

ATLAS and CMS experiments shed light on Higgs properties - TallGuyShort
http://press.web.cern.ch/press-releases/2015/09/atlas-and-cms-experiments-shed-light-higgs-properties

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semi-extrinsic
TL;DR: The results obtained in Run 1 (which ended in 2013) from CMS and ATLAS
have now been combined in a new joint analysis of the branching ratios of the
most common Higgs boson decay products. The results show no deviations, even
at the speculative level, from the predictions of the Standard Model. But
uncertainties are being reduced significantly, so if there is a deviation from
the SM, Run 2 data might find it.

For me, the biggest takeaway from this is how mind-bogglingly large amounts of
data the LHC produces. The LHC Higgs Cross Section Working Group is big enough
that they're organized into 11 subgroups, and these guys are still crunching
away at data produced more than two years ago. Run 2 will finish in 2017, so
they will still be crunching that data in 2020, and the LHC will be running
until at least 2030.

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phkahler
That's really cool and all, but...

[https://xkcd.com/1489/](https://xkcd.com/1489/)

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semi-extrinsic
You do know that this comic is mocking how the fundamental forces are taught
at the high-school level, not our understanding of them, right?

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phkahler
>> You do know that this comic is mocking how the fundamental forces are
taught at the high-school level, not our understanding of them, right?

No, I didn't know that. Thanks. The Wikipedia page on the strong force is not
very encouraging either though.

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semi-extrinsic
No, there is quite a lot of required material to even begin understanding
quantum chromodynamics. I'm not sure you can understand it in anything but a
silly way unless you're willing to do at least some complicated math. That's
par for the course for a quantum field theory in a non-Abelian gauge. The
problem is also compounded by the distinction between the residual strong
force and the actual strong force.

