Higgs Boson ‘God Particle’ Announcement from Hadron Collider CERN Scientists

While continuing their quest for the Higgs Boson, also referred to as the God Particle because it is the missing piece of the grand puzzle in understanding the nature of the universe, scientists at the Large Hardon Collider at CERN shared the results of their latest data with the media.

Using a massive particle accelerator, known as the Large Hardon Collider (LHC) scientists at the CERN labs in Geneva have been busy smashing particles together at just short of light speeds and examining the particles and energy released from the collisions. The experiments help to recreate the high energy levels and particles which existed only at the very beginning of the universe.

Understanding the quantum particles at these energy states helps physicists understand and confirm theories about the nature of the universe, theories of physics, and in a manner of speaking, understanding the mind of God.

The most current theories in quantum physics is known as the standard model. Used by scientists for decades, this model, explaining the interaction of subatomic particles, is the basis for virtually all of our modern technology and devices.

But one piece of the theory has remained elusive. The value of mass for some particles varies widely. Research in the 60’s, led by Peter Higgs tried to explain the varying particle mass by stating that an energy field, still unknown, interacts with some particles more than other, thus creating the mass variance. The field was named the Higgs field and the particle related to the field was named the Higgs Boson.

Using the $10 billion LHC, scientists have been working to identify the elusive Higgs Boson, thus completing their model of the quantum world. The hunt has been called a search for the ‘God Particle.’

Today, scientists convened at a symposium in Switzerland at the CERN laboratory to release their latest findings.

While both detectors used in the experiments have detected evidence of the Higgs Boson ‘God Particle,’ the results are just shy of being enough to come to a definite conclusion. In scientific terms, the scientists reported that their results have a three-sigma confidence level. Researchers say that they still need additional data to definitively say that they have made the discovery. For this the data would need to get to a five-sigma level of confidence.

It is estimated that al least another year working with the LHC will be needed to get to that level of confidence, if at all.