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Artist Josef Kristofoletti's wall painting at the Atlas experiment site at CERN, outside Geneva, Switzerland. The painting shows how a Higgs boson may look. (File) Anja Niedringhaus/AP/Press Association Images

No definitive proof but 'intriguing hints' of existence of 'God particle'

Researchers from CERN presented their findings today amid much anticipation within the scientific community.

SCIENTISTS HUNTING FOR an elusive sub-atomic particle say they’ve found “intriguing hints” — but not definitive proof — that it exists, narrowing down the search for what is believed to be a basic building block of the universe.

The researchers added that they hope to reach a conclusion on whether the particle exists by next year.

The latest data show that the mass of the Higgs boson — popularly referred to as the “God particle” — probably falls within a particular range, in the lower end of the spectrum that can be produced by smashing protons together in the massive machine being used to track it down, researchers from two independent teams said today.

The two teams said their data indicates the particle itself may have a mass of between roughly 114 and 130 billion electron volts. One billion electron volts is roughly the mass of a proton. The most likely mass of the Higgs boson is around 124 to 126 billion electron volts, the teams said.

The revelations were heavily anticipated by thousands of researchers who hope that the particle, if it exists, can help explain many mysteries of the universe.

British physicist Peter Higgs and others theorised the particle’s existence more than 40 years ago to explain why subatomic particles — building blocks of the universe — have mass.

Protons collide

Both of the research teams work at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research near Geneva. CERN runs the $10-billion Large Hadron Collider under the Swiss-French border, a 17-mile tunnel where high energy beams of protons are sent crashing into each other at incredible speeds.

Fabiola Gianotti, an Italian physicist who heads the team running the so-called ATLAS experiment, said “the hottest region” is in lower mass ranges of the collider. She said there are indications of the Higgs’ existence and that with enough data it could be unambiguously discovered or ruled out next year.

The results rule out several mass or energy ranges for the Higgs with a high degree of confidence, Gianotti said.

Afterward, Guido Tonelli, lead physicist for the team running what’s called the CMS experiment, outlined findings similar to those of the ATLAS team, saying the particle is most likely found “in the low mass region” among the spectrum of possible Higgs masses.

Rolf Heuer, director of the European particle physics laboratory near Geneva, said “the window for the Higgsmass gets smaller and smaller.”

“But be careful — it’s intriguing hints,” he said. “We have not found it yet, we have not excluded it yet.”

The Higgs boson is hard to find not because it is especially tiny, but rather because it is hard to create, said physicist Howard Gordon of the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York, who works with the ATLAS experiment.

Tie up a loose end

Physicists smash protons together at very high energy, and only a minority of collisions will create a Higgs boson. The more energy involved, the higher the fraction of collisions that will make a Higgs.

Frank Wilczek, a Nobel laureate and physics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said finding the Higgs boson would tie up a loose end of the so-called standard model of physics, which requires a Higgs-like particle exist.

Proving the Higgs exists would be “a vindication of the equations we’ve been using all these years,” he said. “Since the equations have worked so brilliantly now for decades, it’s really nice to dot the i’s and cross the t’s,” he said.

In addition, if the mass of the Higgs is within a certain range, that would support some other theories that go beyond and improve the standard model, he said. Those theories predict the existence of still other particles to be found. That would mean the Large Hadron Collider “will have another wave of brilliant discoveries in the future,” Wilczek said.

The mass range reported Tuesday is “perfect” to meet that requirement, he said.

“Because it fits together so beautifully with everything else we know … I’m certainly inclined to believe it,” he said. He called Tuesday’s presentations “awesome … just beautiful work.”

Earlier: CERN scientists set to announce outcome of ‘God particle’ experiment >

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29 Comments
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    Mute Sean Partidge
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    Dec 12th 2022, 8:47 AM

    That might work if they updated itself. 8 hours on Friday with no updates other thant flight was taking off ten minutes ago

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    Mute Scott Crossfield
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    Dec 12th 2022, 9:17 AM

    @Sean Partidge: airlines update that side

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    Mute sean o'dhubhghaill
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    Dec 12th 2022, 11:14 AM

    @Sean Partidge: Not the airport’s responsibility.

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    Mute The Divils Avocado
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    Dec 12th 2022, 9:32 AM

    I suppose this is the DAA’s fault too.

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    Mute John Barry
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    Dec 12th 2022, 10:23 AM

    Stuck in Stansted. 9.50 Flight to Dublin cancelled at 11.30 last night with no notification untill I went online to look. No flights until tomorrow & have to get to Gatwick. It’s absolutely crazy here.

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    Mute Fiona Fitzgerald
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    Dec 12th 2022, 1:30 PM

    @John Barry: Hope you all get in the air soon. If only there were regular updates and places to charge your phones, it would be less stressful all right.
    (Put on a mask though, I’ve two friends down with Covid after a return flight where no one bothered.)

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    Mute Keth Warsaw
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    Dec 12th 2022, 12:31 PM

    Cancelled flights? Luxury!
    In my day we had to walk through airport – none a this cosy security checks. All and sundry (middle class if ya don’t mind) dressed resplendently singin’ tut rain in Spain, as such. Young generation xyz etc don’t know their livin’ what with over bookins, plane rage, terror-types and Ryanairs most bew-tee-full colour co-ordination and oppulant seating.
    Cancelled flights? They’re lucky! We used to dreeem a been cancelled.

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    Mute Liam McGrath
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    Dec 12th 2022, 11:50 PM

    Out via Dublin Airport recently. Dirty and filthy. Everywhere from the road to the aircraft. Retail staff just don’t even know what country they’re in.
    millions of others go through this.
    Almost 3 hours waiting on a stand, after a 9 hour flight. Watching winter operations training outside the aircraft while families onboard contacted loved ones to say We’re parked on the new runway to allow other airlines taxi into non contact stands.
    Plenty of stands vacant and not in use.
    I simply hate having to fly anywhere but jaysus, can the Airport operator not get anything right.

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    Mute Ciaran
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    Dec 13th 2022, 12:00 AM

    @Liam McGrath: bit of a skewed viewpoint

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    Mute Liam McGrath
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    Dec 13th 2022, 12:07 AM

    @Ciaran: correct, out was bad, inbound was worse.
    God love anyone travelling via Dublin.

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    Mute Paul Gorry
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    Dec 13th 2022, 12:04 AM

    Going to Dublin airport these days is a bit like your prepay meter. A load of ball ox.

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    Mute Fiona Fitzgerald
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    Dec 12th 2022, 10:45 AM

    Dubliners say they’re more than welcome to our share of the freezing fog, we’ve had enough of it on the east coast!

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