The Higgs boson, sometimes called the Higgs particle, is an
elementary particle
In particle physics, an elementary particle or fundamental particle is a subatomic particle that is not composed of other particles. The Standard Model presently recognizes seventeen distinct particles—twelve fermions and five bosons. As a c ...
in the
Standard Model
The Standard Model of particle physics is the Scientific theory, theory describing three of the four known fundamental forces (electromagnetism, electromagnetic, weak interaction, weak and strong interactions – excluding gravity) in the unive ...
of
particle physics
Particle physics or high-energy physics is the study of Elementary particle, fundamental particles and fundamental interaction, forces that constitute matter and radiation. The field also studies combinations of elementary particles up to the s ...
fields
Fields may refer to:
Music
*Fields (band), an indie rock band formed in 2006
* Fields (progressive rock band), a progressive rock band formed in 1971
* ''Fields'' (album), an LP by Swedish-based indie rock band Junip (2010)
* "Fields", a song by ...
in
particle physics
Particle physics or high-energy physics is the study of Elementary particle, fundamental particles and fundamental interaction, forces that constitute matter and radiation. The field also studies combinations of elementary particles up to the s ...
theory. In the Standard Model, the Higgs particle is a massive
scalar boson
A scalar boson is a boson whose spin equals zero. A ''boson'' is a particle whose wave function is symmetric under particle exchange and therefore follows Bose–Einstein statistics. The spin–statistics theorem implies that all bosons have a ...
that
couples
Couple or couples may refer to:
*Couple, a set of two of items of a type
*Couple (mechanics), a pair of force which are equal in magnitude but opposite in direction and separated by a perpendicular distance so that their line of action do not c ...
to (interacts with) particles whose mass arises from their interactions with the Higgs Field, has zero
spin
Spin or spinning most often refers to:
* Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles
* Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin
* Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...
electric charge
Electric charge (symbol ''q'', sometimes ''Q'') is a physical property of matter that causes it to experience a force when placed in an electromagnetic field. Electric charge can be ''positive'' or ''negative''. Like charges repel each other and ...
, and no
colour charge
Color charge is a property of quarks and gluons that is related to the particles' strong interactions in the theory of quantum chromodynamics (QCD). Like electric charge, it determines how quarks and gluons interact through the strong force; ho ...
. It is also very unstable, decaying into other particles almost immediately upon generation.
The Higgs field is a
scalar field
In mathematics and physics, a scalar field is a function associating a single number to each point in a region of space – possibly physical space. The scalar may either be a pure mathematical number ( dimensionless) or a scalar physical ...
with two neutral and two electrically charged components that form a complex
doublet
Doublet is a word derived from the Latin ''duplus'', "twofold, twice as much",
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
by the CERN exploratorium.
* [http://theatomsmashers.com/ ''The Atom Smashers'', documentary film about the search for the Higgs Boson at Fermilab.]
Collected Articles at the ''Guardian''
CERN
The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in Meyrin, western suburb of Gene ...
Announcement on 4 July 2012, of the discovery of a particle which is suspected will be a Higgs Boson.
Video1 (07:44)
Electroweak Symmetry Breaking – A pedagogic introduction to electroweak symmetry breaking with step by step derivations of many key relations, by Robert D. Klauber, 15 January 2018 (archived at Wayback Machine)
Spontaneous symmetry breaking, gauge theories, the Higgs mechanism and all that (Bernstein, ''Reviews of Modern Physics'' Jan 1974) an introduction of 47 pages covering the development, history and mathematics of Higgs theories from around 1950 to 1974.
{{Authority control
2012 in science
Bosons
Electroweak theory
Elementary particles
Mass
Phase transitions
Standard Model
Quantum field theory
Subatomic particles with spin 0
Force carriers