As table 1 shows, the logarithms of
fundamental particle mass ratios are close to integer or half values that are rational numbers with the smallest possible numerators and denominators.
The Large Hadron Collider at Cern in Switzerland has pioneered research into
fundamental particles Cern
A type of
fundamental particle. The name combines "neutral," indicating that it is neutral - carrying no electric charge - and "-ino," an Italian diminutive suffix.
Everything in it is made of a few
fundamental particles, which are governed by four fundamental forces.
Particle accelerators and detectors are amongst the complex scientific instruments used to study the very basic constituents of matter (the
fundamental particles) at the CERN laboratory, which straddles the border of Switzerland and France near Geneva.
The discovery of the Higgs boson comprises the last piece of the puzzle validating the most comprehensive theory in Physics, the Standard Model which explains interactions between
fundamental particles. The Higgs boson is thought to be responsible for the existence of mass in
fundamental particles which constitute the building blocks of the universe.
Alongside Hawking, a second $3 million award has gone to the scientists behind the discovery this year of a new subatomic particle that behaves like the theoretical Higgs boson, imagined almost half a century ago and responsible for bestowing mass on other
fundamental particles. Diagnosed with motor neurone disease at the age of 21 and told in 1963 he had two years to live, Hawking, now 70, has become one of the world's most recognisable scientists after guest appearances on The Simpsons and on Star Trek.
According to the Standard Model - a theoretical model which describes the
fundamental particles and forces that control the Universe - the Higgs boson provides mass to all other particles.
This world-famous installation is centred around a detector that searches for the elusive neutrino '
fundamental particles'.
Quantum chromodynamics is a non-Abelian gauge field theory that can describe the strong interactions of
fundamental particles, he explains, and he introduces the field to first-year graduate students, introducing gauge theory as a whole at the same time.
At a time when the Large Hadron Collider is set to give us a far more complete understanding of
fundamental particles, the Hubble shows us just how big the universe is and technology and medical sciences help thinking people to more clearly understand the world around them, religious zealots prefer to avoid thinking about real science because "believing" is so much easier.
"Now we are finally about to see first data emerging as part of a 20-year programme of discovery, which we fully expect to completely revolutionise our understanding of
fundamental particles and forces."