Physics contradicts religion, only if it is dogmatic

After the discovery of a new particle in physics, the Higgs boson - popularly called the God particle because of its key role in proving the origin of matter and the universe, scientists from all over the world gathered at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) to prove the Big Bang theory.

In 2012, this discovery confused many believers who believe in the theory of creationism - that is, the belief that God created the world, and at the same time criticized the name God's particle.

One of the leading physicists in the region and CERN scientist Lidija Živković, however, believes that physics, and even the Big Bang theory, does not contradict religion, as long as believers do not observe it dogmatically. He claims that even among physicists and other scientists there are great believers, who believe that they can prove God with science.

"In physics, we currently know four interactions - gravitational, electromagnetic, weak and strong. Some ultimate goal is to unify all four interactions in a theory that describes all four interactions as one that moves the world, and then someone said what is that, but God", Živković told "Vijesta".

On Friday, she held an international particle physics class "Masterclass" for Montenegrin high school students in the premises of the Podgorica Faculty of Science (PMF), where the students had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the theoretical and experimental aspects of elementary particle physics, participate virtually in CERN and ask questions to scientists. who reside there.

She clarified that after the discovery of the Higgs boson, the standard model of that particle in physics was completed and that now there are two directions of research at CERN.

"One direction is the precise measurement of the parameters of the standard model, while the other direction is the search for new particles. But both directions actually aim to discover what other physics exists outside the standard model, because there are phenomena that mainstream physicists show that we have an excess of 'dark matter', that is, that there is 'dark matter', which we cannot explain at all." , she said.

He claims that there are physicists and scientists who think that "dark matter" is nonsense, but that most other mainstream physicists believe otherwise.

"There is therefore a postulate in physics that if something is to be a proven theory then it must be experimentally confirmed. If it is not experimentally confirmed, then it remains only a theory", she said.

Živković said that research at CERN has multiple purposes, because in order to do research, they have to develop different technologies that later find application. He claims that this technology can be used in medicine, to treat cancer and blindness, but also in other fields such as engineering and technology.

Because of all her contributions to the community, she believes that physics is a beautiful science, but that the educational systems in our region have made it a "spectacle".

"It seems to me that in our country it is presented to be incomprehensible, to be a bogeyman, while physics in itself is a beautiful science. It has so many beautiful applications, it helps for many things, even some things from physics can be applied in economics and some other fields," she said.

He claims that scientists have a cognitive as well as an educational role - to teach people about physics and its contribution, which is often overlooked.

Physics studies alone, he claims, do not necessarily lead to a person becoming a scientist. Studies, he believes, will teach a person a certain way of thinking, analytical problem solving, and later he can develop other characteristics.

"Physics studies themselves are an excellent basis, a starting point, and where life will take a person later - everything is open," Živković believes.

The Serbian physicist completed high school, graduation and master's work in Belgrade, during the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, while she received her doctorate in physics in Israel. She worked at universities in the USA, and is currently part of one of the largest particle study projects carried out by CERN - ATLAS. She also works as a scientist at the Belgrade Institute of Physics.

The relationship between countries is the main cause of "brain drain"

Živković believes that science in Serbia is at a standstill, while the funds allocated for scientific research are at the level of a statistical error.

However, she said that, according to her knowledge, the situation is similar in the region.

"The Serbian science budget is miserable, if you look at the percentage, it is at the level of a statistical error. Our budget is miserable compared to budgets for other areas. On the other hand, scientists in Serbia are achieving good results," she said.

She claims that such an attitude towards science caused the regional problem of "brain drain", and cited the example of her colleague.

"One scientist received one million euros for research. She has the money, but the brain drain is such that she can't find a PhD student. She couldn't even find people who are postdocs and ended up hiring foreigners. She does not want to hire someone from outside, because she wants to give back to her community what she has achieved. Unfortunately, the situation is very bad," she said.

The God particle described in '64 and discovered in 2012

In the standard model of elementary particle physics, the Higgs boson, sometimes called the Braut-Englert-Higgs boson (by the scientists who described it) or the BEH boson, is a hypothetical elementary particle, the boson, that is a quantum of the Higgs field.

The field and the particle make it possible to test the hypothesis about the origin of the mass of elementary particles.

The existence of the Higgs boson, named after the British physicist Peter Higgs, was predicted in 1964 as an explanation for the Higgs mechanism, by which elementary particles gain mass. Because the Higgs boson is a very large particle and decays almost immediately after it is created, only a high-energy particle accelerator can observe and record it. In 2012, two of CERN's main experiments (ATLAS and CMS) independently confirmed and determined the nature of the Higgs boson, a previously unknown particle, using the Large Hadron Collider (particle).