Create an animated lesson
On requestThis article is free to read. Creating a lesson uses your daily or stored credits; review the language and settings before starting.
What is the Higgs boson?
ScienceLesson on requestFree to read
Quick answer
The Higgs boson is a fundamental particle, discovered in 2012, tied to the field that gives other particles their mass. It is the detectable ripple of the Higgs field — the reason some particles are heavy while others, like photons, are massless.
Key things to understand
- The Higgs field fills all of space; particles gain mass by interacting with it.
- Particles that interact strongly with the field are heavy; those that don't, like photons, are massless.
- The Higgs boson is a disturbance in that field — detecting it confirmed the field exists.
- It was found in 2012 at CERN's Large Hadron Collider, decades after being predicted in 1964.
- It completed the Standard Model, physics' best description of fundamental particles.
People also ask
Why is it called the 'God particle'?
It's a popular nickname (originally from a book title) that most physicists dislike — it overstates things. The Higgs gives particles mass, but there's nothing mystical about it.
Does the Higgs give everything its mass?
It gives fundamental particles their mass, but most of an everyday object's mass actually comes from the energy binding particles together inside its atoms.
Why did finding it matter?
It confirmed the last missing piece of the Standard Model and verified how particles get mass — a cornerstone of modern physics.