Does the Higgs Boson’s existence prove the Big Bang theory?
Question:
Okay, so my chemistry teacher told us today that the Higgs Boson or the God particle proves the big bang. What is this Higgs Boson thing? Every day I'm getting some weird information. It's all so confusing.
Answer:
Science has been trying to figure out how the world works for a long time. Part of this search has been to understand how subatomic particles work. As they delved into these particles they realized that each is made of even smaller particles. Some particles and the forces they cause were noted to be odd unless there were even smaller particles in play. One of these particles was theorized to exist back in 1964 by a scientist named Peter Higgs. He argued there had to be another bison particle and defined its properties, so it became known as the Higgs Bison. The problem is that it was just shown this year that the Higgs Bison may actually exist (notice that it isn't an absolute certainty yet).
In regards to the Big Bang theory, it has numerous problems that have yet to be resolved. One is how do you get space from a single particle? Thus, there is a claim that there was an inflationary field that instantly expanded at the moment of the Big Bang to create space. Since the Higgs Bison particle affects fields, people theorize that the two might be connected. See Higgs Boson Confirmed: Separating Fact from Hype for a more detailed explanation. Notice once again that we are dealing with a lot of unproven assumptions.
Does the existence of the Higgs Bison particle prove the Big Bang? Not even close. The Big Bang isn't a provable theory because it is supposed to be a one-time event that can't be repeated; thus, it cannot be analyzed or measured. See How the Universe Began - No One Knows. The existence of the Higgs Boson does not prove that the Big Bang did happen or could have happened. It merely fills in a gap in one model of the universe that said something like the Higgs Boson should exist.
Christians approach this from a different direction. We know we weren't there when the universe started, but we know that God was there. We rely on what God said about His creation and note that all observations made today line up with the biblical account. Those observations don't prove the truth of the biblical account of the world, but they don't cause any great concerns either.
All your chemistry teacher did is prove that he follows the popular press and doesn't delve into the actual scientific theories.
