Signs of the Higgs Boson
It cannot be fully confirmed, but in their experiments on the CERN LHC accelerator they have found the signals of the Higgs boson. Two teams, working with two detectors (ATLAS and CMS), have found the boson signals. In addition, in both cases a mass similar to particle 126 and 124 GeV/c 2 has been measured respectively.
However, it is still necessary to confirm this result. The spokesperson for the accelerator CMS, Guido Tonelli, has clearly announced to the news service of the journal Nature: "We haven't collected enough data to have a real discovery." In the same way, the spokeswoman for the ATLAS experiment, Fabiola Gianotti, has spoken to those of Nature with the opinion of Tonelli and has put himself in the worst case: "It would be rare, but [signal] could be a background fluctuation." When will they know if the discovery is confirmed? According to Bill Murray, director of the ATLAS detector, the experiments carried out in 2012 will be confirmed.
Undoubtedly, the detection of the Higgs boson is the largest target of particle physics today. Why? Because the existence of this particle is necessary to have a theory --i.e. a standard-- direct model of the elementary particles that science takes for good. This model not only explains the set of particles but also most of the basic forces of physics.
The data presented on December 13 are encouraging. But if the Higgs boson does not exist, the standard model cannot explain why some particles have mass and others do not. Those who carry a weak nuclear force, the bosons W and Z, have a great mass; those who transport electromagnetism, the photons, are without mass. If this cannot be explained, the theory of general force, of electromotive force, which unites these two forces, cannot be given for good and a large branch of physics would be without foundation.
The search for the Higgs boson is coming to the end. Theoretical calculations indicated that it has to be within a mass range and, if the results presented are confirmed, they have already determined what that mass is. This means that physicists know what experiments they should perform to confirm the discovery in 2012.
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