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The Higgs Boson Should Have Crushed the Universe

astroengine writes: This may seem a little far fetched, but if our understanding of the physics behind the recently-discovered Higgs boson (or, more specifically, the Higgs field — the ubiquitous field that endows all stuff with mass) is correct, our Universe shouldn't exist. That is, however, if another cosmological hypothesis is real, a hypothesis that is currently undergoing intense scrutiny in light of the BICEP2 results. "The mathematics to arise from accepted Higgs field theory suggests the universe is currently sitting comfortably in a Higgs field energy 'valley.' To get out of this valley and up the adjacent 'hill,' huge quantities of energy would need to be unleashed inside the field. But, if there were enough energy to push the universe over the hill and into the deeper energy valley next door, the universe would simply, and catastrophically, collapse.

This is where the BICEP2 results come in. If their observations are real and gravitational waves in the CMB prove cosmological inflation, the Higgs field has already been kicked by too much energy, pushing the Higgs field over the energy hill and deep into the neighboring valley’s precipice! For any wannabe universe, this is very bad news — the newborn universe would appear as a Big Bang, the Higgs field would become overloaded with an energetic inflationary period, and the whole lot would vanish in a blink of an eye."

26 of 188 comments (clear)

  1. Phew, it was a near miss! by someone1234 · · Score: 2

    We barely avoided this catastrophe!

    --
    Patents Drive Free Software as Hurricanes Drive Construction Industry
    1. Re:Phew, it was a near miss! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      If JJ Abrams or Michael Bay are in charge, you bet there will be a crew of 10 sent to solve the problem after Chuck Norris goes MIA, and also bring him back by presidential order. Then the movie will end with Norris and just 3 of the search party returning after successfully re-setting the field. Oh, and a lightning bolt emerging from a black hole will hit the Statue of Liberty. Lens flares will be massive.

    2. Re:Phew, it was a near miss! by TWX · · Score: 2

      We barely avoided this catastrophe!

      Did we?

      Maybe we didn't. Maybe it happened around 14 billion years ago...

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    3. Re:Phew, it was a near miss! by LifesABeach · · Score: 2

      I sure hope the mensa get their math right; looking at the universe and knowing that we shouldn't exist is a little uncomfortable.

    4. Re:Phew, it was a near miss! by kazekirifx · · Score: 2

      Better not tell the universe it shouldn't exist. We don't want it to realize that and suddenly stop existing - like when Wile E. Coyote realizes he has already ran off the edge of a cliff and is running in thin air.

  2. our Universe shouldn't exist. by Chrisq · · Score: 4, Funny

    our Universe shouldn't exist.

    Maybe it doesn't

    1. Re: our Universe shouldn't exist. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I think, therefore I am.

      Assuming that a thought requires a medium, even if I am a figment of something else's imagination that imagination defines this universe as it is.
      Of course, when observing from within there is no way we can tell if a thought really requires something to carry it or if the concept of it is sufficient for it to exist. (*)

      * Since everyone can be wrong and by definition not knowing that they are wrong there is no way to prove any statement to be correct, including this one. Note that this isn't a paradox, this statement can be correct even if its correctness is non-provable.

    2. Re: our Universe shouldn't exist. by Chrisq · · Score: 2

      I think, therefore I am.

      Assuming that a thought requires a medium, even if I am a figment of something else's imagination that imagination defines this universe as it is. Of course, when observing from within there is no way we can tell if a thought really requires something to carry it or if the concept of it is sufficient for it to exist. (*)

      * Since everyone can be wrong and by definition not knowing that they are wrong there is no way to prove any statement to be correct, including this one. Note that this isn't a paradox, this statement can be correct even if its correctness is non-provable.

      Though "this universe as it is" may be very different from "this universe as we think it is", or "this universe as 'observed' by us" as observation could just be a dream or simulation

    3. Re: our Universe shouldn't exist. by Talderas · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The difficulty with anonymous cowards is knowing when one is the same person. The coward to which Chrisq was responding was appeal to Descartes. The problem with Descartes is that you can only prove your own existence to yourself. In the event of some higher power deceiving you, the only proof you have is of your own existence. So even though you and others say that there's no evidence that I'm existing in a dream or simulation there's no way for me to verify their existence.

      --
      "Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork
    4. Re: our Universe shouldn't exist. by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 4, Funny

      The problem with Descartes is that you can only prove your own existence to yourself. In the event of some higher power deceiving you, the only proof you have is of your own existence.

      That's just what happens when you put Descartes before the horse.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    5. Re: our Universe shouldn't exist. by dcollins117 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Kant believe you just said that.

    6. Re: our Universe shouldn't exist. by WankersRevenge · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I like Conan the Barbarian's answer (minus the hint of racism):

      "Let me live deep while I live; let me know the rich juices of red meat and stinging wine on my palate, the hot embrace of white arms, the mad exultation of battle when the blue blades flame and crimson, and I am content. Let teachers and priests and philosophers brood over questions of reality and illusion. I know this: if life is illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being thus, the illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay, and am content."

      - Queen of the Black Coast, Robert E. Howard

  3. False vacuum by little1973 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Isn't this the same as false vacuum theory?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F...

    --
    Government cannot make man richer, but it can make him poorer. - Ludwig von Mises
    1. Re:False vacuum by Sockatume · · Score: 2

      It's a false vacuum model, yes. Which is both exciting and quietly terrifying.

      --
      No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
    2. Re:False vacuum by Nutria · · Score: 2

      Specifically, Zombie Feynman.

      --
      "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
  4. That's not far fetched. by bickerdyke · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It doesn't seem far fetched at all that we don't fully understand the physics behind the Higgs boson. I'd rather say it's OBVIOUS that we don't understand the physics behind it.

    A non-crushed universe should be proof enough that our current theories are missing something.

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    bickerdyke
    1. Re:That's not far fetched. by Sockatume · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yes, but the interesting and not obvious result is in which ways our theories are incomplete, which guides the search for better ones.

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      No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
  5. CERN by Max_W · · Score: 2

    Later this year the CERN Collider will work for the first time at 100% power:
    http://news.nationalgeographic...
    Perhaps, we will meet God at last.

    And then the new, 100 km in diameter, Collider will be constructed at CERN.

  6. Observations and measurements disagree by johanw · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The logical conclusion is that, because the current universe clearly exists, there is something wrong with either the BICEP2 measurements, conclusions or the theory of the Higgs field. IMO the first 2 options seems the most likely to contain an error. This kind of measurements is extremely complicated and a lot of assumtions are made to get from the raw data to the conclusions. The Wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BICEP2) already states that they are backing down a bit and investigating alternative explainations.

  7. Yes, it could be but is it AG? by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 3, Funny

    OK, OK, Higgs field is quite dangerous, and right now we seem to be sitting in the just-the-right-value. And if the Higgs field gets more energy the whole universe might collapse. But the most important question is, "Is the lower Higgs field energy anthropogenetic?". Do we have any kind of plans to absorb sudden injection of high energy into Higgs field in Andromeda galaxy? I never trusted the Andromedans and we are just trusting them not to energize the Higgs field? Just bomb them just to be safe.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  8. narf by martin-boundary · · Score: 2

    Gee Brain, what do you want to tonight?
    The same thing we do every night, Pinky - try to push the universe up the energy hill!
    Egad!

  9. Article with explanation for laymen by grimJester · · Score: 5, Informative

    The mathematics to arise from accepted Higgs field theory suggests the universe is currently sitting comfortably in a Higgs field energy 'valley.' To get out of this valley and up the adjacent 'hill,' huge quantities of energy would need to be unleashed inside the field.

    I have no idea what the 'valley' represents, nor the 'hill' so this explanation tells me nothing.

    An article by Matt Strassler that should explain more. In particular, this pic

    The story about our vacuum having two 'valleys' depends crucially on no new physics existing beyond the already known fields, which is probably false.

  10. Bomb Philosophy by TapeCutter · · Score: 4, Funny

    Dark Star was a lot funnier than the Matrix.

    --
    And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
  11. Pure Bull Shit by oh_my_080980980 · · Score: 3, Informative

    No one and I mean no one in the scientific community thinks the existence of the Higgs Boson means the universe should have been crushed. Morons are trying to push crack pot theory. Some jackass is trying to come up with way that something more exotic exists. There is ZERO experimental data that supports this line of thought. The Higgs Boson exists, get over it. Start reconciling gravity with the Standard Model. FYI yes the Standard Model does account for gravity, they're called gravitons. Science reporting is seriously fucked.

    1. Re:Pure Bull Shit by Sockatume · · Score: 5, Informative

      1) The higgs field instability is an inherent part of the higgs model; it falls out of the mathematics surprisingly simply and is years-old news at this point. Whether it's a practical concern rather depends on the masses involved, and there's every chance it will go away with improved models
      2) The author isn't claiming that the Higgs doesn't exist. Regardless, we know that something more exotic than the standard model exists, because we general relativity and QM continue to be bitterly incompatible
      3) There's no graviton in the standard model, and no obvious way to add one, nor any experimental evidence of one

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      No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
  12. who modded this moron "informative"? by dltaylor · · Score: 3, Informative

    Everything he wrote is blatantly false (see previous post).