Agent Higgs Game Turns Real Particle Hunt on its Head

Agent Higgs Game Turns Real Particle Hunt on its Head

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

As the world waits for the next installment of news in the hunt for the Higgs boson, a simple smart phone game encourages players to hide, not hunt, the world’s favorite particle. Agent Higgs has a simple interface. Players shuffle these particles around a grid, trying to land on – and therefore conceal – the stationary Higgs.

Whether or not you can move a particle to a particular spot, however, is governed by the standard model of physics: our leading explanation of fundamental particles and force. That means electrons can’t approach each other because the electromagnetic force pushes them apart. And when a particle meets its antimatter doppelganger, both of them vanish. As the levels increase, it becomes more difficult to orchestrate the particles and their forces to keep the Higgs hidden.