Higgs Boson Found_ Scientists Find 'God Particle' After 40-Year Search in a 'Momentous Day for...

7/4/12 Higgs boson found: Scientists find 'God particle' after 40-year search in a 'momentous day for scie…

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Professor Higgs wipes a tear from his eye asfellow scientists find his 'God particle' on'momentous day for science' - 40 years afterhe predicted its existence

Discovery of particle is most important in physics in decadesLeading physicists watch announcement at CERN in SwitzerlandEnd of 40-year quest for 'missing' particleLast jigsaw piece that proves our view of universe is right'God Particle' gives particles that make up atoms their massAudience includes Professor Peter Higgs who suggested boson's existenceProf Higgs, 83: 'I had no idea this would happen in my lifetime'

By Rob Waugh

PUBLISHED: 07:17 GMT, 4 July 2012 | UPDATED: 15:43 GMT, 4 July 2012

The hunt for the Higgs boson - the ‘God particle’ that holds the universe together - is over.

Scientists at Switzerland's CERN (the European Council for Nuclear Research) announced the discoveryto an audience including Professor Peter Higgs, who first suggested the existence of the particle in 1964after he dreamed up the idea while walking in the Highlands.

Professor Higgs, 83, wiped a tear from his eye as the findings were announced, and later said: 'It's reallyan incredible thing that it's happened in my lifetime.'

An audience of the world's leading physicists rose in a standing ovation to celebrate the find - theculmination of a decades-long search at the Large Hadron Collider and other particle accelerators suchas America's Tevatron.

The discovery is the biggest leap in physics for decades - filling in a crucial gap in our understanding ofthe atom. In the long term, the discovery could lead to new technologies.

Scroll down for video



Professor Higgs, 83, w iped a tear from his eye as the findings were announced, and

later said: 'It's really an incredible thing that it's happened in my lifetime.'

Two high-energy photons collide. Their energy (the red lines) is measured in by an

'electromagnetic calorimeter'. The yellow lines are the measured tracks of other

particles produced in the collision. The pale blue volume shows the track through



which the particles are sent

Joe Incandela, spokesperson of the CMS experiment, announces the discovery of a

particle that corresponds to theories of the Higgs boson at CERN today

The particle accelerator: It is w ithin these tubes that physicists are hunting for the



'God' particle

WHY THE HIGGS MATTERS - WHAT THE NEW PARTICLE MEANS

The Higgs was proposed in 1964 - it is the last missing piece of the Standard Model, the theory thatdescribes the basic building blocks of the universe. The other 11 particles predicted by the model havebeen found - the Higgs is the last jigsaw piece.

If the particle was shown not to exist, it would have meant tearing up the Standard Model and going backto the drawing board.

Theory has it that as the universe cooled after the Big Bang, an invisible force known as the Higgs fieldformed.

This field permeates the cosmos and is made up of countless numbers of tiny particles – or Higgsbosons.As other particles pass through it, they pick up mass.

Any benefits in the wider world from the discovery of the Higgs boson will be long term, but they could bein fields as diverse as medicine, computing and manufacturing.

Experts compare the search for the Higgs boson to the discovery of the electron.

The idea of the electron – a subatomic particle – was first floated in 1838, but its presence was notconfirmed for another 60 years.

A century on, the electron’s existence underpins modern science. Our understanding of it is critical tothe development of technology from television and CDs to radiotherapy for cancer patients.

Professor John Womersley. chief executive of the Science and technology Facilities Council, said: 'Theyhave discovered a particle consistent with the Higgs boson. Discovery is the important word. That isconfirmed. It's a momentous day for science.'

'This is indeed a new particle,' said lab spokesman Joe Incandela.

'This is something that may in the end be one of the biggest discoveries or observations of any newphenomena that we’ve had in our field in the last 30 or 40 years,' said Incandela.

The discovery fills in the last gap in the 'standard model' of physics - proving Einstein right, and possiblyleading to new technologies built on our understanding of the workings of the atom.

In December last year scientists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) - the ‘Big Bang’ particle acceleratorwhich recreates conditions a billionth of a second after the birth of the universe - revealed they hadcaught a first tantalising glimpse of the Higgs.

Since then they have sifted through vast quantities of data from innumerable high energy collisions in aneffort to reduce the odds of being wrong.

A statistical standard of proof known as ‘five sigma’ is the ultimate confirmation of a discovery.

‘We observe in our data clear signs of a new particle, at the level of 5 sigma,’ said ATLAS experimentspokesperson Fabiola Gianotti, ‘but a little more time is needed to prepare these results for publication.’

‘The results are preliminary but the 5 sigma signal at around 125 GeV we’re seeing is dramatic. This isindeed a new particle. We know it must be a boson and it’s the heaviest boson ever found,’ said CMSexperiment spokesperson Joe Incandela.

‘The implications are very significant and it is precisely for this reason that we must be extremely diligentin all of our studies and cross-checks.’

‘It’s hard not to get excited by these results,’ said CERN Research Director Sergio Bertolucci. ‘ We statedlast year that in 2012 we would either find a new Higgs-like particle or exclude the existence of the



Standard Model Higgs. With all the necessary caution, it looks to me that we are at a branching point.’

Prof Higgs, who first postulated the theory more than 40 years ago, told the BBC: 'I'm rather surprisedthat it happened in my lifetime - I certainly had no idea it would happen in my lifetime at the beginning,more than 40 years ago, because at the beginning people had no idea about where to look for it, so it'sreally amazing for me to find out that it's really enough... for a discovery claim.

'I think it shows amazing dedication by the young people involved with these colossal collaborations topersist in this way, on what is a really a very difficult task. I congratulate them.'

MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE: THE QUIET MAN WHO DREAMT UP THE 'GOD PARTICLE'WHILE WALKING IN THE HIGHLANDS

Peter Higgs in the Sixties. The scientist dreamed up the idea of the Higgs boson

while walking in the Cairngorms in 1964

Until recently, Professor Peter Higgs was as unknown to most of the world as the famous particle thatbears his name.

Today the quiet physicist, now retired from the University of Edinburgh, is fast becoming a globalcelebrity as creator of the theory behind the ‘God particle’.

Prof Higgs, 83, has been waiting since 1964 for science to catch up with his ideas about the Higgsboson.

It was in that year he dreamed up the concept in a moment of inspiration while walking in theCairngorms.

Two scientific papers followed, the second of which was initially rejected and then finally published in therespected journal Physical Review Letters.

Prof Higgs's groundbreaking proposal was that particles acquire mass by interacting with an all-pervading field spread throughout the universe. The more they interact, the more massive and heavythey become.

A ‘boson’ particle was needed to carry and transmit the effect of the field - the Higgs boson.Peter Higgs was born in Newcastle in 1929, the son of a BBC sound engineer.After his family moved to Bristol, he proved a brilliant pupil at Cotham Grammar School before going on



to read theoretical physics at King's College London.

He was awarded first class honours in 1950, and after failing to secure a lectureship at King's College,set off for Scotland. In 2006, he retired from the University of Edinburgh, assuming the title of emeritusprofessor.

Never one to blow his own trumpet, Prof Higgs is described by friends and colleagues as ‘veryunassuming’ and shy. Some believe his retiring nature might even have held back his career. Now,despite his best efforts to keep a low profile, the spotlight is turning on him.

British physicist Peter Higgs (right) is welcomed by European Organization for

Nuclear Research (CERN) director-general Rolf-Dieter Heuer (left)



British physicist Peter Higgs arrives for the conference near Geneva

Inside: The giant project is the most enormous piece of scientific apparatus ever



constructed, and is buried 100m beneath the ground

An aerial view of the Swiss-French border, indicating the route of the Large Hadron

Collider

THE 'GOD PARTICLE' - WHY THE HIGGS HUNT CAUSED CONTROVERSY

The search for the particle caused controversy as members of the public feared that the high-energycollisions could cause a black hole or an interdimensional gateway in Switzerland.

Religious groups also objected to the use of the term 'God particle' - although CERN's scientists dislikethe term just as much.

Nobel prize-winning physicist Leon Lederman nicknamed the boson the 'God particle' in 1993 - whichmakes it popular in the media but has angered many scientists, including Professor Higgs himself.

At the LHC, scientists shoot two beams of protons - the ‘hearts’ of atoms - at each other round 27kilometres of circular tunnels at almost the speed of light.

When the protons smash together the enormous energies involved cause them to decay into an array ofmore fundamental particles. These may then decay further into yet more particles.

Physicists needed the Higgs to plug a gaping hole in the ‘Standard Model’, the theory that explains allthe particles, forces and interactions making up the universe.



So far nothing has been observed to account for mass, and the fact that some particles weigh more thanothers.

According to the theory, the Higgs boson is the emissary of an all-pervading ‘Higgs field’ that givesmatter mass. The more particles interact with the field, the more massive they become and the heavierthey are.

A model of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) tunnel is seen in the CERN (European

Organization For Nuclear Research) visitors' center

A Standard Model universe without the Higgs boson could not exist. Everything would behave as lightdoes, floating freely and not combining with anything else. There would be no atoms, made fromconglomerations of protons, neutrons and electrons, no ordinary matter, and no us.

Finding no evidence of the Higgs would mean tearing up the Standard Model and going back to thedrawing board with a completely new set of theories.'



BRITISH SCIENTISTS CONGRATULATE THE CERN TEAM

'For physicists, this is the equivalent of Columbus discoveringAmerica.'

- Prof Themis Bowcock, University of Liverpool

British experts queued to heap praise on the discovery of a new sub-atomic particle bearing thehallmarks of the Higgs boson.

Professor Valentin Khoze, director of Durham University's Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology(IPPP), said: 'The mounting evidence that Higgs bosons have been produced and detected at the LargeHadron Collider experiment at Cern is a triumph for particle physics.

'Without the Higgs particle, other particles, such as electrons and quarks, would be massless and theUniverse would not be what it is.

'Now, with the amazing results from the LHC, we are finally finding growing experimental evidence thatthe Higgs really exists.

'The second part of the story about the Higgs particle is even more exciting as it provides us with awindow to new physics - a tool for the exploration of the truly unknown.'

Professor Jordan Nash, head of high energy physics at Imperial College London, said: 'This is afantastic result.

'We are all thrilled to be a part of this discovery and are looking forward with anticipation to studying thisnew particle and whatever surprises its behaviour may have in store for us.'

Professor Jerome Gauntlett, head of theoretical physics at Imperial College London, said: 'The discoveryof the Higgs boson is a truly great moment for science.

'Its origins go back to the 1960s with enormous contributions made by Peter Higgs in Edinburgh and byTom Kibble and Nobel Laureate Abdus Salam at Imperial.

'It is fantastic moment for British science that 50 years later on we have received such dramaticconfirmation of their profound ideas. Like all great discoveries, more detailed studies of the Higgs arelikely to have a huge impact on future fundamental scientific inquiry.

'I expect that they will illuminate the nature of the mysterious Dark Matter that pervades the universe,whether or not there are extra dimensions in addition to the three space dimensions that we observe,and ultimately how to unify the Standard Model of Particle Physics with Einstein's Theory of Gravity.'



British physicist Peter Higgs (L) talks to Fabiola Gianotti, ATLAS experiment

spokesperson, next to CERN Director general Rolf Heuer after the news conference

Professor Paul Dauncey, Professor of Particle Physics at Imperial College London said: 'This is a majorbreakthrough for our understanding of the Universe.

'If this new particle is what we think it is, then it is a completely new type of particle never seen before.We can think of it as the final piece of the puzzle, completing what is considered to be the 'standard'theory.

'But no-one thinks that's really the end of the story, so it might also be the beginning of a new chapter inphysics, the first step to a more fundamental view of how everything came to exist. That's why physicistsare excited; we just don't know where this will lead.'

Professor Sir Timothy O'Shea, Principal of the University of Edinburgh, said: 'We are delighted at thissignificant development in the search for the Higgs boson, and congratulate Professor Peter Higgs onthis.

'This particle is integral to our understanding of the physical world and evidence of its existence is atestament to Professor Higgs and to all the scientists who are working to uncover it.

'Professor Higgs has inspired many colleagues and students over the years, some of whom have alsogone on to become involved in the Large Hadron Collider experiments. His legacy will continue to inspirefuture generations of physicists, at Edinburgh and beyond.'



Participants applaud after the presentation results during a scientific seminar to

deliver the latest update in the search for the Higgs boson

Prof Stefan Soldner-Rembold, Professor of Particle Physics at the University of Manchester, said: 'Todaywe have witnessed a discovery which gives unique insight into our understanding of the universe andthe origin of the masses of fundamental particles.

'There is no doubt that the Higgs particle exists and we now have to understand its properties andwhether it behaves exactly as predicted by theory.'

Professor Dave Charlton, deputy spokesperson for the Atlas experiment at the University ofBirmingham's School of Physics and Astronomy, said: 'Many people have been working night and day toanalyse the fresh data from the LHC which has been pouring in this year, which has allowed us to revealthese exciting preliminary results today.

'The tantalising hints we saw in December are repeated and strengthened in the new Atlas data, sowe're now quite confident that we're seeing a new particle.

'Finding out if it's got all the properties of the Standard Model's Higgs boson will need a lot more dataand painstaking work. We're now opening a new chapter of fundamental physics, as the LHC wasdesigned to do.'

Prof Themis Bowcock, head of particle physics at the University of Liverpool, who has worked on theLHC, said: 'This is cast-iron proof that a new particle has been discovered. It looks like the Higgs.

'For physicists the dice are definitely now loaded in favour of a discovery. Based on the Cern resultsalone there appears to be less than one chance in a million that this is fake, which is roughly the sameprobability as flipping a coin heads-up 21 times in a row. Very few physicists would privately argue thatthis is not a Higgs particle.

'Half a century after it was first proposed, and after a monumental effort by generations of physicistsaround the world, the discovery of the Higgs represents a major breakthrough in our fundamentalunderstanding of nature.

'For physicists, this is the equivalent of Columbus discovering America.'



VIDEO:Prof Higgs makes rare public appearance at pressconference

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Comments (431)

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This is huge, a massive event for the human race a huge discovery or proof of a theory whichever way you want to look atit will have a major effect on mankind in the future. And whats the headline??? A loony actor and his missis fall out. Itsturning into the Daily Star on here.

- john, leicester, 04/7/2012 16:42

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What happened here was a theoretical physicist did some calculations to explain how things work but they didn't quitework. So he said "if there was this other thing that no-one has ever heard of then the calculations would be right" and setof to find this thing he had just made up, followed by scientists for the next 40 years. It's a bit like trying to prove that 2 + 2= 5 by saying "if there was another thing, which I'll call a 'one' then 2 + 2 really does = 5. Let's not forget - they haven'tFOUND a Higgs boson, they have found what they claim is evidence of a Higgs boson. Funny how they call it the Godparticle when God doesn't exist.

- Iz, UK, 04/7/2012 16:42


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mr maghoo - prove your wife loves you, prove your hungry next time your hungry? Hormones, Endorphines and chemicalrelease within the human system. done done and done.

- Dave, Sat in office, 04/7/2012 16:41


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I can't claim to understnd this but I can see that the fault lies with my ignorance. Some of the comments on here justprove why it took man so long to accept that the earth is not flat. Please remember, it is better to say nothing and haveothers think you an idiot than to speak and leave no doubt. Congratulations to all those who take us forward inunderstanding and thank you.

- Sue, UK resident & reluctant taxpayer, 04/7/2012 16:39

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What a load of crock !! If such a thing exists it is God and not some invisible particle they had to hunt for decades. Thesescientists are idiots who be better of reading the word of God and his hand in creation than some stupid theories. - Jon,London, 4/7/2012 10:16 Atleast there is now proof of Higgs Boson, or 'God Particle'. There is yet, and probably never willbe, any proof of a God out there, and i'm sure that after all the controversy, he might like to show us he is real by now...

- Sam, Teesside, 04/7/2012 16:39


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I can't understand why they spent all this cash on something to prove whether a bunch of scientist are right or wrongwhen the out come is of no disernable use to any one except to them. Even then it does nothing but increase theiralready over inflated egos. I think the whole lot of them should be dragged out of their labs and shown the rest of theworld and told this is what the billions you just spent might have done for humanity. Then send them all on one spinroound their expensive ttoy before shuttting it off and selling it off too pay for something useful.

- Jane, Northants, 04/7/2012 16:39


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Unable to comment as although I've read the article I still do not have the faintest idea what this is all about, sorry.........

- SIMPLE MAN, SIMPLE DREAM, 04/7/2012 16:38


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Cue lots of red arrows from the beard & sandals brigade - Martin, Glasgow, 4/7/2012 13:49>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Hmmmm....it's normally the beard & sandals brigade who are the scientists Martin, so I don't thinkyou'll get too many red arrows from them. It's the bankers and politician's and general weasellers who wear the suitsand conventional clothing!

- ah well, uk, 04/7/2012 16:36


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Lol at people going to church this weekend....

- Arthur Crumble, Perthshire, 04/7/2012 16:36


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This is execellent news, now to the fine tuning problem, what sets the parametres of the higgs to make the variousparticles their exact masses.

- Dr Teddy Robbear, Scotland, 04/7/2012 16:36


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