LOST GENIUS
Professor Peter Higgs dead at 94: Nobel Prize-winning physicist who predicted Higgs boson ‘God particle’ discovery dies
Tributes are already pouring in for the 'truly gifted scientist'
A NOBEL Prize-winning physicist who predicted the Higgs boson "God particle" has died aged 94.
Professor Peter Higgs died surrounded by his family at home yesterday, the Univerity of Edinburgh confirmed.
3
3
3
The physicist, who was best known for predicting the Higgs boson or "God particle", died after a short illness.
Tributes are already pouring in for the "truly gifted scientist whose vision and imagination have enriched our knowledge of the world that surrounds us".
The University of Edinburgh today confirmed his death.
It said in a statement: "It has been confirmed that Professor Peter Higgs has passed away at the age of 94.
Read more on UK news
"He died on Monday April 8 peacefully at home following a short illness.
"His family has asked that the media and public respect their privacy at this time."
The physicist is survived by his two sons and grandchildren.
Prof Peter Mathieson, the university’s principal, paid tribute to Higgs.
Most read in The Sun
He said: “Peter Higgs was a remarkable individual – a truly gifted scientist whose vision and imagination have enriched our knowledge of the world that surrounds us.
“His pioneering work has motivated thousands of scientists, and his legacy will continue to inspire many more for generations to come.”
Higgs was awarded the Nobel Prize for physics in 2013 for his work in 1964.
It was then that his work showed how the boson helped bind the universe together by giving particles their mass.
The Higgs boson was confirmed on July 4, 2012, after decades of debate.
The professor wiped away a tear when the announcement was made.
He said at the time: "I never expected this to happen in my lifetime and shall be asking my family to put some champagne in the fridge."
The discovery of the Higgs boson – or "God particle" – was monumental.
The particle gives matter mass and holds the physical fabric of the universe together.
His pioneering work has motivated thousands of scientists, and his legacy will continue to inspire many more for generations to come.
Peter Mathieson
There is still a lot more to learn about it.
The landmark discovery of the particle was made at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) - the "Big Bang" atom smasher near Geneva.
It was announced exactly 10 years ago by Cern, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research.
The progress made since then to determine its properties has allowed physicists to make big steps forward in our understanding of the universe.
Researchers have been able to measure the Higgs boson's mass, which is a fundamental constant of nature that is not predicted by the Standard Model.
Moreover, together with the mass of the heaviest known elementary particle, the top quark, and other parameters, the Higgs boson's mass may determine the stability of the universe's vacuum.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
But researchers say there are still a lot of unanswered questions about the particle, like: can it interact with dark matter and reveal the nature of this mysterious form of matter?
What generates the Higgs boson's mass and self-interaction, and whether it has twins or relatives, are other questions that remain unanswered.
Why does the discovery of Higgs matter?
The discovery of Higgs was vital to the Standard Model - the theory that describes the web of particles, forces and interactions that make up the universe.
Without the Higgs boson to give matter mass and weight, there could be no Standard Model universe.
Cern theorist Michelangelo Mangano said: "And while all the results obtained so far are consistent with the Standard Model, there is still plenty of room for new phenomena beyond what is predicted by this theory."
Luca Malgeri, a spokesman for CMS - one of two of the LHC's giant detectors, along with Atlas - said: "The Higgs boson itself may point to new phenomena, including some that could be responsible for the dark matter in the universe.
"Atlas and CMS are performing many searches to probe all forms of unexpected processes involving the Higgs boson."
Reflecting on the 10th anniversary of the discovery, Cern's Director-General and the project leader of the Atlas experiment at the time, Fabiola Gianotti, said: "The discovery of the Higgs boson was a monumental milestone in particle physics.
";It marked both the end of a decades-long journey of exploration and the beginning of a new era of studies of this very special particle.
"I remember with emotion the day of the announcement, a day of immense joy for the worldwide particle physics community and for all the people who worked tirelessly over decades to make this discovery possible."
Topics