When theoretical physicists attack - September 11, 2008
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the giant particle accelerator outside of CERN, has only just started on its scientific adventure, and it's already got theorists fighting with each other.
Most physicists believe that the LHC is going to find something called the Higgs particle. If it exists, the Higgs would endow all other particles with mass, and it would help to complete the so-called standard model of particle physics.
But not everyone thinks the Higgs is there to be found. On Tuesday, famous cosmologist Stephen Hawking announced he was betting US$100 that the LHC wouldn't find the Higgs particle. What's more, he said it would be "more exciting" if physicists didn't find it.
Peter Higgs, the man for whom Higgs is named, didn't find that very funny. As it's being widely reported, Higgs called Hawking's work "not good enough" yesterday during a press conference in Edinburgh.
Part of the disconnect stems from the fact that Hawking is a cosmologist and Higgs a particle physicist. Hawking has "gone to war" with particle physicists before, claiming for example, that black holes can destroy information. The particle physicist-come-string-theorist Leonard Susskind was so incensed that wrote a book about the topic.
I suspect that this is the first of what will be a lot of spats between theorists in the coming year or two. People's careers all depend on what the LHC finds, and as those findings draw near, the theoretical community will grow ever more agitated.
Comments
I'm glad to see this sort of discourse in science. It has driven people to find empirical proof of their theories before, and it's clearly healthy competition now. I think it's a testament to the objectivity of science that even highly revered and well respected scientists can be criticised and have their work scrutinised. I am quite excited to find out who will come out best in this "spat"
Posted by: spider | September 12, 2008 02:18 AM