Search for God particle could end in 6 months: Scientists

In the next six months, scientists working at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) near Geneva will know if the elusive Higgs boson — more dramatically called the God particle — exists. The Higgs boson is a particle or set of particles thought to lend mass to other particles.

In the next six months, scientists working at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) near Geneva will know if the elusive Higgs boson — more dramatically called the God particle — exists. The Higgs boson is a particle or set of particles thought to lend mass to other particles.

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“There have been some hints that the Higgs boson might exist within a mass range of 115GeV (Giga electron-Volt) to 140 GeV. But it is too early to discuss because there might be some deceptive particles. We would be able to confirm it by early next year,” said Sergio Bertolucci, director, research and computing, European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN).

Likening the search for the Higgs Boson to fishing, Bertolucci said, “Rather than dropping the hook in a pond and waiting for fish, we are fishing for the Higgs with a new technique. We will remove all the water from the pond. If there is no fish, we will conclude that Higgs doesn’t exist.”

Bertolucci and scientists from around the world are in Mumbai for a week-long biennial Lepton-Photon conference.

Latest results from the world’s largest particle accelerator located in a 27-km tunnel under the Swiss-French border have ruled out the existence of the Higgs Boson in the 145 GeV to 466 GeV mass range with 95% certainty, thus narrowing the range of discovery.

If the Higgs doesn’t exist, scientists will disprove the Standard Model Theory only by 2012-end. “Not finding the Higgs will lead to bigger discoveries. It will change the perception of nature because it might let us discover what dark matter energy is,” said Bertolucci.

“It is always interesting to discover the unknown-unknown as compared to discovering the known-unknown. The next theory will only supersede the previous one.” However, if the Higgs Boson exists, scientists will study its properties to understand if it does give mass to elementary particles as laid down in theory.