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Higgs in a Box : Investigating the Nature of a Scientific Discovery

Woithe, Julia ; Boselli, Margherita ; Chatzidaki, Panagiota LU ; Dahlkemper, Merten Nikolay ; Duggan, Ruadh ; Durey, Guillaume ; Herff, Niklas ; Horvat, Anja Kranjc ; Molaro, Daniele and Scheerer, Gernot Werner , et al. (2022) In The Physics Educator 4(4).
Abstract

The discovery of the Higgs boson by the ATLAS and CMS collaborations in 2012 concluded the longest search for a particle in the history of particle physics and was based on the largest and most complex physics experiments ever conducted, involving thousands of scientists and engineers from around the world. It provided crucial evidence for a theory developed in the 1960s that describes the existence of the invisible Brout-Englert-Higgs field and the effects of this field on the mass of elementary particles. After the discovery, the work on the theoretical prediction was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 2013. This discovery provides a prime example of modern science in the making and a fantastic opportunity to discuss important aspects... (More)

The discovery of the Higgs boson by the ATLAS and CMS collaborations in 2012 concluded the longest search for a particle in the history of particle physics and was based on the largest and most complex physics experiments ever conducted, involving thousands of scientists and engineers from around the world. It provided crucial evidence for a theory developed in the 1960s that describes the existence of the invisible Brout-Englert-Higgs field and the effects of this field on the mass of elementary particles. After the discovery, the work on the theoretical prediction was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 2013. This discovery provides a prime example of modern science in the making and a fantastic opportunity to discuss important aspects of Nature of Science (NoS) in the classroom. In this article, we draw connections between (a) milestones in the discovery of the Higgs boson, (b) important aspects of NoS, and (c) hands-on activities with mystery boxes, which are an effective tool to enable students to experience elements of scientific discovery and explicitly reflect on NoS. We hope that this supports educators in bringing lively discussions about modern physics research into their classrooms.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
CERN, Higgs boson, mystery boxes, Nature of Science
in
The Physics Educator
volume
4
issue
4
article number
2250019
publisher
World Scientific Publishing
external identifiers
  • scopus:85144836928
ISSN
2661-3395
DOI
10.1142/S2661339522500196
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
d60d4ed1-9cb5-4222-a7f5-1f02b26cedbd
date added to LUP
2023-01-05 11:39:24
date last changed
2023-01-05 11:39:24
@article{d60d4ed1-9cb5-4222-a7f5-1f02b26cedbd,
  abstract     = {{<p>The discovery of the Higgs boson by the ATLAS and CMS collaborations in 2012 concluded the longest search for a particle in the history of particle physics and was based on the largest and most complex physics experiments ever conducted, involving thousands of scientists and engineers from around the world. It provided crucial evidence for a theory developed in the 1960s that describes the existence of the invisible Brout-Englert-Higgs field and the effects of this field on the mass of elementary particles. After the discovery, the work on the theoretical prediction was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics 2013. This discovery provides a prime example of modern science in the making and a fantastic opportunity to discuss important aspects of Nature of Science (NoS) in the classroom. In this article, we draw connections between (a) milestones in the discovery of the Higgs boson, (b) important aspects of NoS, and (c) hands-on activities with mystery boxes, which are an effective tool to enable students to experience elements of scientific discovery and explicitly reflect on NoS. We hope that this supports educators in bringing lively discussions about modern physics research into their classrooms.</p>}},
  author       = {{Woithe, Julia and Boselli, Margherita and Chatzidaki, Panagiota and Dahlkemper, Merten Nikolay and Duggan, Ruadh and Durey, Guillaume and Herff, Niklas and Horvat, Anja Kranjc and Molaro, Daniele and Scheerer, Gernot Werner and Schmeling, Sascha and Thill, Patrick Georges and Wiener, Jeff and Zoechling, Sarah}},
  issn         = {{2661-3395}},
  keywords     = {{CERN; Higgs boson; mystery boxes; Nature of Science}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  publisher    = {{World Scientific Publishing}},
  series       = {{The Physics Educator}},
  title        = {{Higgs in a Box : Investigating the Nature of a Scientific Discovery}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1142/S2661339522500196}},
  doi          = {{10.1142/S2661339522500196}},
  volume       = {{4}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}