PBS Space Time

How the Higgs Mechanism Give Things Mass

Fermilab physicists really care about the mass of the W boson. They spent nearly a decade recording collisions in the Tevatron collider and another decade analyzing the data. This culminated in the April 7 announcement that this obscure particle’s mass seems to be heavier than expected. Understanding why this particle even has mass was one of the most important breakthroughs in our understanding.

How the Higgs Mechanism Give Things Mass

17m 26s

Fermilab physicists really care about the mass of the W boson. They spent nearly a decade recording collisions in the Tevatron collider and another decade analyzing the data. This culminated in the April 7 announcement that this obscure particle’s mass seems to be heavier than expected. Understanding why this particle even has mass was one of the most important breakthroughs in our understanding.

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