Explaining the Higgs concept-how elementary particles acquire mass-and how this relates to the Higgs field and the Higgs particle is difficult. It is such a challenge that in 1993 former British science minister William Waldegrave announced a competition and offered a bottle of vintage champagne to anyone who could explain the Higgs mechanism on a single sheet of paper.
This week, Time magazine rose to the challenge. Reporter Eben Harrell wrote:
Working from Higgs' theory, scientists postulate that initially weightless particles move through a ubiquitous quantum field, known as a Higgs field, like a pearl necklace through a jar of honey. Some particles, such as photons--weightless carriers of light--can cut through the sticky Higgs field without picking up mass. Others get bogged down and become heavy; that is the process that creates tangible matter.
I think this is pretty good! Compare this with our own 60-second explanation by Howard Haber of the University of California, Santa Cruz. And if you are curious: here are the winning page-long entries of Waldegrave's contest.
Do you have your own explanation? Post it here!
