Higgs boson

The Higgs boson is a hypothetical elementary particle predicted to exist by the Standard Model of particle physics. This boson is thought to play a fundamental role: according to the Standard Model, it is a component of the Higgs field which is thought to permeate the universe and to give mass to other particles, and to itself. As of 2005, no experiment has definitively detected the existence of the Higgs boson. The vacuum expectation of the Higgs field is perceived the same from every direction and is mostly indistinguishable from empty space.

Related Topics:
Elementary particle - Standard Model - Particle physics - Boson - Higgs field - Mass - 2005

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The Higgs boson was first predicted in the 1960s by the British physicist Peter Higgs,

Related Topics:
1960 - Peter Higgs

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and independently by others. In the Standard Model the Higgs field consists of two neutral and one charged component fields. One neutral and the charged component fields are Goldstone bosons,

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which are massless and unphysical. The other neutral component field has a quantum which is the Higgs boson, and has a non-zero mass.

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The Higgs boson itself has a characteristic mass. As of 2005, the best estimate for this mass is 91 GeV, with a theoretical upper limit of 186 GeV. Particle accelerators have probed energies up to about 115 GeV, and have recorded a small number of events that could be interpreted as resulting from Higgs bosons, but the evidence is as yet inconclusive. It is expected among physicists that the Large Hadron Collider, currently under construction at CERN, will be able to confirm or disprove the existence of Higgs bosons.

Related Topics:
2005 - GeV - Particle accelerator - Large Hadron Collider - CERN

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It has been argued that if the mass of the Higgs boson lies between about 130 and 200 GeV, then the Standard Model can be valid at energy scales all the way up to the Planck scale. However, most theorists expect new physics beyond the Standard Model at the TeV-scale to emerge. Some scientists don't hope for LEP experiments to catch Higgs boson.

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Since the Higgs field is a scalar field, the Higgs boson has spin zero.

Related Topics:
Scalar field - Spin

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The Higgs mechanism is a physical phenomenon that is responsible for the spontaneous breaking of the electroweak symmetry. A technical presentation of spontaneous symmetry breaking and the formation of the Higgs field, in the context of quantum field theory, is given in the article Yukawa interaction.

Related Topics:
Higgs mechanism - Electroweak - Quantum field theory - Yukawa interaction

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