After three years of meticulous study of the mysterious Higgs boson, scientists say they have found that the “God particle” behaves exactly as predicted.
The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN, its French acronym) announced that the two experiments that helped confirm the particle’s existence had provided the most precise measurements yet of its decay and interactions with other particles.
Peter Higgs stands in front of a picture of the Large Hadron Collider at the Science Museum’s Collider exhibition in London. Photo: Getty Images
The results are broadly consistent with predictions of the Standard Model, which explains how much of the universe operates at the nuclear level.
Data from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s largest atomic collision machine, has significantly increased physicists’ knowledge of the Higgs boson, which gives mass to other elementary particles. Photo: Getty Images
CERN and other physicists are trying to establish the accuracy of that model.
Scientists will now be able to use the Higgs particle as a reference for future research, opening up the possibility of discovering new physical phenomena.
Computer artwork showing particles colliding and splitting to produce smaller particles, a process used in particle accelerators such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. Photo: Getty Images
“To reach the high precision needed for the next breakthroughs in our field, it is extremely beneficial to combine the results of large-scale experiments,” CERN director Rolf Heuer said in a statement.
CERN’s Large Hadron Collider, located in a 27-kilometer underground tunnel on the Swiss-French border, made a major contribution to the discovery of the Higgs boson.
Deep underground on the Swiss-French border, a long tunnel decorated with silver hardware fit for a spaceship stretches out from view. A year ago, this collider produced one of the greatest discoveries in the history of science. AFP PHOTO / FABRICE COFFRINI
The particle had long been theorized but was not confirmed until 2013.
The accelerator recently underwent a $150 million upgrade that enables it to smash atoms with even greater force, recreating conditions similar to the earliest moments of the universe.