Large Hadron Collider •

On Wednesday, a group of US and UK researchers involved in the ATLAS experiment announced they needed volunteers from all over the world to help them examine all 25.000 photos showing super-fast particles moving and dieing inside the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

The LHC is the world’s largest particles smasher and it was built by the European Organization for Nuclear Research aka CERN. Its initial goal was to collide particles at super-speeds, make them explode and give birth to sub-particles that may help scientists decode the texture of the universe.

For many years, the LHC teams searched for a particular particle called the Higgs boson, or God’s particle. In 2013, LHC confirmed that such a particle was found, although global community was worried the sub-atomic experiments occurring at the Swiss–French border might create a set of mini black holes that would suck all Earth into them.

We are still here, so that didn’t happen. Two of the most important CERN experiments are the CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) and the ATLAS experiment. Each experiment uses different methods and designs, but they share the same goals. For instance they both have searched for the Higs boson, and currently they in search of particles that could create dark matter.

Dark matter is an invisible texture that holds the Universe together and it can only be detected from its gravitational effects.

On November 20, CMS team has also made its Open Data Portal (ODP) available to the general public. ODP is a database containing information on real LHC particle collisions. CMS scientists said they made the infos public because they were hoping this would inspire and support more scientists, and even students or amateurs.

This week, ATLAS team of researchers launched another project called Higgs Hunters (they even have a site for it). Higgs Hunters needs on-line volunteers to help CERN researchers examine all the LHC particle collisions caught on camera. There are currently 25.000 photos to be closely examined.

Scientists say that volunteers can help them track the sub-atomic explosions caused by a dieing Higgs particle and the sub-particles emerging during the process. These sub-particles, scientists believe, will help mankind understand better the origins of the Universe.

“If anything discovering what happens when a Higgs boson ‘dies’ could be even more exciting than the original discovery that the Higgs boson exists made at CERN back in 2012. We want volunteers to help us go beyond the Higgs boson ‘barrier’ by examining pictures of these collisions and telling us what they see,”

said Professor Alan Barr lead author of the Higgs Hunters project. So, the hunting season is open and Higgs particle hunters are wanted.

The scientific world was excited last year, when CERN announced that they had observed the Higgs particle with the help of their particle accelerator (the large Hadron Collider). Until then, the Higgs boson was referred to only in theory, because there was no direct evidence of its existence.

Only a year after the discovery, November 7, scientists at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, have received disturbing news about the Higgs Boson (which some have called the “god particle”). According to a new study, the particle they uncovered is not actually Higgs Boson, but one similar to it.

“The CERN data is generally taken as evidence that the particle is the Higgs particle. It is true that the Higgs particle can explain the data but there can be other explanations, we would also get this data from particles.” Mads Toudal Frandsen, particle physicists at the University of South Denmark

In case you didn’t know, the Higgs Boson is a sub-atomic particle which has yet to be practically discovered. Nevertheless, it has become the most essential particle of physics. In theory, it is the source of higgs field, a part of electromagnetic waves which provide atoms with mass. With the help of the Higgs field scientists have also learned more about gravity.

The new research claims that the Higgs Boson particle exists, but CERN researchers do not have it in their grasp. The question now is, if CERN doesn’t have the Higgs particle, then what type of particle have they discovered? Frandsen believes that the CERN team has actually found what could have been an LHC (Large Hadron Collider), also known as techni-higgs.

“A techni-higgs particle is not an elementary particle. Instead, it consists of so-called techni-quarks, which we believe are elementary. Techni-quarks may bind together in various ways to form, for instance, techni-higgs particles, while other combinations may form dark matter. We therefore expect to find several different particles at the LHC, all built by techni-quarks.” – Frandsen

According to Frandsen and his fellow researcher, the best way to settle the uncertainty is by running several experiments with the CERN LHC accelerator. Also, if CERN would be outfitted with a more powerful accelerator, scientists would be able to observe techni-quarks directly.

The study conducted by the University of Southern Denmark started after the two researchers heard claims made by other scientists, including particle physicist Thomas Ryttov, who believes that the Higgs particle is probably a composite of other, smaller subatomic particles.

CERN: Higgs Particle Hunters Are Wanted!

Particle Discovered by CERN Might not be Higgs Boson, Researchers Say

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