The Higgs Boson is basically invisible, making it very difficult for physicists to detect it. The way they do so, is by looking for the specific traces that the Higgs Boson leaves behind when it decays, which is almost instantaneously. About a trillionth of a trillionth of a second after the particle is created, it decays.

The Needle and the Loaded Dice

The Higgs Boson is an extremely rare-to-find particle, and physicists need to run many, many measurements and collect so much data, in order to look for the patterns that occur when a Higgs Boson is noticed. For example, if you roll a die once and you get a number, it doesn’t mean anything. If you roll a die thousands and thousands of times, and you notice that one particular number is coming up more than it should, this signals you that the dice are loaded.

The Rare Decays vs The Noisy Decays

The Higgs Boson decays into Bottom Quarks 58% of the time, but Bottom Quarks are the noisy decays of the Higgs Boson. The noise that bottom quarks produce are like trying to hear a pin drop in a jet engine test. Physicists came up with the solution, to ignore the common decays, and focus on the more rare ones, like the Two Photon Channel, and the 4 Lepton (Golden) Channel.

Quantum Weirdness Defies Math

Even though the Higgs Boson has a mass of about 125 GeV (giga electron volts), when it decays into Z Bosons, each Z Boson has a mass of 91 GeV. Two 91 GeV bosons would add up to 182 GeV, not 125 GeV. This is pure Quantum Weirdness, and the explanation behind this, is that one of the Z Bosons exist as a virtual particle, for a fraction of a nanosecond, just enough for the decay to occur.

The Hints and The Discoveries

In 2011, at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, the 2 independent detectors ATLAS and CMS were about to report their discoveries. Strangely, both competing detectors saw the bump at the exact same mass, both reporting 125 GeV. Though, this is all a hint. Not a discovery. The 2011 Hint measured 3 Sigma, which is about a 1 in 740 chance of being wrong. In quantum physics though, this is not enough to be claimed as a discovery. For a discovery, a 1 in 3.5 million chance of being wrong, or a 5 Sigma discovery.

Cautious Electric Excitement

Within the teams working on these hints and discoveries, the atmosphere was described as “cautious electric excitement”. After 2011’s hint, the plan for 2012 was clear. First, physicists would run the Large Hadron Collider at a higher energy, to increase the possibility of potential Higgs Boson creations. Then, they would collect as much data as possible, and analyze it to the core. Lastly, they would determine whether the 3 Sigma hint grows into a 5 Sigma discovery. Now, we must keep recording data, analyzing it, and cranking up 3 Sigma hints to 5 Sigma discoveries. The main question is, will the hints just fade away into the vast majority of Quantum that we have no idea about, or will they grow into discoveries and revolutionize the field?

Detective Physicists

Physicists need to act like particle detectives, in the way that they study the Higgs boson and create a picture of it, based on the evidence and traces it leaves behind. In this case, the Higgs Boson leaves behind other smaller and less massive particles, which physicists study, and use that to study more about the Higgs Boson itself.

Calculating Mass

The 3 steps physicists need to take to calculate the mass of a Higgs Boson are to measure the energy (e) of the particles it decayed into, measure the momentum (p) of the decay particles and lastly, to calculate the mass using the relativistic formula. The Invariant Mass tool can be used to find a particles mass without actually looking at it, and the five-sigma standard needs to be used in order to determine the chance of the discovery being a random fluke.

The Hope For the Bump

Physicists hoped to see a bump in the data graph, around 125 GeV (giga electron volts), signaling the Higgs Boson. Every new particle appears like a spike in the data, and this is what physicists were looking to observe. A large bump occurred around 91 GeV, which signaled the Z Boson, a new particle.

The Hunt is Over

On July 4, 2012 at CERN, the two competing detectors ATLAS and CMS presented their findings. In the front row, sitting there was Peter Higgs, the man who heavily contributed to the idea of the Higgs Boson. 48 years after Peter Higgs thought up the Higgs Boson, the hunt was finally over. Just like Peter Higgs, we should theorize and idealize future quantum physics concepts that still remain a mystery today. Like how ATLAS and CMS reported 5 sigma discoveries, we must make that happen continuously, and enhance the quantum world.

The Rulebook’s Missing Piece

The Standard Model of Particle physics is the subatomic rulebook for everything quantum, even though there’s a lot of information and concepts that it doesn’t cover. Without the discovery of the Higgs Boson in 2012, the whole Standard Model would have come crashing down. This discovery was crucial for the Standard Model to retain its place as the rulebook.

The Particles and The Tests

Multiple tests were applied on the Higgs Boson, and it passed every single one. From the ATLAS and CMS findings, Physicists measured its mass to be 125 GeV, about 130 times heavier than a single Proton, and this exact number was crucial to prove the discovery and observation of the Higgs Boson. In addition to that, measurements relating to the decay particles (Tau Lepton, Top Quark, Bottom Quark) took place.

The Upgrade and the Answers

The LHC (Large Hadron Collider) is getting a massive upgrade, in order to become a so called Higgs Factory. This upgrade boosts the LHC’s luminosity (how many interactions it gets) by 10, which is an exponential increase. About 15 million Higgs Bosons will get created in the LHC, per year. This will provide the answers we need, to unlock the mysteries of the cosmos, and to determine a lot more information about the Higgs Field and the Higgs Boson.

The Standard Model of Particle Physics is the core rulebook for everything quantum, and the most knowledgeable one ever created by humans. The Standard Model is so elegantly organized, that it can all just be conveyed in an equation, called the Standard Model Lagrangian. Even though it explains all of this, it still lacks to explain some things, which still remain a mystery, according to the Standard Model.

Missing Gravity

One thing that the Standard Model fails to explain, is Gravity. Every field has a particle associated with it. The Photon for the Electromagnetic Field, the Higgs Boson for the Higgs Field, and so on. Just like that, the hypothetical Graviton could be the particle associated with Gravity, which the Standard Model also fails to explain. When it comes to extreme conditions like information about the inside of a black hole, the calculations go rogue.

The Unknown Unexplained

Another thing that the Standard Model explains nothing about is Dark Matter and Dark Energy. Ordinary and known energy and matter only make up about 5% of the universe. The other 95% is Dark Matter and Dark Energy. Even though we have names for them, we know nothing about them. The Standard Model is basically blinded to 95% of reality.

Asymmetry and Ghost Particles

Why does matter even exist? At the beginning of the universe, there was a tiny imbalance between Matter and Antimatter. For about every billion antimatter particles, there was about a billion and one matter particles, creating an imbalance called the Matter-Antimatter Asymmetry Problem. That tiny imbalance is all that was left to create everything present in the universe today. Another spooky thing that the Standard Model doesn’t explain is the Neutrino, or Ghost Particle. They are about 1 million times lighter than an Electron (the second lightest particle).

The Potential Crack in Physics

Some leading “Beyond the Model” (BSM) theories include Supersymmetry, which proposes that each and every known particle has a “superpartner”, and String Theory, which proposes that all particles are really just tiny vibrating strings. The big question now, is which one of these theories is finally going to unravel the mysteries of physics, and crack open the case?

Represented on the Standard Model of Particle Physics, Bosons are force carrier particles. Just like how Fermions are responsible for creating and building all matter on Earth, Bosons are responsible for carrying the fundamental forces, the Strong Nuclear Force, Weak Nuclear Force, Electromagnetic Force and Gravity. There are different types of Bosons, and each one is responsible for carrying a specific fundamental force.

Types of Bosons and the forces they carry

Bosons are split into 2 categories. The Gauge Bosons, and the Higgs Boson which has its own category.

There are 5 different types of Bosons. The Photon, W boson, Z boson, Gluon and the Higgs Boson. The Photon, W boson, Z boson and Gluon are all Gauge Bosons, and the Higgs Boson goes into its own special category.

The Photon carries the Electromagnetic Force, the W boson and Z boson carry the Weak Force, the Gluon carries the Strong Force, and the Higgs Boson doesn’t carry any force. In this way, the Higgs Boson is unique. This is the particle associated with the Higgs Field, which is the giver of mass to all particles with mass. The more they interact with the field, the more mass they gain - whereas particles like Photons zip right through, given that they are massless. The Higgs Boson’s job is to give more mass to other particles that have mass.

Scientists proposed that the particle that carries Gravity is a hypothetical particle, called the Graviton.

The Future of Quantum Depends on You

After the major discovery of the Higgs Boson in 2012, by CERN, there have been many more discoveries in Quantum, such as Time Crystals. This pattern cannot be broken. It’s our job to continue researching, and learning more about Bosons and the Quantum world. We need to keep up this trend of new major discoveries, and by learning more, we can unravel more mysteries and uncover more concepts.

There are so many things we know about quantum, yet so much we don’t. Now, it’s your turn to showcase your quantum capabilities, and revolutionize the field.

The Matter-Antimatter Asymmetry Problem is the imbalance of matter and antimatter particles that the Big Bang created at the beginning of the universe. Roughly, for 1 billion antimatter particles, there was 1 billion and one matter particles, creating a tiny imbalance. The tiny imbalance of a particle was all that was left, to create all the matter we see today.

The imbalance between matter and antimatter

For example, on a scale, if there are 1 billion yellow calculators on one side, and 1 billion and one purple calculators on the other side, the side with 1 billion and one purple calculators will be slightly below the side with 1 billion yellow calculators. This indicates an imbalance. The same way, if the yellow calculators represent antimatter particles and if the purple calculators represent matter particles, then there is a tiny imbalance between the matter particles and the antimatter particles.

The Background of this imbalance

The Matter-Antimatter Asymmetry Problem, also called the Baryon Asymmetry Problem was brought into existence by physicist Paul Dirac and Carl David Anderson. Dirac first proposed the existence of antimatter, and Anderson then proved it. The big question for them to build on, was the Matter-Antimatter Asymmetry Problem.

How scientists study matter and antimatter

Scientists research in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Geneva, Switzerland. There, they can use the particle accelerator to smash/collide particles together, creating an environment similar to the one at the Big Bang. This way, they can study the behavior of matter and antimatter.

Do we know everything about matter and antimatter?

In the study of matter and antimatter, beyond the Matter-Antimatter Asymmetry Problem, there is still so much to discover. Matter and Antimatter are present in particle accelerators, in Earth’s radiation belt, and even near Black Holes and leftovers of Supernovas. As physics progresses, and generations of scientists study more and more about matter and antimatter, we’ll answer a lot more questions, and ask a lot more too.

Neutrinos are incredibly small and fast fundamental particles. They have almost no mass. About 100 trillion neutrinos from the sun pass through your body every second, but only about 1 of those neutrinos interact with an atom in your body.

Neutrino Flavors

Neutrinos are created with a type, or a flavor. These flavors are names of Leptons. Leptons are particles on the Standard Model of particle physics, shown as an Electron, a Muon or a Tau. The different types of Neutrinos are Electron neutrinos, Muon neutrinos and Tau neutrinos.

What is Neutrino Oscillation

Neutrino Oscillation is the process of a Neutrino changing flavor as it travels. If a neutrino starts as one flavor, it is entirely possible for it to be measured with a different flavor later on. If a neutrino starts it’s journey as a Muon neutrino and it travels and accelerates, in the middle of its journey it could transform, or oscillate into an Electron Neutrino, then later, it becomes a Tau Neutrino, and even later, it can turn back into a Muon Neutrino.

Example of Neutrino Oscillation using real life objects

The ice cream flavors represent flavors of Neutrinos. If the following are true:

Electron Neutrino = Vanilla

Muon Neutrino = Chocolate

Tau Neutrino = Strawberry

A Neutrino can start as Chocolate (Muon Neutrino), then in the middle of its journey it oscillates into Vanilla (Electron Neutrino), then later, it oscillates into Strawberry (Tau Neutrino) and even later, it turns back into Chocolate (Muon Neutrino).

Why do Neutrinos oscillate?

For this process to occur, the Neutrinos must have mass. For a long duration, scientists thought that Neutrinos were massless, but once there was evidence of Neutrinos oscillating, they figured that they had to have some mass. In the quantum world, it is possible for a particle to be in multiple states, simultaneously. A Neutrino’s flavor is a combination of different quantum states.

Do we know everything about Neutrinos?

Scientists are still studying these ghostly particles, but they’ve helped revolutionize quantum physics by being the key to unlock many concepts and mysteries, though some still remain mysterious. As quantum progresses, scientists will find out more and more about Neutrinos and Neutrino Oscillation, they’ll unlock more mysteries, and answer more questions - but we’ll never be done. Questions will keep on being asked, and it’s our job to revolutionize further, and answer them.

Quantisierung als Eigenwertproblem (“Quantization as an Eigenvalue Problem”) by Erwin Schrodinger was a research paper published in the year 1926. This paper contributed to many concepts within Quantum Physics. His goal in writing the paper was to understand the behavior of subatomic particles like electrons inside of atoms.

Quantization and Eigenvalue Problems

Quantization is the quantum principle that subatomic particles must have specific discrete energy levels. An Eigenvalue Problem involves finding Eigenvalues (special number represented by λ) and Eigenvectors (vectors, represented by x) that satisfy an equation for a square matrix. This would be abbreviated as Ax = λx where A is the square matrix. Quantization as an Eigenvalue Problem explains 3 main concepts, wave-particle duality, the theory of quanta, and the Schrodinger equation.

Wave-particle Duality

Wave-particle duality is a phenomenon where subatomic particles not only act as particles, but they also act as waves. For example, light can be in the form of particles (photons) and in the form of waves, spreading out. Particles are discrete, having a specific position and momentum at a given time. Waves on the other hand, do not have a specific position and momentum, instead they are more continuous. Louis deBroglie (a French physicist) first proposed the theory of wave-particle duality, and Schrodinger provided the mathematical explanation behind his proposals. In this research paper, Schrodinger thought about deBroglie’s idea of wave-particle duality, and proposed that particles act not only like particles, but also like waves and provided his own mathematical foundation for it.

The Theory of Quanta

The theory of quanta, explains that subatomic particles must have specific, discrete energy levels that are deterministic. These energy levels must be whole numbers. The theory of quanta was first proposed by Max Planck in the year 1900. He was attempting to understand black body radiation (the radiation that a blackbody, or a perfect absorber of all electromagnetic radiation gives off when it’s temperature is high) and proposed that energy is only emitted and absorbed in specific, discrete packets called quanta. Then, Niels Bohr (a Danish physicist) proposed the theory that the electrons in atoms can only have discrete, specific energy levels. Schrodinger, building off of the theory made by Niels Bohr, provided a mathematical model for discrete energy levels occupied by the electrons in an atom.

Schrodinger’s Wave Equation

Schrodinger’s paper had one major purpose - that was to create a new field in quantum theory, called “Wave Mechanics”. His paper proposed the wave equation, which calculated the allowed energy levels of electrons inside of an atom. The Schrodinger equation explains how the wave function of a quantum system changes over time. A wave function is the characteristic that describes the probability of a subatomic particle being in a specific place. If information about a particular atom - such as the amount of protons and electrons inside of it is input into the equation, the equation will help find which energy levels are allowed for electrons within that specific atom. There are two types of Schrodinger Equations - the Time Dependent and Time Independent.

Time Dependent Schrodinger Equation:

The Time Dependent Schrodinger Equation shows how the wave function changes over time. This equation helps understand the possibilities of where the subatomic particle might be. If it is known that the particle is at a certain place now, then the equation can calculate a possible place it might be and the probability of finding it in that place a few seconds later.

Time Independent Schrodinger Equation:

The Time Independent Schrodinger Equation is a special case of the Time Dependent Schrodinger Equation, where “time” is not one of the variables. This equation is applied when the particle is in a completely steady and unchanging environment. An example of a particle in a steady environment is an electron orbiting the nucleus inside of a stable atom.

Quantization as an Eigenvalue Problem by Erwin Schrodinger has done a great deal to quantum physics. His wave equation provides a mathematical foundation to the changing of wave functions, the 3 key concepts he proposed in his paper enhanced other physicists' understandings and viewpoints, and his paper in general, revolutionized the ideas of quanta and wave particle duality.

Art is what most people define as drawings, paintings, coloring and patterns. But there are more types than that - discovered, undiscovered and even imaginary! I’ve found the truth behind some of the unique arts, because they either used to or still apply to my daily life and I have a backstory for most of them. When someone sees art, they probably see pictures and colors. Not all try to find the actual meaning behind them - the story they try to tell. Just like a curtain. They see an ordinary curtain - not many people dive deeper to find out what is behind the curtain - whether a useless rusty old clock, or a key opportunity to make everyone’s lives better!

Art of Ignoring

“Ignoring” is a form of art. Whenever I feel perturbed in a bundle of nerves, I get anxious. I just feel like there are obstacles all around me, preventing me from doing regular things. I get trapped in this tight escapade - like a contraption that my own brain produced, and the only way to escape is practicing the Art of Ignoring. I just try my best to ignore the worry and distract myself with other things. The more I overpower the worry and eventually outnumber it, the escapade gets looser and looser until I am able to escape through an obstacle-less gap, and then I stop worrying. Even though it takes a lot of practice and time to master it, just like any other type of art, it is helpful to actually be able to ignore a worry, and live a rather worry-free life.

The Art of Mathematical Nature

Objects in nature like trees, plants and rocks are considered art, because of their shape, size, color and other properties. On flowers, the petals have patterns that differ from one flower to another and they follow the Fibonacci Sequence or the Golden Ratio. One sequence clip from the Golden Ratio is 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13, and so on. The pattern here is just about adding each number with the number before it, to get the next number. This is neverending, like the decimal number sequence, or the irrational Pi (3.14159…). I feel a personal connection to the Fibonacci Sequence because, for one thing, it’s very complex and I love complexity. Also, the thought of mathematicians making a complex topic sound so inextricably simple is itself artistic to me. In other words, like the bell curve which has two extremes (both the flat tails) and the middle (the broadest, population-wise). Physicists and mathematicians move their discoveries and inventions from the complex extremes to the average means of the bell curve, making it another piece of art!

Mental Art

Transportation of information in the human brain is also an art. Neural pathways and neurons are fascinating, tempting to look at under an MRI scanning machine! The neural pathways and connections have a bidirectional, grid-like structure, which is also art, for the same reasons as patterns and designs are art. A neural pathway’s network structure replicates as a person gains new experiences and learns new things through their life. A picture of the human brain looks like a pink squiggly and slimy thing. That is another pattern, and patterns are art! Mental art is also when you gain new neural pathways from new experiences and new learnings. For example, I learn new topics in quantum physics (new learnings) and represent them in different ways like my podcast (new experiences), which in turn help me create mental art by gaining more neural pathways in my brain.

Imaginary Art

Just imagine something, like a raspberry, which has a unique color, shape, size and other unique properties, and that is made up of a number of atoms and subatomic particles like quarks, leptons and more. It is mentally and imaginarily artistic to me, how something as normal and simple as a raspberry can be decomposed into such tiny particles. I use this form of art in another way to keep me from getting bored - by creating imaginary creatures to talk and play with me. I usually have various names for the creatures, and they would speak various languages I invented and sometimes there are dictionaries for such languages. In my imaginary world, there is a place called Tanvitopia which is named after me, and which is my little world that has all my imaginary friends to talk to. My imaginary friends have an artistic way of keeping me entertained - artistic, because they use the various types of art I described and explain more about them for entertainment and to prevent boredom. With the real and imaginary world together, and all my real and imaginary friends, I’ve managed to overcome extreme boredom, extreme anxiety and extreme loneliness!

Visual Art

After you stare at the sun for a while (don’t actually do it!) and then look at the wall and blink a few times, you can see colored patches - yellow, green, red, pink, orange, you name it! These patches are just your brain playing tricks with your eyes, the information gets sent when it isn’t really supposed to. This color is art, and it is uniquely visual, so I call it Visual art!

Neutral Art

Let’s say there is a hole in the ground. A pitch black hole. You stare into it (don’t fall in!) and find nothing but darkness. It’s dark, black with absolutely no light from anywhere under there. You can easily relate this with the Mariana Trench (the deepest ocean point on Earth). This is, strangely, also art - and it is black. Black is not really a color - it is the output after absolutely no photons, neutrinos or any particle of light bounce off of a surface. Colors are caused by light bouncing off of objects and black is the output of no light bouncing off. Even though it isn’t colorful, the whole idea of black is eye-catching. It is artistic that even though light is almost everywhere, we can create full patches of absolutely nothing.

Art in the Dark

When you close your eyes, and if you are next to any sort of object that is a source of photons or neutrinos currently bouncing off of objects, the background doesn’t appear completely black. It is a bit orange, maybe red. Sometimes when you close your eyes super tightly, you can even see small patterns, like swirls and hexagons. That’s because some photons can still enter your photoreceptor cells in your retina (the part of your eye that takes in light). The typical human eye absorbs blue light better than red light, so your eyes are used to blue light. When you close your eyes, some red light just passes through, which is why the background would have a reddish tint. They are like optical illusions, but they are actual colors - with artistic patterns! Sometimes when I am bored, practicing this art just makes me feel more entertained. There are red, blue and black patches that I see, like an art gallery with different picture frames, each one with a unique color or pattern, all of them residing inside my eyes!

Art of Humanity

This can be considered in two different ways. The first one is that it is amazing to just be alive on planet Earth. This is art because when people are not yet born (still forming) they develop arms, legs, hands and more. The first ever things to develop are a heart, and a heartbeat. That has patterns, beats, colors - so, art! Another way to look at it is that the skin and other properties of humans are considered art because of their unique patterns and colors. It is fascinating to think how humans evolved, and how we are here today in ways more artistic than what we could think of.

Art is very important in life, especially for complicated individuals like me who love analyzing everything. Art gives us a very easy way to do so!

Since I have anxiety, I've used the “Art of Ignoring” to learn to ignore all my worries, as it weighs down the pressure to do daily activities. It makes me strong enough to overpower all my worries. By practicing the “Art of Ignoring”, people can come a long way in life, achieve things better than they would without using the method. Sometimes I like to walk around slowly, and appreciate the fact that I am alive, using the “Art of Humanity”. “Mental Art” is also one I use frequently, in fact every single day! Since I learn complex topics like Trigonometry and Quantum Physics, these are new learnings and new experiences. This way, I am creating “Mental Art” in my own brain every day, by creating new neural connections and rewiring neural pathways!

Quantum physics is the study of subatomic particles and their properties. As outer space and all matter in the universe are made up of subatomic particles, scientists are using quantum physics to understand more about the universe and its mysteries. This article explains a few topics that are considered by scientists to be mysteries of outer space, and how they use quantum physics to understand them better.

Supersymmetry

Scientists have been researching and trying to discover the fundamental laws of nature and physics. The laws of physics and the particles they govern exist because of many underlying and unknown symmetries. Some of these symmetries were lost during the Big Bang, when the singularity exploded into the universe. One such lost symmetry is called - the Supersymmetry. Just like every known particle has an antiparticle, Supersymmetry indicates that, by every known particle’s side, there also exists a superpartner particle. Particle accelerator experiments, like experiments with the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) are helping scientists uncover the role of supersymmetry and all the mysterious information it may hold about outer space.

Dark Energy

Dark Energy is a mysterious unknown force that fills the vacuum of outer space. While scientists don’t know why it exists, recent measurements using tools like telescopes and space probes have proved that dark energy exists. A calculation computed to determine the value of the dark energy needed to fill the vacuum is much more than scientists thought. It is over 10¹²⁰ times larger than the amount scientists observe. To form dark energy, an unknown physical process needs to occur to eliminate most of the vacuum energy in outer space. Quantum physics points to a field, called the Higgs field. Without the Higgs field, electrons would move at the speed of light, and atoms would instantaneously break down and disintegrate. Supersymmetry also provides an explanation and context for the Higgs field and a possible explanation for the presence of dark energy.

Extra dimensions of space

String theory suggests particles as substances called the “superstrings”. These superstrings have different vibrations, but all of those vibrations are from a single particle. String theory brings the aspect of quantum into physics, using unique mathematical constructs. While it is hard to observe the superstrings directly beyond the mathematical constructs, string theory puts forth numerous predictions, including seven possible dimensions of outer space. This concept of extra dimensions is theoretical at present. Scientists don’t know what their shapes or sizes are, or information about where they are or how many there are. They also don’t know what new or extra particles come to life or already exist in the extra dimensions, or what particles are associated with the new extra dimensions of outer space. The main question that scientists are trying to answer is, “Are there really extra dimensions of space?”

Converging forces

Forces and particles in the universe may converge, or become one. There are multiple possibilities that make them converge. There is also a theory that perhaps all of the forces in the universe (including gravity) are just one force, only different branches of it. Just like a tree - there could be many pieces of wood, but they all belong to the same tree, just different pieces. This theory of a unified force helps relate quarks to leptons, and this force also could predict new ways to do particle conversion, where one particle changes its quantum state into another particle of a different type.

Dark Matter

Dark matter is the super glue of the universe that holds everything together. Without dark matter, the galaxies and stars wouldn’t even exist. If galaxies didn’t exist, then there would be no life, no Earth, no humans, no animals, nothing. Dark matter was only discovered and has been known to exist since the 1930s. Over the last two decades, scientists have understood more about the properties of dark matter. It is considered to be unique, and unlike any other matter in the universe. Scientists think that the lightest supersymmetric particle could be the particle of dark matter. Scientists are attempting to study dark matter directly, to understand this better. They can do this by creating dark matter particles at particle accelerators, where scientists can measure their properties and to understand their place in the cosmic picture

One afternoon we were in Pennsylvania with our friends, and began our drive back home to New Jersey. On the way, we needed to buy some groceries from the Whole Foods Market, so we stopped there. We were exactly halfway through our car ride. I picked up the groceries with my dad, and went to pick up my mom from a store right next to Whole Foods Market, called Nordstrom Rack. She was buying some clothes. Just before we went outside, we realized that it was raining cats and dogs! My dad and I had only one umbrella - his umbrella. Since it was big enough, both of us could fit inside it. We started walking towards our car, planning to open the trunk to put the groceries in. We weren’t walking so fast that we would slip and fall on the wet road, but also not too slow, that we would be caught in the rain for a longer duration. We walked to our car, and my dad opened the trunk. I was standing there worrying if there is going to be a flood in Pennsylvania.

We got my umbrella from the car, so we both had our own umbrellas. We then went back into Whole Foods Market, got some ice cream. After waiting for what seemed like the passage of time since the days of Pharaoh Tutankhaman, we walked through the raindrops that sounded like a hundred clocks ticking loudly in my ears, to Nordstrom Rack, holding our umbrellas above our heads. I was wearing peach orange-pink bike shorts, and a purple shirt that said, “π 3.141592653”. On the bottom it said, “insπre” as in “inspire”. My orange-pink shorts were wet like a hand-wiping towel that had just wiped 100 hands, and my shirt was very moist. We then left Nordstrom Rack with my mom, got into our white car, with raindrops sticking up and dancing all over the sunroof, and started to head back to our home. I took my computer out, and started to play some games and watched some TV.

I could see the raindrops rickety-racketing down like airplanes, helicopters and spacecraft trying to crash-land on our car roof! Luckily, the glass was shut so tight that not an atom of air could get in. I could see the raindrops falling rapidly onto the sunroof through the lightly black tinted glass. After all the chaos came to an end, something seemed to be bothering me. Was it the fact that the raindrops falling on the sunroof was more cacophonic than pleasant? There were a few other sounds blending in with the raindrops, such as the games on my computer, the car was making noise as well and my parents were talking to each other. I hadn’t thought so. It was something else that was bothering me.

It was my anxiety.

I felt anxious that there would be a flood, since the rain was so heavy. My brain was right there, worrying like a supernova blasting inside my head. There was something else too. There was lightning, that made me more anxious. That’s because I thought lightning could strike our car. I expressed how I felt in words to my parents, and my mom and dad gave me one explanation each.

My mom said that we are headed towards clearer skies in New Jersey. My dad gave me another explanation. He didn’t just give any explanation, he gave an explanation that I’ll understand much better. He gave me an explanation that involved Physics. Yes, Physics!

He said that lightning is nothing but electricity, and that I’m not scared of electricity generally. The probability of lightning striking our car is very low, because lightning hardly gets past the clouds. Even if it gets past the clouds, there is an even lower chance of it getting past the extremely tall trees. There is an even lower chance of it striking the moving cars on the road. Since the moving cars are always accelerating, or at least containing velocity at all times, it makes an even lower chance of it striking cars. That makes it an even lower chance of striking humans inside the cars, since they are already protected, even if their sunroof glass is open. That was my dad’s long physics explanation.

After all that, I felt much better, and started to enjoy myself the rest of the way on the road trip, with my computer. I even wrote a poem about the rain! That was my opportunity to overcome the anxiety for that specific thought, although it is impossible to prevent it from coming back and bothering again, just like if you throw a brand new boomerang in perfect shape, it is impossible to prevent it from coming back to you.

An explanation that involves more science would be Sir Isaac Newton’s third law, “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction”. In simpler words, that means that if force is applied to an object and it had kinetic energy, it would come back the same way it went before. For example, if you throw a tennis ball onto a wall, it will bounce back to you, which is the equal, but opposite reaction. I have some other ways of overcoming anxiety for such thoughts, here are some ways:

Sidewalk Method: The Sidewalk method represents you driving a car, noticing some activity happening on the sidewalk next to the road lane you are driving in. Let's say you keep paying attention to the activity, instead of looking at it for a second and then going back to the road. You will then crash into something, and that is not going to be good. Just like that, if you are doing something useful, and you get anxious, and if you keep paying attention to the anxiety, not focusing on the task that you were doing before, then you will just keep worrying, and that won’t be good either.

Leaf Method: The Leaf method represents you looking out the window, and you see a tree, with leaves on it. You see the leaves move. You become so worried that the leaves move, even though that is just natural. Just like that, if you are getting a thought that makes you feel anxious, even if it is just a normal thing, that would mean you are just overthinking it. If you wasted even one minute of your life overthinking or letting anxiety spike up, that one minute is precious. It will never come back the same way, so you lost that precious moment that you could have been doing useful things or having fun, forever.

Art of Ignoring: The Art of Ignoring is when you get anxiety, and you get stuck on that one thought. You can practice the Art of Ignoring, which means to ignore the thoughts that bother you, and make you anxious. It will take months to learn to ignore everything, or maybe even years. Even though you cannot prevent anxiety, you can learn to ignore anxiety.

Heavy Cone on the Road: The Heavy Cone on the Road method represents you driving on the road, and you see a heavy cone right in the middle of the road. If you keep going the same direction, you will bump into the cone, and you can’t get past it, because it is so heavy. If you keep pushing and fighting it as would a Giganatosaurus against an Albertosaurus, the cone will break your car, so the cone would’ve won the battle. You need to maneuver the cone, so that you can just keep on driving. Similarly, if you come across a thought that makes you anxious, but you keep going towards the thought, you will get stuck in the thought, and if you just worry and worry constantly, that’s what the thought wants you to do, so the thought will win the battle against you. Instead, you have to ignore the thought, which will make you win the battle to get past it, and just get back to doing whatever you were doing before, just like you can keep on driving after maneuvering the cone in the example!

Those are some methods that I learned over the past couple of years or so, to ignore anxiety and overthinking. For me, the Leaf Method and Sidewalk Method (with a dollop of Physics) teamed up to help me, and now I hardly get those kinds of thoughts. I just learned the Art of Ignoring a couple of weeks ago, so I’m still working on it. Nature was so nice, to create YOU. Be thankful that nature made you. And be smart, in your own way.