Several media outlets have reported that renowned physicist Stephen Hawking says the God particle will destroy us all. Is there really such a thing as a “God particle” and will it actually destroy us all? Without getting too deep into the physics, let’s unpack the headline to see what is really going on.
Hubble Deep Space photo, Wikipedia.
First, physicists are none-too-keen on the name, “God particle,” for good reason. The particle is actually a Higgs boson, named after Peter Higgs, one of several people who proposed the theory of a Higgs field and a Higgs boson. Bosons are particles that are part of the Standard Model of Particle Physics (If you have ever heard of protons, neutrons, or electrons, then you know something about the Standard Model of Particle Physics). There are several types of bosons. These bosons are force particles. Electromagnetic force, for example, has a boson called a photon. Strong nuclear force, the force holding the nucleus of an atom together, has a boson called, gluon (pronounced “glue-on,” as in the glue that holds the nucleus together). The Higgs boson makes up the Higgs field, an important part of the Standard Model. For a clear, non-mathematical explanation of bosons, see this article from The Atlantic.
Some media outlets latched on to the name “God particle.” The term, “God particle” is taken from a book by Nobel-prize winner Leon Lederman and science writer Dick Teresi called The God Particle: If the Universe Is the Answer, What Is the Question? This book was written in 1993, in part, as an effort to garner interest in and funding for particle physics. Interestingly, Lederman’s original nickname for the Higgs boson was less family friendly, so the editors went with the “God particle” instead.
On July 4, 2012 the Large Hadron Collider at CERN labs identified a particle that had the predicted mass and properties of the Higgs boson. Later, in March 2013, they confirmed that it is the Higgs boson, and thus, affirming the idea of the Higgs field. It is also a confirmation of a prediction made by the Standard Model of Particle Physics.
Now for Hawking’s claim that the Higgs boson could destroy us all. The Higgs boson could have been a small range of masses based on Standard Model predictions. It ended up being 126 GeV, which means that the universe may one day collapse onto itself. This would not take place for several billion years.
Additionally, if the properties of the Higgs boson were just slightly off, atoms would not have the masses that they do, and hydrogen would be the only possible element in the universe. If some event, such as quantum tunneling, were to occur, then the universe would become unstable. This is theoretical and highly improbable, but the important idea is that at this moment, the properties are such that the universe is sitting on a knife’s edge of stability.
For more on this topic, Gian Giudice has a nice TED talk with visual aids that explains how the Higgs field could lead to our destruction…in a few billion years.
Overall, the “God particle” is not really about God, but gained its nickname both from a book and because the Higgs field theoretically pervades all of space. The Higgs boson could lead to our destruction if something were to change its properties, which happen to be just right for our universe to exist, but the probability of that happening is very low. Also the Higgs boson’s mass is such that universe could collapse in several billion years.
Finally, while the Higgs boson may not have anything to do with metaphysics, the fact that it is just one of many fine-tuned parameters in our universe is a conundrum that has metaphysical implications. There are several parameters that are just right for our universe to exist, and the Higgs boson’s mass adds one more fine-tuned parameter to that mix. Explanations for this fine-tuning range from it being an indication of design to postulating a many-worlds or multiverse.