; the world of modern particle physics; how the Higgs is the missing piece of a scientific puzzle that helps one understand the "rules" for the universe.

Exploring the big twist of quantum field theory that the world is not really made of particles; they are figments of quantum mechanics created by observing the fields that fill the universe; grasping this is essential to understanding the Higgs.

Walking through the "particle zoo"; exploring the roles of photons, gluons and quarks; the development of the Standard Model; how the changing understanding of the weak nuclear field suggests the existence of the Higgs years before its finding.

Symmetries do not only apply to geometrical objects; they apply to the laws of physics themselves; exploring how symmetry governs the known forces of nature; how it helps form a theory that an as-yet-undiscovered particle must exist.

The decades-long hunt for the Higgs; meeting brilliant minds such as Anderson, Englert and Higgs who set out to solve the mystery of the weak nuclear field; discovering why Angelina Jolie is like a top quark.

Classical physics provides insight into what makes the Higgs so special; uncovering the key to the Higgs's uniqueness in the particle zoo; even at its minimum energy state, the Higgs field has a large, constant value.

How physicists set out to locate the Higgs boson; bringing the particles and fields together under the right conditions; how physicists use Feynman diagrams to keep track of how virtual particles carry the forces between quarks and leptons.

Professor Carroll shares information on how to build a particle accelerator; learning that particle accelerators are not simply "atom smashers"; they bring into existence new particles that are not there before.

If blacksmithing is like particle physics, the Large Hadron Collider is the anvil; it represents the cooperation of scientists worldwide over the course of years; exploring its construction, capabilities and promise for the future of physics.

With the LHC complete, the search for the Higgs begins in earnest; particle physics combines with probability to find the missing piece in the Standard Model puzzle; Professor Carroll describes the hunt; the key players in this discovery.

The properties of the Higgs suggest that something else is at work out there; the Higgs boson can be a stepping stone to dark matter, extra dimensions, the asymmetry of matter and antimatter and a Grand Unified Theory of particle physics.

Even with the Higgs, dark matter and dark energy in the universe cannot be explained; in his conclusion, Professor Carroll shines a light on dark matter; its relationship with the Higgs; the mysteries still ahead.