The God Particle

Interwoven with the discussion of anti-matter and Creation are references to the so-called 'God Particle.' This is an unfortunate label which some have used to refer to the hypothesized Higgs Boson (named for its main proponent: Peter Higgs). While the search for the Higgs Boson is central to the current research work at CERN, it is not directly connected to the discussions on anti-matter and Creation. It acquired the nickname because of it's importance to physics rather than its metaphysical nature. Current physics predicts it will be found by the Large Hadron Collider experiment at CERN. If it is found, it will provide an explanation for why objects have mass, and give scientists confidence that the 'standard model' of physics is on the right track. If it is not found, then it will leave mass and gravity still needing an explanation,and suggest that the standard model of physics will one day be superseded by a new theory.

For an interview with Peter Higgs, see this CERN video. For more on the nick-name see here,

Email link | Printer-friendly | Feedback | Contributed by: Adrian Wyard