What is the Higgs boson or particle of God

The Higgs boson, also known as the particle of God, is a particle that gives meaning to physics as we know it today. Although its existence has not yet been empirically demonstrated, the finding of said boson would solve many questions still unanswered, among which the origin of the Universe stands out . If you want to know more about it, do not miss this .com article about what is the Higgs boson or particle of God.

What is a boson?

There are two types of elementary particles in nature: fermions and bosons. The first include electrons and quarks, are related to matter; while the seconds are related to the forces.

What is the Higgs boson?

It is a subatomic particle theorized by the British physicist Peter Higgs (hence the name of the particle) in the 60s, it is based on the Standard Model of Particle Physics (the physical theory that explains the particles and their interactions), but it had never been possible to observe empirically. This would be the particle responsible for generating the so-called Higgs field and, therefore, the mass of everything that makes up the Universe.

Why is it called God's particle?

The Higgs boson was nicknamed the "particle of God" from the title of the book of dissemination "The Particle of God" (1994) by Leon Lederman, Nobel Prize in American Physics. At times, this author is confused with Sheldon Lee Glashow, another great physicist who also received the Nobel Prize. It should be noted that, despite being used, scientists do not like this nomenclature with divine reminiscence because it does not correspond to any concept of physics.

How is it being investigated?

The Higgs boson can not be observed directly because, if it exists, it is an unstable particle that disintegrates in a fraction of a second. Therefore, it is tried to deduce its existence indirectly experimentally in a particle accelerator like the LHC. As of July 4, 2012, research carried out by scientists at the European Particle Physics Laboratory (CERN) has discovered a new particle that could be the Higgs boson. It is a boson with a mass of 125.3 plus / minus 0.6 gigaelectronvolts (GeV), with a value of 4.9 sigma, a figure that indicates a high certainty that the result is reliable (although officially a discovery must have a value of 5 sigma).

What would the finding of this particle entail?

If the particle of God were found, it would give rise to a new physics that would go beyond the Standard Model, such as superparticles or dark matter, as well as the origin of the Universe. But if it were not found and it was demonstrated that the Higgs boson does not exist, the pillars on which the current physics is based would be invalidated.