Rational Faith
Testimony of the Higgs Boson
Beyond the Wormhole - Is there a 'God' Particle
Contrary to what scientists had hoped, the Higgs boson, The so called 'God' particle does not show how the universe was created without God; instead it shows the creation required God.

Since he does it so well, I'm going to let Morgan Freeman set this up:

"Can the Higgs boson really tell us how all creation came into being?
Do we owe our existence to something so elusive yet so powerful?
Is there a 'God' particle?...1"

According to scientists, the Higgs boson is what gives particles mass. Of course without mass neither the universe, nor life as we know it could exist. Thus the name the 'God' particle, at least in some people's mind - fits since nothing would exist without it. Scientists prefer to call it the Higgs boson or the Higgs particle, but of course for those who report the stories, the 'God' particle is a much more catchy headline and moniker - so it has stuck. Purists however will tell you that the name came about when Nobel Prize winner Leon Lederman wanted to name his book about  the particle   'The God - - - - [expletive deleted] Particle' - because no one could find it at the time - but his editor talked him into calling it the 'God' particle.2 Let's let Morgan continue:

"...Physicists have long suspected there must be some invisible force field spread across the universe mysteriously turning energy into solid matter. Now scientists have at last proven that this theoretical force field is real. They have produced from it a sub-atomic particle known as the Higgs boson - the so called 'God' particle. Can it explain the mystery of our  creation?"3

And thus the Higgs boson - the so called 'God' particle - is introduced. The episode goes on to point out problems now that they've made the discovery - that in order to eliminate anomalies and make the theory work - there must be not one, but five Higgs types of Higgs bosons. But that's a simple matter of further discovery - not what I want to discuss here. Of greater interest is a finding that the Higgs boson is in conflict with the standard, universally accepted model of where the universe came from - The Big Bang. And thus we see another problem for the Big Bang theory.

I say "another" because the Big Bang theory of course has a number of problems - such as flatness problem, the monopole magnet problem, and the horizon problem4 among others. Since this post isn't on the technical details and problems of the Big Bang, let me suffice it by saying that the Big Bang has a number of show stopping issues, many of which were supposedly solved by Alan Guth's theory of Cosmic inflation - at lest these problems that I've mentioned.

Make two mental notes here:

1. The Big Bang theory as proposed - does not work.
2. To fix it, additional  theories and physical entities (like Guth's theory of cosmic inflation) must be appended; and thus Cosmic Inflation is now a required part of the standard Big Bang model.

Let's move on to the latest Discovery. The latest tests with the Higgs boson indicate that the Higgs is incompatible with Cosmic Inflation. As one article put it:

"The nature of the newly discovered Higgs Boson particle appears to point to the universe blinking out of existence mere moments after the Big Bang."5

Or as Cosmologist John Hartnett Summarizes:

"The Higgs boson and the standard theory of particle physics, which is the most successful physical theory ever developed by man, is at odds with the theory of cosmic inflation. That tension is such that the universe, as we know it, should not exist. But it does! Therefore the science of how the universe started in a big bang is all in the dark."6

Time to make a few more notes:

a. The Higgs boson - predicted by Peter Higgs in 1964 - is required for the universe and life to exist.
b. The Higgs boson has been discovered, but it is incompatible with the revised theory of the Big Bang (revised to include Inflation; since the Big Bang theory doesn't work without Inflation)
c. To allow the Big Bang to continue to be valid, scientists are proposing yet another addition to the Big Bang model - some addition that will make the Higgs boson and Cosmic Inflation compatible.

Do you see a pattern here? The theory doesn't work, but instead of rejecting the theory, they prop it up with unproven additions. (Can you say epicycles? Where is Occam when you need him?)  I could go on about how scientists continue to act with a religious-like faith to prop up the failing Big Bang theory, but that is not my point here.

Rather, my point is this:  I find it quite ironic that a particle that was given the name the 'God' particle which was supposed to show how God was in fact not needed for the creation is in fact showing the opposite: that the theories of man to remove God from the picture in fact don't work. And thus the 'God' particle is in fact testifying to the fact that it was an almighty creator who created the universe - not some mysterious particle which:

a) they have only found one fifth of the required components for the math of the theory to be plausible and

b) Once the entire Higgs is found it makes impossible the current theory of the origins of the universe (Big Bang + Cosmic Inflation)  requiring scientists to make yet another revision.

Thus the Higgs is in fact testifying - but it is not the testimony the scientists hoped for. The testimony is simply this: Two contradictions don't make a correct theory:  

1) The big bang was contradicted by observations of the uniform temperature of the universe; Cosmic Inflation to the rescue to fix that; and it (inflation) is believed though not proven.

2)  Cosmic Inflation is contradicted by observations of the Higgs Boson. And though they haven't even finished finding the other 4 particles needed to complete the Higgs; scientists are already looking for some other theory to allow Inflation to be compatible with the Higgs.

So although scientists ought to be going back to the drawing board to find a new theory of origins - (but they won't - they have too much invested in the big bang),  that does not negate the testimony of the Higgs boson - a testimony of the requirement of divine intervention; not one of random chance and scientific happenstance. (Examples of happenstance: Immediately (in the second undecillion of a second) after the singularity [since by theory nothing existed before the singularity], there happened to be created a Higgs field; there happened to also be a Higgs boson; They happen to have the right values to work together. The Higgs happens to have the right properties to impart mass. The field happened to turn on at the right time. There happens to be "super symmetry" to balance things out [if in fact that is proven], etc. etc.)  All happenstance? No. And the testimony is not merely one of fine tuning, no it's much stronger -  one of incompatibility. It all confirms the scripture:

The heavens declare the glory of God.
(Psalm 19.1)
 

 

Duane Caldwell | posted 8/11/2014



1. Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman episode Is there a God particle? 3/20/2013
(Also aired as "Beyond the Wormhole")

2. Memmot, Mark Here We Go Again: Has Misnamed 'God Particle' Finally Been Found?
12/12/11   http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/12/12/143571097/here-we-go-again-has-misnamed-god-particle-finally-been-found

3. Wormhole,  Is there a God particle?

4. For those looking for a bit more explanation:
The flatness problem - there are two forces acting in the universe - one acting to expand it, one acting to contract it. If the forces don't precisely balance you'd expect the universe to be curved - but scientist have discovered the universe is flat - amazing flat.
The Monopole Magnet problem - Magnetic poles come in pairs, but scientist believe in the vary early universe there should have been single, unpaired magnetic poles. But they've never been able to find them.
The Horizon Problem - Measurements by probes like WMAP - The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe - measured the temperature of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR - thought to be the radiation left over from the big bang) and found it uniform to within 1 part with 100,000.   The problem with that is that for the furthest reaches of space, the only way the temperature could have become so uniform is if there were an exchange of temperature. Such an exchange could only happen if light could reach from one end of the universe to the other - but the distances are so vast that even in a 13.7 billion year old universe, light does not have enough time to reach from one end to the other. Thus without Cosmic Inflation, there is no natural way to explain this observed phenomenon.

5.  News.com.au:  "It’s okay. Nothing really matters. We don’t actually exist, anyway. Or so the Higgs Boson particle suggests" 6/27/14
http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/its-okay-nothing-really-matters-we-dont-actually-exist-anyway-or-so-the-higgs-boson-particle-suggests/story-fnjwlcze-1226968686254

6. Hartnett, John G. Inflation - All in the Dark - The Higgs boson messes with Cosmic Inflation 7/31/14  http://creation.com/inflation-all-in-the-dark