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.
See also: 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.
