A mind-blowing theory from two distinguished physicists speculates that the Large Hadron Collider may have been doomed from the beginning due to its very function.
The Large Hadron Collider is a particle accelerator that could be immensely useful to scientists for a variety of reasons, including the testing of hyperdrive theories. One primary focus of the giant machine has been the discovery of the Higgs Boson particle, an as of yet unobserved quantum component that is said to give mass to all particles, including itself. Holger Bech Nielsen, of the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, and Masao Ninomiya of the Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics in Kyoto, Japan, have theorized that the LHC could be doomed because of the possibility that it might actually create a Higgs Boson, which is rippling backwards through time to stop itself from ever occurring.
Just when you thought this business with the LHC couldn’t get any weirder/cooler, now we’ve thrown a little time travel into the mix. Before you write this theory off, keep in mind that many physicists believe the laws of physics are reversible. Einstein himself has said “For those of us who believe in physics, this separation between past, present and future is only an illusion.”
For an example that is easy to understand, some physicists agree that going back in time to kill your grandfather is impossible, but going back to save your grandfather’s life is not. This situation with the LHC is like going back to save your grandfather; the Higgs Boson particle could be so “abhorrent to nature” that it is stopping its own creation. In other words, the LHC is doomed by its future.
Dr. Nielsen and Dr. Ninomiya came up with their theory before the LHC’s failure over a year ago, so they’re not simply whipping out a bunch of hoopla after the fact. They further point out the failure of the U.S.’s multi-billion dollar Superconducting Supercollider, also created to find the Higgs Boson, that was shuttered in 1993. Dr. Nielson presumes: “Well, one could even almost say that we have a model for God … that He rather hates Higgs particles, and attempts to avoid them.” The LHC is expected to be up and running again in December; if it fails expect a smirk on at least two dudes’ faces.
Finally, if Dr. Nielsen and Dr. Ninomiya’s theory is correct, it could also explain why the DeLorean DMC-12 failed despite its sleek stainless steel body and awesome gull-wing doors. Clearly, we are not meant to go 88 miles per hour, leaving tire tracks of flame in our wake.
Source: NYTimes
Published: Oct 13, 2009 04:49 am