Higgs boson and neutrino

According to the Higgs mechanism in the Standard Model, particles in the vacuum acquire mass as they collide with the Higgs boson. Photons (γ) are massless because they do not interact with the Higgs boson. All particles, including electrons (e), muons (μ) and top quarks (t), change handedness when they collide with the Higgs boson; left-handed particles become right-handed and vice versa.

Experiments have shown that neutrinos (ν) are always left-handed. Since right-handed neutrinos do not exist in the Standard Model, the theory predicts that neutrinos can never acquire mass.

In one extension to the Standard Model, left- and right-handed neutrinos exist. These Dirac neutrinos acquire mass via the Higgs mechanism but right-handed neutrinos interact much more weakly than any other particles.

According to another extension of the Standard Model, extremely heavy right-handed neutrinos are created for a brief moment before they collide with the Higgs boson to produce light left-handed Majorana neutrinos.

Thus esults from several recent experiments provide indirect evidence in favor of the existence of a fourth generation neutrino. Such a neutrino with a mass m of about 50 GeV is compatible with current physical and astrophysical constraints and well motivated in the framework of superstring phenomenology.

If sufficiently stable, the existence of such a neutrino leads to a drastic change in Higgs boson physics. The dominant mode of Higgs boson decay is invisible and the branching ratios for the most promising modes of Higgs boson search are significantly reduced. And the  mass of the Higgs boson is greater than 113.5 GeV if the neutrino mass is about 50 GeV.

-K A Solaman

His dotage underestimated.

The Marxist bosses are playing with the age of leader VS Achuthanandan. They think the octogenarian leader is not too young to make any effective rebellion against the leadership. However they fear that he could upset them again by taking a totally unanticipated line.

‘Mistakes’ done by Acuthuthanadan are only corrective measures against the leadership. But with brut majority in the party the official faction puts the doings of Acuthanandan as mistakes. While Achuthanandan himself has already indicated that he would not admit his “mistake” then why the leadership waiting for VS admit the mistakes publicly?

There are some pre-calculated plans for the official faction of the party against Achuthanandan. Presumably these plans will not work according to their calculation and plan. It will be foolish to underestimate Achuthanandan and his dotage.

K A Solaman
The New Indian Express published on 6-8-2012

K A Solaman Blog: Shawarma death

K A Solaman Blog: Shawarma death: It is time for the Kerala Health department to book a good buck by raiding the hotels and way side eateries across state in the wake of ...

Shawarma death

It is time for the Kerala Health department to book a good buck by raiding the hotels and way side eateries across state in the wake of the death of one allegedly due to food poisoning after he ate what is called a toxic food Shawarma. Many hotels have been forcefully closed and some are under the threat of closure by officials. For some hoteliers it is a blessing in disguise as they are thinking of closing their hotels because of high price of essential commodities and unavailability of staff.  Interestingly, in this State thousands die drinking toddy and but no toddy shop is seen closed.

Food poisoning is not a new phenomenon and that depends on the health conditions of the user. A good food to one is poison to another as every human body is a unique machine. The eater should understand the capacity of his stomach and body.   The Minister in charge of Health Department could not visit personally all, including Shoby Thilakan, with diarrhea after taking poisonous food.

If Health Department and Food Security Commissioner are so particular to ensure the healthy state of eateries they should first check the sale of ammonia mixed rotten fish.  The road side vendors of fish should be sent to market places with proper drainage and waste disposals. No fish vendor should be permitted to pollute and congest the highway sides with their fish stalls. Remember ninety percent of the high-way side fish vendors are not poor people but contractors and goons. They own pick up vans, freezers, generators, lorries and what else.  Who gave permission to them to park ice-ammonia filled fish lorries on highway sides for all the day?

K A Solaman

Keralite’s debt trap

It takes nobody’s sleep when Kerala Finance Minister KM Mani  informs that the total public debt of the State  is  stood at Rs 87,063.83 crore. And as on May 1, 2012 the per-capita burden of public debt on Keralites is Rs 26,067. Minister K M Mani’s contribution to this for the last one year is alone Rs 8,000 crore. For those who watch sky above the head and earth below the foot it is a happy occurrence to see that he is debtor of Rs 26,067.

The UDF and the LDF are very eager to take in charge of the State affairs but none is bothered to bring down the level of borrowings and thus to reduce the debt burden.  They will hurl abusive words on each other for unrestricted borrowings and taking the State to debt trap.

It is high time to restrict all State Finance ministers of the country to limit borrowing.  K M Mani is unfit to his present post not only because of his poor performance as Finance minster but his involvement in the sister Abhaya murder case involving clergies.

K A Solaman

Right to Service Act

It is welcome to learn that the Kerala Government has enacted legislation for 'Right to Service' seeking to give every eligible person the right to obtain government services within a time frame.

The time-bound redress of grievances of citizens, delivery of services to the public and making government servants liable in case of default, are really prime issues which are to be seriously looked into. Nevertheless,  what about the plight with of Right to Information Act and Consumer Redrassal Forum?  Except new aspirants none with previous experience would approach these bodies because of the bitter experience from them.

‘All is well that ends well’ is the famous motto. Reversely all is bad that starts well and ends nowhere. No doubt the fate of RSA would be the same that of Consumer courts and RTI.

K A Solaman 

K A Solaman Blog: Organ donation

K A Solaman Blog: Organ donation: With Superstar Mohanlal  expressing  his desire to donate his organs, more and more people are likely come forward to donate their organs....

Organ donation

With Superstar Mohanlal  expressing  his desire to donate his organs, more and more people are likely come forward to donate their organs.  The case of Swathi,  who recovered from a severe liver disease because her aunt’s donation of a slice of her liver, prompted the actor to do the odd.

Nevertheless,  some hospitals are making this organ transplantation  a big thing when many die of ordinary fever and cough. If these people had enough money they would have been saved from death. But fame seeking hospital establishment take little care in dealing with these small business.  Moreover there is no believable statistics about the recovery of those patients who were successfully returned to normal life after organ transplanting surgery.  Except the case of Swathi, reports in this direction are not that much inspiring.

Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS) should be complimented for its efforts to save Swathi , however, their insistence  to get Rs 14 lakh for the surgery raises questions because they speak volumes about charity. I believe all things under the propaganda of organ transplantation are not  in the right path. The organ transplant surgery brings fame and money for some but how many lives are saved by this way remain hidden forever.

K A Solaman

Tough fight.is unlikely

 CPI(M) leadership is unlikely to take stringent action against VS Achuthanandan, the  senior-most  founder leader of  the party in the entire country.

If the central leadership of the party decides to take any action against VS the possible fallout of such an action is far beyond any reckon.  The party bigwigs should understand the grass root level support to VS otherwise it will be detrimental for the party and the damage will be irreparable. VS followers will not stand unmoving and naturally there will be a law and order problem in the state. It would become a tough time for the neo-liberalists of the party to remain safely in the a/c rooms of the party offices.  The possessions in the party offices are owned not alone by Pinarayi loyalists but by VS followers also.  Therefore, the  fight will be tough.

K A Solaman

What does God particle mean?

What does Higgs boson mean for science is the important question and all other thoughts about naming it as ‘God particle’ is meaningless. If people could admit the discovery of electron, proton, neutron, photon and neutrino they should  also admit the discovery of Higgs boson.

The discovery confirms the Standard Model theory is valid. Other particles predicted by this theory have been confirmed, but the missing Higgs boson was a glaring hole. Now that's closed.  Other aspects of sub-atomic physics and of the cosmos that are unexplained, like dark matter (which makes up 25% of the matter in the universe but has never been seen), dark energy (which makes up 70% of matter in the universe but also has never been located), antimatter, super symmetry (a theory that for every particle there is a heavier twin), etc. With the Higgs boson found, scientists can look at these aspects with more surety. That is, if not a hyperbole a man could soon identify his super twin in the near future. The most well-known force in the universe — gravitation —is still not fully explained. Such issues are still to be cleared with findings on Higgs boson.

In mainstream media, the Higgs boson is very often referred to as "the God particle", after the title of Leon Lederman's book on the topic.  Although the proposed particle is both important and elusive (nature attributed to God), the epithet is strongly disliked by physicists ( and atheists too) , who regard it as misleading exaggeration. It is not used in professional publications. And hence it is highly mistaken to make much protest about the name “god particle”.

K A Solaman

The God particle

In mainstream media, the Higgs boson is very often referred to as "the God particle", after the title of Leon Lederman's book on the topic (1993). Although the proposed particle is both important and elusive, the epithet is strongly disliked by physicists, who regard it as misleading exaggeration. It is
not used in professional publications.

Mass of Higgs boson
It is about 133 proton masses i.e.,  the order of10−25 kg.
Equivalent energy= 125–127 GeV

What does Higgs boson mean for science?

1)The discovery confirms the Standard Model theory is valid. Other particles predicted by this theory
have been confirmed, but the missing Higgs boson was a glaring hole. Now that's closed.

2)  Other aspects of sub-atomic physics and of the cosmos that are unexplained, like dark matter(which makes up 25% of the matter in the universe but has never been seen), dark energy (which makes up 70% of matter in the universe but also has never been located), antimatter, super symmetry (a theory that for every particle there is a heavier twin), etc. With the Higgs boson found, scientists can look at these aspects with more surety.

3) The most well-known force in the universe — gravitation —is still not fully explained. Such issues are still to be cleared with findings on Higgs boson

K A Solaman

K A Solaman Blog: Behead the pensioners!

K A Solaman Blog: Behead the pensioners!: The contributory pension and the retirement age hike to 60 are twaddle schemes from the seventy five plus Finance Minister of the State ...

Behead the pensioners!

The contributory pension and the retirement age hike to 60 are twaddle schemes from the seventy five plus Finance Minister of the State K M Mani. Mani was minister and MLA for several years and what his contribution to the state of Kerala is anybody’s guess The Oommen Chandy government mulling to introduce contributory pension scheme for government employees should be objected out rightly.

To ease the mounting financial burden on the state it is unwise to raise the pension age. What actually needed is the compulsory retirement of those seventy five plus politicians like Mani, Aryadan etc from the cabinet. Their portfolios should be handed over to youngsters of their own party. The aged leaders may be permitted to  do a lot of political work, nevertheless, there should be a moratorium for the work of those very old people as ministers without any tangible contribution the state. If Mani smells an explosive situation in the state because of very large number of pensioners he could relinquish the post of Finance minister and if not willing he could make arrangement to decapitate the pensioners!

What Mani and Chandy said when UDF ministry sworn in, about creating 25000 additional jobs in the State, stands as a joke and none is now bothered about it.

K A Solaman 

People need no living proof.

The ongoing rift between government chief whip P.C.George and Forest Minister K B Ganesh Kumar has gone beyond the limit. Both are washing dirty linen in public. The statement in the Assembly made by minister Ganesh Kumar on Nellyampathy is a government stand then why does  the chief whip  make such a  hullabaloo? It is quite obnoxious on the part of George to drag personal matters of the minister into the issue.

If personal matters of the ministers and other leaders are the subjects of public discussion then many have to buy fresh dhotis to cover their head.  If George holds “living proof” of the minister’s “bad character” he should keep them in his bank locker otherwise Ganesh must also open his wallet containing George’s bad character. The people of Kerala are no longer ready to smell the rotten holdings of these culpable politicians.

K A Solaman  

Quizzing the police!

It is the duty of the police to summon and question the suspected persons involved in criminal incidents and in no case the suspected or his acquaintance would quiz the police. Nevertheless the Kannur Marxists are creating history by quizzing the police when summoned. Several channels telecasted the show where  ‘subhan fame’ CPM Kannur leader M V Jayarajan  quizzing the police about administering iron rod into the anus of the suspected.

And his later clarification at a press meet that he did not use threatening words and his gesture against SIT memebers  was quite polite, is funny. It is a wonder that still these leaders have ardent followers.

K A Solaman

Mistaken identity.

Those who have identified ‘ Masala Dosa’ as an entry among ten foods to be tasted before one dies, have not seen too many foods.  The food item ‘Puttu-Kadala’ cooked in steam is  healthier and tastier than oil-cooked masala dosa. The promoters of masala dosa should, therefore, visit Kerala again and taste puttu-kadala  to correct their mistaken identity.  
K A Solaman

No maths or physics on Thursdays!

Bizarre are the findings of the researchers all over the world. For instance look at recommendation of Russia's chief sanitary doctor Gennady Onishchenko. According to him  Schools should not teach difficult subjects like mathematics and physics to children on Thursdays.  Children have their own bio-rhythms and Thursday is the hardest day of the week to learn subjects like mathematics and physics as these subjects require a heavier load on the brain.

Interestingly the finding about Higgs boson, which is purely physics, was published on Thursday ignoring the findings of the Russian Doctor. Certainly the children would find it hard to comprehend the matter with their highly strained Thursday’s brain. And there are some stupid educational visionaries unknowingly about bio-rhythms follow weekly rotation time table in their schools and colleges instead of the day’s time table.

K A Solaman
The New Indian Express published on 14 July 2012.

Hullabaloo over teachers’ dress.

‎

The government circular to woman teachers to turn up at a function in a set-saree and green blouse has invited much debate; subsequently the Ernakulam district education official who issued it was placed under suspension. This  hullabaloo is mainly due to the high-handedness of IUML in all its acts in the  Congress-led government of Kerala. Education port-folio is handled by Muslim League minister P.K. Abdu Rabb and green is the official colour of the IUML.

In Kerala all political parties and communal outfits have taken in possession certain colours as their own official colour. For instance green is the official colour of Muslim League, red for Communist parties, pale yellow for the SNDP, deep or golden yellow for the BJP and the NSS, white for Christians etc. The stars and the planets are also divided communally as moon is owned by Muslims, star by Christians, sun by the Hindus. So it is imperative to have a dress code for all students and teachers for all days of the week. I, therefore, suggest set-saree and white blouse for teachers on Monday, light yellow on Tuesday, golden yellow on Wednesday, red on Thursday and green on Friday.  Saturday and Sunday are blouse-less days. And there is no such restriction for male teachers as they have no job in schools except organisational activities.

K A Solaman 

Unnecessary exercise by Pranab

I couldn’t understand the logic of UPA presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee visiting Kerala for his poll campaign and to meet Kerala Chief Minister, MLAs and MPs. When all the probable votes are analysed and counted what is the fun in campaigning for election. Even if he does not meet leaders and legislators of political parties he will get all votes except those of CPI and RSP.

As the Finance Minister of the country and the second in the Central Ministry he did n't get an opportunity to visit this State. Probably this may be due to the weekly tour of Kerala leaders to Delhi. Nevertheless, the presidential election is a chance for Keralites to meet Pranab in person in their home state.

K A Solaman . 

Reorganise educational system

.

It is time to reorganise our educational system in schools and colleges destroyed by the DPEP and the subsequent grading system. The grading system in schools is a big folly as there is little healthy competition among students to excel themselves and exhibit their ability. All thrashes are placed in A grade and hence  hard-working children are humiliated.

Though more institutions are opened in unaided sector the quality of education has been dwindled by the poor quality of teachers. When government and aided schools pay good salary for the teacher unaided schools give only meagre sum as salary for teachers. In colleges the guest lecturers are doing the good chunk of job while the senior teachers simply relax with little job.  Though there is good infrastructure in some of the Arts and Science Colleges in the State students are not attracted for conventional courses. It is time to replace the grading system into conventional marking system and the students passing with ranks and distinctions should be honoured for their good work. Efforts to rebuild our entire system are very urgent otherwise our students would turn into lazy idiots having no vision for the future.

A review for examination system  should be considered  by appointing external  examiners and all the irregularities made by some self-financing colleges for hundred percent  result should be checked.  A university should not open its off-campus facilities in the premise of another university. It is not necessary to invite foreign universities to set up their complexes of our State, and if there is enough money for one to join a foreign university he should be permitted go abroad and study. More awards and scholarships must be instituted to attract more students to studies of pure sciences.  The college and school teachers should be further trained, and they should be restricted not to involve  active politics. We need no Professor Ministers. We need only professors who are good teachers.

K A Solaman 
Published TNIE on 9 July 2012