The Higgs Boson particle; close to discovery?

Laura E Rivera Rodriguez

“Finding the Higgs particle should be a matter of time” says many scientific and physicists. The Higgs particle, named after Peter Higgs, one of the originators of the elementary ideas; is the quantum of a new field called the Higgs field, which was zero in the very early Universe, but turned on as the expanding Universe cooled. According to the standard model of particle, the Higgs particle is one of the most fundamental building blocks of nature, and some says is the most important one because it can determine what the real World looks like. Physicists like Gordon Kane and Edward Witten says that the Higgs particle or the “God particle” as some people refer to; is the missing piece of the particle physics puzzle and it could tell us a great deal about the Universe we live in. They in fact are convinced that the Higgs particle is just waiting to be discovered.

The Standard Model is the theory that physicists use to describe the behavior of fundamental particles and the forces that act between them. It describes the ordinary matter from which we, and everything visible in the universe, are made extremely well. Nevertheless, the Standard Model does not describe approximately the 96% of the universe that is invisible. One of the main goals of the LHC research program is to go beyond the Standard Model, and the Higgs boson could be the key.

More detailed and complex alternatives to the standard model have been suggested, in which the Higgs particle is made by combining other substances or entities that are even more elementary. The truth is that the standard model picture of the Higgs particle may be correct or may be not; and we won’t know until experiments reveal the truth beneath the Higgs particle. But many particle physicists are certain that the standard model picture of the Higgs particle is correct and they have three main reasons to believe so. First, almost all of the aspects of the standard model (apart from the Higgs particle) have been confirmed by experiments. Second, the standard model Higgs approach works for all the particles while other approaches commonly fail for some. And third, unlike its rivals, the standard model has offered effective starting point for string theories, and unified field theories.

Also one reason for assurance and certainty in the standard model is its correct prediction of the existence and mass and other properties of some previously unknown particles: the W and Z particles, the top quark, and the neutrino. Also, diverse standard model predictions for details of elementary particle reactions have been proved and tested successfully.

So far the evidence obtained through experiments only suggests that the Higgs boson is a very massive particle, heavier than all known elementary particles (except possibly the top quark particle). In the closing stage of the LEP program, a hint was found of a discovery of the Higgs particle with a mass of very nearly 115 GeV. Sadly, LEP did not have the energy and intensity to establish this conclusively or rule it out since to create such a heavy particle in the laboratory, physicists must concentrate a lot of energy. The motivation for proving the existence of Higgs particles is stronger than ever, and there is very good indirect evidence, and a hint of direct evidence, that they do in fact exist.

All these theories are appealing but unproven. The hope is that, along with discovering the Higgs particle, experimental physicists will in the coming years begin exploring this unknown level. Finding and studying the Higgs particle and exploring the standard model at yet higher energies makes an exciting mission and the properties of the Higgs particle will point to new developments and projects.

The main conclusion is that the standard model Higgs boson, if it exists, is most likely to have a mass constrained to the range 116–130 GeV by one experiment, and 115–127 GeV by another experiment. Appealing hints have been seen by both experiments in this mass region, but these are not yet strong enough to confirm a discovery. Higgs bosons, if they exist, are very short lived and can decay in many different ways.

References and Notes:

UPRM databases 

The importance of Higgs boson. 

The search for the Higgs boson. 

Has the Higgs boson been seen in the Crystal Ball?