The father of the “God particle” did not believe in God

2013. The year that Peter Higgs He was a Nobel Prize winner for his pioneering theoretical work that led scientists at the LHC at CERN in Switzerland to discover the aptly named particle, “Higgs boson”. The particle was later characterized by Leon Lederman Popular (but also offensive). “Molecule – God” (“God particle”) or “God particle” as spelled in Greek.

The whole controversy is over her name Bosun This particle first appeared in the news with the death of Peter Higgs at the age of 94, while the particle has inspired aspects of popular culture such as “Higgs Boson gloom” by Nick Cave, which also pays tribute to blues legend, Robert Johnson who, according to popular legend, “sold” his soul and guitar to the devil. This is the other side of God.

It is no coincidence that “Higgs Boson Blues” was also released in 2013 On “Push the Sky Away” the fifteenth consecutive album by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

The particle is simulated With “God” it is normal Because it's practically a trademark of a field that spreads throughout the universe and gives particles the mass they have. Scientists believe that immediately after the Big Bang, many particles had no mass but gained it This is thanks to this field, which also bears the name Higgs. Any particle that interacts with the field gains mass. The existence of the Higgs particle, entangled with the homogeneous field, is crucial to understanding the origin of mass, hence the importance of verifying it.

Hate bigots

The same Higgs did not believe in any divine dimension surrounding his discovery, At least somewhat esoteric. Speaking to The Guardian in 2013 on the occasion of receiving a joint award with… François Angler (François Englert) said, on the one hand, that the award itself did not surprise him at all, but on the contrary, because he had waited days for it to happen, he “felt relieved” when it happened. On the other hand, he admitted that he never liked that characterization The “God particle” of his boson. “First, I am not a believer. Some people confuse science with theology. Some say that what happened at CERN proves the existence of God. The Church in Spain is also responsible for how they use the label, as proof of what they are trying to prove. All this reinforces distorted thinking in the heads of people who think “In a really confusing way.”

However, many sent him letters and emails stating that the boson had been “prophesied” in the Torah, Quran and Buddhist scriptures, which made him even more frustrated with the whole “aliasing” thing.

but, Higgs was opposed to radical methods. His feud with the biologist was well known Richard Dawkins (Author of the book The Divine Illusion) and his rejection of religion. “What Dawkins does is criticize fundamentalists. But there are many believers who are simply not fundamentalists. Fundamentalism is another problem. However, in his own way Dawkins almost becomes a fundamentalist.” In El Mundo.

“The real scientist, no matter how passionately he may say 'I believe,' must find the evidence. The fundamentalist does not need that.” He was saying. In the same interview Higgs emphasized that although he was not a believer, he did not reject the possibility of science and religion coexisting in the world.. “The development of our understanding of the world through science weakens some of the motivations that make people religious. But that is not to say that these two fields are incompatible. I truly believe that traditional doctrines are taking the world backwards. From now on, any non-dogmatic person of faith can continue to Faith in its own way I am not a believer myself, because of my family background and not because there is a fundamental difficulty in reconciling the two.

His life and political positions

He was born on May 29, 1929 in Newcastle, Britain. He obtained his doctorate in 1954 While in 1964 he published two of his papers in the journal Physical Rev. Letters describing the mechanism of spontaneous symmetry breaking. This mechanism predicts the existence of a boson, whose field fluctuations give rise to the mass of all particles associated with it.

in his life Higgs has been politicized and persistent. He is said to have “confirmed” his theory in his mind by walking on a weekend in the Cairngorms National Park, and he loved walking in general. As The Guardian wrote On the day it was announced that he had been awarded the Nobel Prize, he was not home to take calls. While he was walking in the neighborhood, a neighbor stopped him to congratulate him on the award. He replied: “What prize?” He was distinguished by kindness and humility. When he won the Nobel Prize, he almost felt ashamed because he surpassed his other colleagues, as he described it η Deca-Aitkenheadone of the few who had the opportunity to speak with him in an interview.

“Apart from his extraordinary contribution to particle physics, Peter was a very special person, an incredibly inspiring figure for physicists around the world, a man of rare humility, a great teacher and someone who explains physics in a very simple and at the same time profound way. “An important part of CERN's history and achievements. I am very sad and will miss him very much.”

– Fabiola Gianotti, Director General of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).

Higgs politically He has always been on the side of the Labor Party. In the mid-1960s, he clashed with the management of the University of Edinburgh over criticism of his support for student protests. Students at the time were protesting against the university's shareholding in South African companies. Over the years he has fought for greater participation of university professors in the operation of the institution in terms of its management and general operation. Because of his political stances… He was also banned from speaking in 1966 at a scheduled lecture at the University of North Carolina. During his life he actively supported the movement To boycott Israeli university institutions As a result, he did not go to Jerusalem to receive the Wolf Prize in Physics in 2004.

He even admitted that he suffered from depression for many years when his marriage collapsed in the 1970s Technology and its developments, He loved watching them but was not involved in his daily life. He said that he got a mobile phone in 2010, “bought for me by my son.” However, no one else had his number, except his close relatives. “Why should you be interrupted on your cell phone? Because they like to stay in touch when they want to? I don’t want to be in touch,” he told The Guardian, laughing. “This is all an invasion of privacy and I certainly don’t feel obligated to accept it.”

also, He didn't have a TV. “It's not just that I don't see it as a 'window' to the outside world. I think it's an artifact.” He didn't appreciate “The Big Bang Theory” at all when a friend suggested he watch it.

“Today, I wouldn't have an academic job. It's too simple. I don't think they would consider me productive enough.” About the way he liked to work. His published works were counted on the fingers of one hand at a time when, he said, young academics must be publishing constantly.

“I can not imagine How can I have peace and quiet today “To achieve something like what I achieved in 1964.”