Rolf Heuer, director general of the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) said here on Monday that he believed that Satyendra Nath Bose, the physicist in honour of whom a family of particles in the Standard Model of particle physics is named, should have been given the Nobel Prize.
“He has certainly contributed to our understanding of particle physics on the level of other Nobel Prize winners,” Dr. Heuer told journalists on the sidelines of a public lecture on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) experiment.
Dr. Heuer said there were many people who had made significant contributions to science, but had not received the award and Satyendra Nath Bose was one of them.
“We have just two families of particles – the fermions and the bosons. And we call them bosons because Satyendranath Bose has done a lot of work… His contribution is so huge. We do not give names to particles or families of particles if somebody has not done fantastic work,” he said.
Bikash Sinha, Homi Bhabha Professor at the Department of Atomic Energy, who was also present on the occasion pointed out that the Nobel Prize for Physics is awarded every year, “but as long as human civilisation exists there will be bosons.”
In the course of his lecture, Dr. Heuer said the announcement of the discovery of the “Higgs boson-like particle” in July this year was only the beginning of the work to be done on the particle.
“We have to measure the properties of the particle with high precision. We have to find out whether it is a scalar particle. Is it the Higgs boson or is it one of several – we can have a whole family of Higgs bosons,” he said.
He also said that studying the properties of this particle could provide scientists with insight into dark matter and dark energy.
“I think our understanding about the universe is about to change,” he said, pointing out that the Standard Model of particle physics explains the existence of merely five per cent of the universe.
The experiments at the LHC will not only provide evidence for the Standard Model, but also expand our knowledge about other phenomena including anti-matter, dark matter and dark energy, he said.
India’s application for associate membership
CERN authorities were eagerly awaiting a written application from India applying for associate membership of the CERN Council, Dr. Heuer said.
Bikash Sinha, the Homi Bhabha Professor at the Department of Atomic Energy told journalists that the application process was awaiting a clearance from the Ministry of Finance and an announcement in this regard can be expected later this month.
Asked if India had approached the authorities at CERN for associate membership of the CERN Council, Dr. Heuer said: “Verbally yes. We have had discussions with the Atomic Energy Commission.”
He said he had been told that the file had been cleared by the Commission. The former Indian President, Pratibha Patil, visited CERN in October 2011 was very positive about the application, he said.
“It is a question of some formalities in the government and then I hope to receive a written application and then I shall be very happy,” he said.
At present, India has an observer status at the CERN council. Elaborating on the benefits of India becoming an associate member of the CERN council, he said scientists from across the country will be able to apply for staff positions at CERN, which is only possible for members or associate members.
Keywords: Rolf Heuer, CERN chief, Satyendra Nath Bose, Standard Model, particle physics, Bosons, Higgs Boson, God particle
It should not bother us that a brilliant physicist like SN Bose was not recognized by the Nobel committee. What we should care about is that India does not have a Nobel-like prize that people all over the world would dream of winning.
We have been always hearing this that Satyendranath Bose should have
got a Nobel for Physics and so on! Bose also brought some statistical
corrections to Planck's theory of Electromagnetic radiation. My
Physics Prof. here in Ulm (Germany) said once that Bose just changed
the sign from minus to plus in the denominator of Fermi distribution
function and hypothised further with Einstein. But it will be very
useful if The Hindu's journalists could meet our top physicists and
probe about why exactly Bose could have missed out on Nobel, take
their opinions etc. Because it's so lame to read about missed Nobel,
again and again, without knowing anything further.
..A belated recognition ! At least now India can bestow its highest
citation to this outstanding Scientist who excelled in many fields and a original Agmark thinker philosopher ! The Scientific community of India
should strive for this Honor awarded to Bose.!!
It is a matter of great joy that in post independent India names of
some Indians are being taken by the world with respect and
Prof.S.N.Bose occupies a premier position among them.There might have
been several reasons unknown to us for not awarding Nobel Prize in
Physics to Prof.Bose but one of the reasons might have been his
indirect association with freedom movement of India which of course
could not have drawn praise from the then British dominated western
world.However it is still not late,we should make an effort to start
an award in Physics in his name called Bose Award.Another effort
should be made by a film maker to make a film on his life, titled as
'Bose-The forgotten Scientist'.
S.N. Bose's misfortune was that he was active at a time when there were many outstanding physicists working on a lot of interesting problems. There were other outstanding scientists who suffered the same fate notably George Gamow, Pascaual Jordan, David Bohm and J. Robert Oppenheimer among others.
The most glaring omission was probably Arnold Sommerfeld who received a record 81 nominations but never won the prize. He also produced more students who went on to win the Nobel Prize than anyone else.
Like economy, science also goes through boom and bust periods and Bose was active during a major boom period with many outstanding workers. But his contribution was recognized by einstein among others and will live.
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