Higgs Series: Towards a Final Explanation

The last post discussed the realization of Newton's dream and the discovery of the direction of science.

The observed pattern suggests that we are approaching some sort of final explanation. We have found a sense of unification, a progression of simplicity in concepts. As we go deeper and deeper into this program we see there are fewer and fewer moving parts. Things that were initially thought of as being completely different are found to be explained by the same underlying ideas. This trend can't continue indefinitely … something has got to give.

Although the principles keep getting simpler, unfortunately the mathematics do not. The math is getting more and more abstract, more and more formal, the further we go. This connection between math and physics is another deep, subtle pattern in the world. Again, probably a big hint that we are on the right track.

Particle physics is one of the areas that is probing at the deepest layers. This is one of the reasons why it is so interesting to look for the Higgs. This is our first big-picture, partial answer to the big why question.

We want to know what is happening at the frontier, where we haven't yet been able to connect the arrows. This is where particle physics is pushing for explanations. For many of us, this – deep down – is the real reason we do what we do; why we went to such extremes to find this particle. We are probing the frontier of our knowledge and we have good indications that this frontier is special. We seem to be approaching an ultimate description or explanation and, if we are, this is clearly the direction we need to push.