An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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A hypothetical, neutral → elementary particle which plays a key role in the → standard model of → particle physics. This massive particle, whose mass is estimated to be about 125 GeV (→ giga → electron-volts) and a zero → spin, carries the → Higgs field. In the current version of the → electroweak theory, → W boson and → Z boson and all the fundamental constituents (→ quarks and → leptons) get their masses by interacting with the Higgs boson. The Higgs boson is produced by the fusion of two → gluons via a triangular loop of virtual top quarks. In the decay process, a loop of virtual top quarks allows the Higgs boson to decay into two photons. The particle's discovery was announced by → CERN in July 2012.

Named after the Scottish physicist Peter Ware Higgs (1929-), one of the researchers who theorized the existence of this particle in 1964. In fact three groups of physicists almost simultaneously published their results on this subject: François Englert and Robert Brout in August 1964; Peter Higgs in October 1964; and Gerald Guralnik, Carl Hagen, and Tom Kibble in November 1964; → boson.