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Physics Encyclopedia Entry 1783647125

** The **Higgs Boson**, a fundamental particle predicted by the **Standard Model of particle physics**, was discovered in 2012 at the **Large Hadron Collider** (LHC), confirming the existence of the **Higgs Field** and completing the understanding of the universe's fundamental forces. **CONTENT:** ## Overview The **Higgs Boson** is an elementary particle in the **Standard Model of particle physics** that is responsible for giving other particles mass. It is a scalar boson, a type of particle that carries a fundamental force, and is named after physicist **Peter Higgs**, who, along with others, predicted its existence in the 1960s. The discovery of the **Higgs Boson** in 2012 at the **Large Hadron Collider** (LHC) was a major breakthrough in physics, confirming the existence of the **Higgs Field**, a fundamental field that permeates all of space and is responsible for giving particles mass. The **Higgs Boson** is a fleeting particle, existing for only a fraction of a second before decaying into other particles. Its discovery was a result of a massive collaboration between scientists and engineers from around the world, who worked together to design and build the **Large Hadron Collider**, a massive circular tunnel that smashes protons together at nearly the speed of light. The **Higgs Boson** was detected using a sophisticated detector called ATLAS, which is capable of identifying the particles produced in the collisions and measuring their properties. ## History/Background The concept of the **Higgs Boson** was first proposed in the 1960s by physicists **Peter Higgs**, **Felix Bloch**, **Philip Anderson**, **Gerald Guralnik**, **C. R. Hagen**, and **Tom Kibble**, who were working on the **Standard Model of particle physics**. They proposed that a fundamental field, now known as the **Higgs Field**, permeates all of space and is responsible for giving particles mass. The **Higgs Boson** is the quanta of this field, and its discovery was seen as a confirmation of the **Standard Model**. The search for the **Higgs Boson** began in the 1980s, with the construction of the **Large Electron-Positron Collider** (LEP) at CERN. However, the **Higgs Boson** was not detected at LEP, and the search was continued at the **Large Hadron Collider** (LHC), which was completed in 2008. The LHC was designed to collide protons at energies of up to 14 TeV, which is sufficient to produce **Higgs Bosons**. ## Key Information The **Higgs Boson** was discovered on July 4, 2012, by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the **Large Hadron Collider** (LHC). The discovery was announced on July 4, 2012, and was confirmed by the **International Committee for Future Accelerators** (ICFA) on March 14, 2013. The **Higgs Boson** has a mass of approximately 125 GeV, which is consistent with the predictions of the **Standard Model**. The **Higgs Boson** is a scalar boson, which means that it has zero spin and interacts with other particles through the **Higgs Field**. It is a fundamental particle, which means that it cannot be broken down into smaller particles. The **Higgs Boson** decays into other particles, such as **bottom quarks** and **tau leptons**, which are then detected by the ATLAS and CMS detectors. ## Significance The discovery of the **Higgs Boson** is a major breakthrough in physics, confirming the existence of the **Higgs Field** and completing the understanding of the universe's fundamental forces. The **Higgs Boson** is a fundamental particle that is responsible for giving other particles mass, and its discovery has confirmed the **Standard Model** of particle physics. The discovery of the **Higgs Boson** has also opened up new areas of research, including the study of the **Higgs Field** and its interactions with other particles. The **Higgs Boson** is also a key player in the search for new physics beyond the **Standard Model**, such as supersymmetry and extra dimensions. **INFOBOX:** - **Name:** Higgs Boson - **Type:** Elementary particle - **Date:** July 4, 2012 - **Location:** Large Hadron Collider (LHC), CERN - **Known For:** Discovery of the Higgs Boson, confirmation of the Higgs Field and the Standard Model of particle physics **TAGS:** Higgs Boson, Standard Model, Large Hadron Collider, Particle Physics, Fundamental Forces, Higgs Field, Scalar Boson, Elementary Particle, Physics Discovery.