Photo Gallery Finding the Missing Particle
On July 16, 1964, Peter Higgs had an idea. He came up with a mathematical formula that explained why particles have mass. The only thing missing was the subatomic particle his theory posited. Now, scientists at CERN in Switzerland believe they may have found it.
One of the primary reasons for the construction of CERN's Large Hadron Collider was the search for the so-called Higgs boson. The search entails crashing subatomic particles into each other at vastly high speeds. Here, a graphic showing such a collision presented by CERN on Dec. 13.
Theoretical physicists have long posited the existence of the Higgs boson and believe they know how it works. "The particles have shoes, so to speak, to which the mud sticks," John Ellis, pictured here in his office at CERN, says. Higgs particles are part of the mud.
A life-size image of the Atlas detector at CERN. The Large Hadron Collider has two huge particle detectors, resulting in a healthy competition among groups of scientists within the facility.
This illustration is meant to depict the decay of a fictitious Higgs boson. "What we know is like a droplet, but what we don't know is like an ocean," said Fabiola Gianotti, spokeswoman for the Atlast experiment at CERN.
The Large Hadron Collider is the world's most powerful particle accelerator and cost billions of euros to build. Its primary target was finding the Higgs boson.
The CMS detector in 2007 prior to its installation. Once the Higgs is definitively found, say scientists, there are plenty of other projects to keep them busy.
