Higgs boson particle
Pro Research Analysisby 
Searched over 200M research papers
Higgs Boson Particle: Discovery and Fundamental Properties
The Higgs boson is a unique elementary particle predicted by the Standard Model of particle physics and was discovered at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in 2012. It is the only known fundamental particle with zero spin, making it a scalar boson, and it plays a crucial role in explaining how other particles acquire mass through their interactions with the Higgs field Jakobs2023Jakobs2023Bass2021+6 MORE.
Higgs Boson Interactions and Couplings
The Higgs boson interacts with other fundamental particles in several ways. It couples to the W and Z bosons, which are responsible for the weak force, and to fermions (such as quarks and leptons) through Yukawa interactions. The Higgs boson can also interact with itself, a property known as Higgs self-interaction. These couplings have been measured in various production and decay channels by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the LHC, confirming the predictions of the Standard Model with high precision Jakobs2023Jakobs2023Bass2021+5 MORE.
Experimental Progress and Precision Measurements
Since its discovery, the LHC experiments have greatly increased the number of observed Higgs bosons, allowing for more precise measurements of its properties. The Higgs boson’s mass has been determined to be about 125 GeV. Its spin-parity quantum numbers have been established, and its production cross-sections in different modes have been measured. The interactions with gluons, photons, W and Z bosons, and third-generation matter particles (bottom and top quarks, tau leptons) are now well measured, with emerging evidence for interactions with second-generation particles like muons Bass2021Chen2024Aad2022+2 MORE.
The Higgs Boson and Unsolved Mysteries in Physics
The Higgs boson is central to several unresolved questions in physics. Its mass places the universe’s vacuum state near the boundary between stability and metastability, which may hint at new physics beyond the Standard Model. The Higgs potential is also linked to the cosmological constant (dark energy), dark matter, and possible early-universe phase transitions that could explain the matter-antimatter asymmetry (baryogenesis) Bass2021Salam2022.
Future Prospects: Higgs Factories and Beyond
Looking ahead, future colliders—sometimes called “Higgs factories”—are being proposed to study the Higgs boson in even greater detail. These facilities aim to improve the precision of measurements of the Higgs boson’s width, couplings, and self-interaction, and to search for deviations from Standard Model predictions that could signal new physics. The next 15 years are expected to yield an order of magnitude more Higgs bosons, deepening our understanding of this crucial sector Bass2021Chen2024Tumasyan2022+1 MORE.
Conclusion
The discovery of the Higgs boson completed the Standard Model’s particle spectrum and opened a new era in particle physics. Ongoing and future experiments continue to refine our knowledge of its properties and interactions, while also probing for signs of new physics that could answer some of the most profound questions about the universe Jakobs2023Jakobs2023Bass2021+6 MORE.
Sources and full results
Most relevant research papers on this topic