How the Higgs Mechanism Give Things Mass

Take the Space Time Fan Survey Here: 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 analysing the data. This culminated in the April 7 announcement that this obscure particle’s mass seems to be heavier than expected. So why do we care? Because understanding why this particle even has mass was one of the most important breakthroughs in our understanding of the subatomic world. And because measuring its precise mass either doubles down on our current understanding or reveals a path to an even deeper knowledge. The FermiLab discrepancy is a tantalizing hint of the latter. Need Catch Up On Your Fundamental Forces? Hosted by Matt O'Dowd Written by Fernando Franco Félix, Graeme Gossel, & Matt O'Dowd Post Production by Leonardo Scholzer, Yago Ballarini, Pedro Osinski, Adriano Leal & Stephanie Faria GFX Visualizations: Fernando Franco Félix Directed by Andrew Kornhaber Associate Producer: Bahar Gholipour Executive Producers: Eric Brown & Andrew Kornhaber Executives in Charge (PBS): Adam Dylewski, Maribel Lopez Director of Programming (PBS): Gabrielle Ewing Spacetime is produced by Kornhaber Brown for PBS Digital Studios. This program is produced by Kornhaber Brown, which is solely responsible for its content. © 2022 PBS. All rights reserved. End Credits Music by J.R.S. Schattenberg: Bryce Fort Mark Evans David Taiclet Daniel Alexiuc Peter Barrett David Neumann Charlie Leo Koguan Sandy Wu Ahmad Jodeh Alexander Tamas Morgan Hough Amy Juan Benet Vinnie Falco Fabrice Eap Mark Rosenthal David Nicklas Quasar Supporters Alex Kern Ethan Cohen Stephen Wilcox Christina Oegren Mark Heising Hank S Hypernova Supporters william bryan Kirk Honour drollere Joe Moreira Marc Armstrong Scott Gorlick Paul Stehr-Green Adam Walters Russell Pope Ben Delo Scott Gray Антон Кочков John R. Slavik Mathew Donal Botkin John Pollock Edmund Fokschaner Joseph Salomone chuck zegar Jordan Young Daniel Muzquiz Gamma Ray Burst Supporters Carsten Quinlan Susan Albee Frank Walker Matt Q WhizBangery Tony Affinito Avi Yashchin MHL SHS Kory Kirk Terje Vold Anatoliy Nagornyy comboy Brett Baker Jeremy Soller Jonathan Conerly Andre Stechert Ross Bohner Paul Wood Kent Durham jim bartosh Nubble Chris Navrides Scott R Calkins The Mad Mechanic Ellis Hall John H. Austin, Jr. Diana S Ben Campbell Faraz Khan Almog Cohen Alex Edwards Ádám Kettinger MD3 Endre Pech Daniel Jennings Cameron Sampson Pratik Mukherjee Geoffrey Clarion Nate Darren Duncan Russ Creech Jeremy Reed Eric Webster David Johnston Web Browser Michael Barton Christopher Barron James Ramsey Mr T Andrew Mann Isaac Suttell Devon Rosenthal Oliver Flanagan Bleys Goodson Robert Walter Bruce B Simon Oliphant Mirik Gogri Mark Delagasse Mark Daniel Cohen Brandon Lattin Nickolas Andrew Freeman Shane Calimlim Tybie Fitzhugh Robert Ilardi Eric Kiebler Craig Stonaha Martin Skans The Art of Sin Graydon Goss Frederic Simon Tonyface John Robinson A G David Neal Kevin Lee justahat John Funai Tristan Bradley Jenkins Kyle Hofer Daniel Stříbrný Luaan Cody Thomas Dougherty King Zeckendorff Nick Virtue Scott Gossett Dan Warren Patrick Sutton Daniel Lyons DFaulk Kevin Warne