Found It

[danalwyn]

It's official: CERN is claiming a five sigma result in the search for the Higgs Boson - with both ATLAS and CMS reporting a signal in the same region, 126 GeV, consistent with the last missing piece of the Standard Model. This fills in the last major gap in our understanding of the universe at the particle level, which will of course be rewritten in a few years. But in the meantime, it's a big step forward, and a major advancement in science. So party while you can.

Happy Fourth everyone.

Comments

[avendya]

And our several billion dollar machine found something, at least, so maybe they'll give us money for another one. Emphasis on maybe.

[danalwyn]

Considering that the Higgs is in the most boring place possible to find it in terms of hinting at exciting new particles, my guess is no. New physics just has nowhere to come from right now.

Going into the city tonight?

[avendya]

Yeah, I know -- but I can still hope. (It's a good thing I was contemplating a field switch anyway. Not sure to what, but I'm not that excited about HEP anymore.)

I don't think so -- my roommates are hosting a party, and I should attend. It will be the first time I've missed large explosions in the sky for a number of years, though.

[danalwyn]

Well, neutrino is still good, or so I hear.

Roommates hosting a party is a pretty good reason not to attend. Anyway, given the city budget, Chicago could be a bit paltry this year...

[avendya]

Yes, there are still interesting measurements to be made in neutrinos. (Hence why I'm in neutrinos.) Also, our experiments are less expensive.

How is the Bay Area treating you?

[danalwyn]

Eh, it's okay. Still finding my way around. I don't know that many people, or that many things in the area, but I guess I have the budget to explore now.

[silverjackal]

Our party here was three days ago (fireworks too), but the Higgs Boson finally being confirmed is nothing but great. Happy Fourth to you as well. :)

[danalwyn]

Well, it's nothing but headaches for certain people, but that's because 126 GeV isn't the best place to find things. It's not where I predicted (115 GeV would have been the absolutely worst-case scenario), but it's pretty close.