Example

If you became a particle physicist, something that you would definitely be looking into is the Higgs Boson and the Higgs Field. The Higgs Field is important because particle physicists theorize that the Higgs Field caused the Big Bang, which created the universe that we live in. If physicists found concrete evidence that proves the existence of the Higgs Field, it would be huge because the existence of the Higgs Field could possibly prove that the Big Bang actually happened.

So, because the Higgs Boson and the Higgs Field are important, I will attempt to teach you about them using some science and a metaphor.

The Higgs Field is spread throughout the universe and it is composed of Higgs Bosons. The Higgs Field gives particles mass. All particles feel the effects of this field. The field slows down particles, some more than others. Slow particles have a large mass. Fast particles have a small mass. What I want you to take from this is that the Higgs Field:

• Gives particles mass
• Slows down particles so that they can form bonds with each other

Basically, without the Higgs Field, atoms and life as we know it would not exist.

Now, the metaphor that makes it all easier to understand.

We have a field of snow. We have a skier. We have a man in snowshoes. We have a man in heavy boots, and we have a bird.

The skier glides across the snow, going at a faster speed. The man in the snowshoes is slower than the skier; he walks at a normal speed. The man in the heavy boots sinks into the snow, and he goes at a very slow speed. The bird is the fastest out of all of them; the bird is not affected by the snow field.

The snow field that is slowing things down is the Higgs Field.

The snowflakes that cover the snow field are Higgs Bosons.

The skier, the man in snowshoes, the man in heavy boots, and the bird are all different particles being given different masses and different speeds by the Higgs Field.

Hopefully that metaphor will help you understand what the Higgs Field does.