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Higgs Combos, Global Fit, the Dead, the Alive & the New (by Philip E. Gibbs): Abstract: The editors of JCER ask me to share with JCER readers this article appeared in PSTJ V2(7) and I happily accept. If we accept the combination uncertainty estimate and the statistical validity of combining all direct searches with electroweak fits: We indirectly rule out a lone standard model Higgs boson of any mass with no additional BSM physics at 90% confidence, i.e. a fair bit short of conclusively. We directly rule out any standard model Higgs boson at 95% confidence except in the mass ranges 114GeV to 144GeV or 240 GeV to 265 GeV or above 480 GeV. We do not rule out other BSM Higgs-type mechanisms including composite Higgs, technicolor Higgs, Higgs doublets, SUSY Higgs etc. We do not rule out high-mass Higgs bosons above 480 GeV in combination with other BSM physics that could explain electroweak fits and cure theoretical limitations of the SM at higher energies. We see excesses at around 130 GeV to around 160 GeV that could be between two and three sigma level. It might suggest some new physics such as some kind of Higgs particle(s) in this region. However, these are not high levels of statistical significance.
Issues in the Path to the Singularity: A Critical View (by Henrique Pacini): Abstract: This paper examines the 2005 book The Singularity is Near: When humans Transcend Biology written by Raymond Kurzweil. The focus lies on the author´s views of exponential growth information technology (IT), which would result in the so called technological singularity. This work attempts to reduce the book´s essence to the main factors necessary for the achievement of artificial intelligence (AI), the main tool for the paradigm shift represented by the singularity. In line with the book, we consider that computational power is the major requirement for the development of AI. We explore three selected preconditions for the continuity of exponential trends: the continuity of economic growth, limited energy usage and the availability of enabling knowledge. The investigation on the demand side points that the trend in energy consumption on computer CPU´s has been decreasing in the last 14 years, even with increasingly more powerful processors. On the supply side, Kurzweil´s reliance on photovoltaics as a major future source of energy seems questionable due to the slow rate of improvement this technology has had during recent years. The final part of the work observes the characteristics of different types of statistical growth, and draw parallels between Kurzweil´s ideas and similar concepts used in the past. http://jcer.com/index.php/jcj/article/view/150
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