EPFL interpretation of Higgs-Boson particle’s role in Big Bang
There are several difficulties in creating a science visual based on an abstract concept. In this case, we’re talking about the Big Bang. It is a beast of a problem for science visualizers. The search for the Higgs-Boson particle has stirred a lot of interest. Now, researchers claim to have proven its existence, and the implied existence of another particle as well. To accompany this announcement, the researchers chose to present a diagram of the Big Bang, and the Higgs-Boson particle’s role in the early universe.
Creating an illustration for this concept is challenging because no one knows what the particle looks like and the Big Bang can’t really be depicted in a 2D format (since it is four-dimensional). This particular graphic was a good try, but it did a poor job representing the enormous scales of space and time associated with the origins of this particle and the Big Bang. Some of the events took fractions of a second while others took billions of years. Also, the ‘shape’ of the universe presented in the art is misleading. But for this, we must forgive the illustrator. No one knows what shape the universe is.
—Chris Sloan with Justine Benanty
