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Higgs provides mass. Exercises. 1) Give Russian equivalents for the following terms and explain what they mean in English
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Higgs provides mass
The question of the mass of elementary particles has also been answered by spontaneous broken symmetry of the hypothetical Higgs field. It is thought that at the Big Bang the field was perfectly symmetrical and all the particles had zero mass. But the Higgs field, like the pencil standing on its point, was not stable, so when the universe cooled down, the field dropped to its lowest energy level, its own vacuum according to the quantum definition. Its symmetry disappeared and the Higgs field became a sort of syrup for elementary particles; they absorbed different amounts of the field and got different masses. Some, like the photons, were not attracted and remained without mass; but why the electrons acquired mass at all is quite a different question that no one has answered yet.
Like other quantum fields, the Higgs field has its own representative, the Higgs particle. Physicists are eager to find this particle soon in the world’s most powerful particle accelerator, the brand new LHC at Cern in Geneva. It is possible that several different Higgs particles will be detected — or none at all. Physicists are prepared, a so-called supersymmetric theory is the favourite among many to extend the Standard Model. Other theories exist, some more exotic, some less so. In any case, they are likely to be symmetrical, even though the symmetry may not be evident at first. But it is there, keeping itself hidden in the seemingly messy appearance.
(http: //www. nobelprize. org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2008/public. html)
Exercises
1) Give Russian equivalents for the following terms and explain what they mean in English
broken symmetry, mirror symmetry, charge symmetry, time symmetry, conservation laws, the double CP-symmetry, quarks, B-mesons, spontaneous symmetry violation, the Higgs particle, the Standard Model
2) Make up sentences using the following word combinations.
Nature's laws of symmetry, excess of matter, a tiny deviation from perfect symmetry, to simplify awkward calculations, to play a decisive role, the mathematical description of the micro world, to produce a constant stream of particles, indivisible parts of matter, to pose a challenge, insights into the innermost parts of matter, to stand firmly on a theoretical base, to stand up to countless tests, to challenge mirror symmetry, to re-evaluate old principles, to break the double CP-symmetry, to point out the importance of broken symmetry, to set up conditions for smth, to distinguish between matter and antimatter, to originate in the heat of the Big Bang, the transformation of the quarks, to confirm the symmetry violation of the B-mesons, to be in accordance with the boldest predictions, to introduce spontaneous symmetry violation into elementary particle physics, to extend the Standard Model
3) Answer the questions
a) What role did a tiny deviation from perfect symmetry play in the period immediately following the Big Bang?
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b) What are three different principles of symmetry? Why are they so important?
c) What discovery became feasible due to deeper investigations into the world of elementary particles in the middle of the 20th century? How did it contribute to the creation of a unified theory of matter?
d) What forces and their messenger particles are incorporated into the Standard Model? Why do you think gravity poses a challenge for physicists?
e) Who challenged mirror symmetry? What experiment was carried out to test mirror symmetry and with what result?
f) What experiment are James Cronin and Val Fitch famous for?
g) What conditions for creating a world like ours did Andrei Sakharov set up?
h) How was the mystery of the broken symmetry solved?
i) What experiments confirmed the symmetry violation of the B-mesons predicted by Kobayashi and Maskawa's model?
j) What does Yoichiro Nambu's contribution to elementary particle physics consist in?
k) What further progress has been achieved in extending the Standard Model?
4) Sum up the information from the text about the symmetries of nature in 15 - 18 sentences in writing.
Speed Read 
Translate at sigh.
The Importance of Asymmetry
Luckily for us, the Universe is not symmetrical, at least at the subatomic level. If it was, the newly formed matter at the Universe's birth would have been annihilated by an equal and opposite amount of antimatter, and nothingness would have resulted. Instead, a small imbalance, or asymmetry, in the amount of matter and antimatter created led to a slight excess of matter, from which we are all eventually formed. Such 'broken symmetry' is one key to our existence
Understanding symmetry, or the lack of it, is an ongoing task, and the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics rewarded two discoveries concerning symmetry violation in the field of particle physics. In the 1960s Yoichiro Nambu, who had been working on asymmetries underlying superconductivity, was the first to model how broken symmetry can occur spontaneously at the subatomic level. The mathematical descriptions he formulated helped refine the standard model of particle physics, the current working theory that best explains much, but not all, of the way that fundamental particles and the forces that govern their behaviour interact to create the known Universe.
In the early 1970s, Kobayashi and Maskawa formulated a model that explained certain symmetry violations that had recently surprised observers in particle physics experiments. Their model suggested that the collection of subatomic particles known at the time were insufficient to explain the observed behaviours, and predicted the existence of as yet undiscovered elementary particles. It did not, however, specify precisely what form these particles should take. Kobayashi and Maskawa hypothesized the existence of a third family of quarks, which are some of the building blocks from which all matter and antimatter is formed. They then had to wait almost three decades for the experimental results that would verify their hypothesis. The existence of all three families was finally confirmed when the last member was observed in the mid -1990s.
(by Adam Smith, Editor-in-Chief, Nobelprize. org)
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