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July 4, 2012
Image above: Proton-proton collision in the CMS experiment producing four high-energy muons (red lines). The event shows characteristics expected from the decay of a Higgs boson but it is also consistent with background Standard Model physics processes (Image: CMS).
Scientists at the CERN research centre have discovered a new subatomic particle that could be the elusive Higgs boson, which is believed to be crucial in the formation of the universe.
“I can confirm that a particle has been discovered that is consistent with the Higgs boson theory,” said John Womersley, chief executive of the UK’s Science & Technology Facilities Council, at an event in London.
Joe Incandela, spokesman for one of the two teams hunting for the Higgs particle told an audience at CERN near Geneva: “This is a preliminary result, but we think it’s very strong and very solid.”
Scientists hunting the elusive subatomic “Higgs” particle will unveil findings on Wednesday that take them nearer to understanding how the Big Bang at the dawn of time gave rise to stars, planets and even life.
Physicists who have been smashing particles together at near light-speed at the CERN laboratory near Geneva have already seen tantalising glimpses of the “Higgs boson”, the missing piece of the fundamental theory of physics known as the Standard Model.
The world of science now awaits a mass of evidence big enough to be deemed a formal discovery.
Breakthrough in quest for ‘God Particle’ is “only the beginning”
The secrecy surrounding
Wednesday’s announcement has fuelled speculation that nearly 40 years of research have reached a climax.
CERN accidentally released a video on its website briefly overnight announcing a “new particle” had been observed, but CERN representatives declined to comment on whether that was what would be announced later in the day.
“This video was released due to a technical glitch on our side here at CERN. The final results have not yet been released,” CERN press officer Renilde Vanden Broeck said in Melbourne.
She said the organisation had prepared several videos for a range of outcomes for Wednesday’s announcement. A CERN physicist who knows what will be announced said the discovery was not necessarily definitive.
Best of Higgs Field Theory physicists
Note:
CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is one of the world’s largest and most respected centres for scientific research. Its business is fundamental physics, finding out what the Universe is made of and how it works. At CERN, the world’s largest and most complex scientific instruments are used to study the basic constituents of matter — the fundamental particles. By studying what happens when these particles collide, physicists learn about the laws of Nature.
The instruments used at CERN are particle accelerators and detectors. Accelerators boost beams of particles to high energies before they are made to collide with each other or with stationary targets. Detectors observe and record the results of these collisions.
Founded in 1954, the CERN Laboratory sits astride the Franco–Swiss border near Geneva. It was one of Europe’s first joint ventures and now has 20 Member States.
Related link:
CERN accidentally released a video: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tomchiversscience/100168877/something-like-the-higgs-boson-has-been-found-probably/
Find out more:
Press release: CERN to give update on Higgs search as curtain raiser to ICHEP conference: http://press.web.cern.ch/press/PressReleases/Releases2012/PR16.12E.html
ATLAS: http://www.atlas.ch/news/2012/ATLAS-ICHEP-results.html
CMS: http://cms.web.cern.ch/news/july-4th-seminar-new-cms-higgs-search-results
About the Higgs Boson: http://press.web.cern.ch/press/background/B01-Higgs_en.html
Image, Videos, Text, Credits: CERN / CMS / Reuters / Euronews.
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