Could Paul have known?

Could Saul of Tarsus, blind about God for decades, blinded by God for three days, really see the invisible? Once those scales fell from his eyes, could he see the unseen?

He wrote that "since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse" (Romans 1:20).

We read that verse and think of the grand, the majestic, the literally awesome. How can one look at the Himalayas or the rain forest or the cosmos and not see a Creator?

But could Paul have been talking about something substantially smaller?

Could Paul have possibly known about . . . particle physics?

Calorimeter inside the ATLAS detector
Image: ATLAS Experiment / CERN

Calorimeter inside the ATLAS detector

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say, Nah. No way. They didn't even know about germs yet, much less molecules, atoms, and the less-than-microscopic matter that makes it all up. So Paul's off the hook.

But what about today's physicists, especially those who have observed such things, acknowledged their complexity, and marveled at their intricate design? What about those scientists who have truly found the matter that matters most? Are they "without excuse"?

What about those who have actually seen the Higgs boson, the so-called "God particle"? If you've seen the "God particle," have you seen God?

Such questions aren't asked overtly in the fascinating new documentary Particle Fever, but they certainly linger, appropriately enough, just beyond sight. The film follows a handful of world-renowned physicists as they aim to prove the existence of the Higgs boson by smashing zillions of protons into one another at faster than light speed.

The Higgs boson ("boson" is another word for "particle") has theoretically been around for a half a century. Literally theoretically. A British physicist named Peter Higgs proposed its existence in 1964, suggesting that such a thing was necessary for, in essence, holding things together. That is, holding all things together. In physics speak, which I don't pretend to understand, the Higgs boson explains "why some fundamental particles have mass when the symmetries controlling their interactions should require them to be massless, and why the weak force has a much shorter range than the electromagnetic force." (If that excites you, then read the Wikipedia entry from which I stole that quote.)

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Fast forward to the 21st century, when physicists from round the world congregate, like so many random particles, in Geneva, Switzerland, at CERN, the world's largest physics lab. CERN hosts a massive accelerator, where they smash those protons together so they'll break up into little bits . . . including, theoretically, the Higgs boson.

Fabiola Gianotti in the ATLAS control room, March 29, 2010
Image: ATLAS Experiment / CERN

Fabiola Gianotti in the ATLAS control room, March 29, 2010

That's mainly what Particle Fever is about — following that process, telling the story through the eyes of six physicists who are so geeky giddy about the whole thing that you can't help but smile. (A couple of them even seem normal enough to have a conversation with; mind you, just a couple. But the others' nerdiness is part of the film's charm.)

And so tiny bits of matter collide, yielding other, way tinier bits of matter. And we, the viewers, can't see any of it. But what we can see is data, and it apparently adds up to prove the existence of the Higgs boson, which they announce to the world on July 4, 2012. The global media gush about the discovery of the "God particle."

Which brings us back to the original questions: If one proves the existence of the "God particle"—the invisible stuff that holds everything together, that makes the universe work, that keeps you and me and the solar system from either imploding or exploding—does one also prove the existence of God?

None of the six physicists featured prominently in the film would say as much, though a couple came close. Sort of. The most interesting of them is Nima Arkani-Hamed, an Iranian refugee and Princeton prof who is so excited about theoretical physics—and the great experiment documented in this film—that he can hardly contain himself.

He explains that for decades, "we've had an amazing successful theory of nature called the Standard Model of particle physics." But it isn't perfect; Arkani-Hamed says the mystery at the heart of the model yields questions "so patently absurd that we think we're missing something very very big." That "something," he surmises, is the Higgs boson—what another physicist calls "the linchpin that holds everything together."

Physicist David Kaplan says that in the process of smashing protons together, "We are reproducing the physics that occurred just after the Big Bang, when all there was, was particles. They carry the information about how our universe started, and how it got to be the way it is." The Higgs boson, he says, "is responsible for the creation of atoms, molecules, planets, and people. Without the Higgs, life as we know it wouldn't exist."

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CERN Globe of Science and Innovation at night
Image: PF Productions

CERN Globe of Science and Innovation at night

(Did you notice that he mentioned the creation of these things? Yeah, me too.)

But Arkani-Hamed takes Kaplan's thinking even further—but not quite to what would seem a reasonable, logical conclusion, at least to a viewer of faith. Marveling at the mathematical complexity and symmetry that holds our universe together, Arkani-Hamed says, "On the face of it, you'd look at the situation and say someone really cared a lot to put this parameter at just the right value so we get to be here, and it's a pleasant universe. This is the sort of thing that keeps you up at night. It really makes you wonder . . ."

The camera cuts away, and we see him pacing the floor, apparently wondering. I think he's probably still pacing and wondering.

Once they've proven the existence of the Higgs, the physicists are surprised at its mass. Many thought it would be lighter in weight, which would support longstanding theories about the Big Bang, the universe's rate of expansion, and the complex math that holds everything together. But when it turns out to be heavier than predicted, some of the scientists say that likely means that ours is only one of infinite universes—but that we're lucky enough to be in the only one that happens to be stable. Sweet, that random luck!

The thoughts and implications are mind-boggling.

Fabiola Gianotti celebrating in the ATLAS control room, March 29, 2010, the day of First High Energy Collisions
Image: ATLAS Experiment / CERN

Fabiola Gianotti celebrating in the ATLAS control room, March 29, 2010, the day of First High Energy Collisions

So, in the end, while they've all but bottled the Higgs boson, Greek physicist Savas Dimopoulos admits that there's still much to learn—possibly very soon, when the CERN accelerator smashes protons together at an even higher speed, resulting in, well, God knows what.

"Maybe in a few more years," says Dimopoulos, "we will know the truth. And that's the most important thing."

And maybe then they, and we, will more fully understand. Because maybe then, "God's invisible qualities" will be even more "clearly seen, being understood from what has been made."

Because matter matters.

Particle Fever is showing in limited release. Click here for a list of theaters.

Caveat Spectator

The field of particle physics is incredibly complex and difficult to understand, but the filmmakers do an admirable job of "dumbing it down" for a lay audience while also communicating challenging ideas. It finds a nice balance, and makes for not only an entertaining 99 minutes, but quite educational and thought-provoking as well. Faith-based audiences will especially appreciate wrestling with spiritual questions about the origins of the universe while getting a glimpse into the science behind it all. Young children would be bored with this, but for teens and up, especially those interested in the intersection between faith and science, it's a fascinating film. There's little to no objectionable content, though a scientist does use the f-bomb twice. The film is not rated.

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Mark Moring, a former film and music editor at CT, is a writer at Grizzard Communications in Atlanta.

Particle Fever
Our Rating
3 Stars - Good
Average Rating
 
(3 user ratings)ADD YOURSHelp
Mpaa Rating
Directed By
Mark Levinson
Run Time
1 hour 39 minutes
Cast
David Kaplan, Fabiola Gianotti, Sherwood Boehlert
Theatre Release
September 03, 2014 by Abramorama / BOND360
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