Theoretical Physicist Peter Higgs, Who Discovered 'God Particle', Dies At 94

 

Peter Higgs, born on May 29, 1929, committed his life to deciphering the secrets of the universe. His 1964 proposal that space is filled with a field that would eventually be called the Higgs field was his groundbreaking contribution to science. Fundamental particles get mass through interactions with this field. A major validation of his pioneering work came in 2012 with the finding of the Higgs boson, the predicted particle associated with the field, at CERN's Large Hadron Collider. Peter Higgs and François Englert split the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics. The man after whom the particle is named died on Monday, April 8, 2024, at the age of 94.

In order to find the Higgs boson in 2012, the largest and most sophisticated machine in the world had to work for about 50 years. Every other particle is known to acquire mass from an elementary particle, such as an electron, quark, photon, or neutrino, or the Higgs boson. Although its existence was anticipated in the 1960s, it wasn't discovered until 2012 thanks to complex research conducted at the Large Hadron Collider, the largest and priciest machine in the world at the time, which is situated on the French-Swiss border. 

Peter Higgs favored a solitary existence filled with study and introspection. He admitted that he had never used a cell phone, written or received emails, or even viewed the internet. Despite his acute shyness, Higgs had chosen to leave his Edinburgh home on the day of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics announcement, confident that his discovery of the Higgs particle the year before would get him the honor. Higgs, who was 82 at the time, continued to stroll the streets, stopped for lunch at a restaurant, and went to an art exhibition in an apparent attempt to avoid the spotlight and the attention that would follow. Eventually, he ran across a former neighbour who delivered the news to him. He said that the discovery of the Higgs particle had ruined his life in a later interview.

The fact that the Higgs boson (mass-giving particle) has been nicknamed the "God particle" is largely responsible for the public's fascination with it. Nobel Prize-winning physicist Leon Lederman coined the phrase when he wrote a book with the same name on the ongoing hunt for the Higgs boson in the 1990s. Lederman was convinced by the publishers to choose the term "God particle," which stuck, instead of calling his book "The Goddamn Particle," which he had intended to use to depict the enigmatic character of the Higgs boson. That phrase is hated by many scientists, primarily because it gave the particle religious undertones in certain quarters.

The Higgs boson is a particle that is intended to explain the mass of all other fundamental particles, which makes it extremely significant. Through the efforts of multiple physicists, it was revealed in the 1950s and 60s that mass is not a fundamental property of matter. Particles such as protons and electrons, despite their apparent similarity, lack mass. Similar to how there is an electric field, magnetic field, or gravitational field, Higgs and other scientists proposed the concept of an all-pervasive field, which they called the Higgs field.

However, Higgs' influence is felt far and wide, cutting across national boundaries and age groups. A tremendously great scientist, and a wonderful person whose imagination and vision have expanded our understanding of the world around us. His groundbreaking work has inspired hundreds of scientists, and for many more generations to come, his legacy will do the same.

Peter Higgs, rest in peace. Your brilliance will endure forever. 

Prabir Rudra