[AstroNet] CERN Press Release

[Fikiswa Majola]

CERN experiments observe particle consistent with long-sought Higgs boson

Geneva, 4 July 2012. At a seminar held at CERN1 today as a curtain raiser
to the year’s major particle physics conference, ICHEP2012 in Melbourne,
the ATLAS and CMS experiments presented their latest preliminary results
in the search for the long sought Higgs particle. Both experiments observe
a new particle in the mass region around 125-126 GeV.

“We observe in our data clear signs of a new particle, at the level of 5
sigma, in the mass region around 126 GeV. The outstanding performance of
the LHC and ATLAS and the huge efforts of many people have brought us to
this exciting stage,” said ATLAS experiment spokesperson Fabiola Gianotti,
“but a little more time is needed to prepare these results for
publication.”

"The results are preliminary but the 5 sigma signal at around 125 GeV
we’re seeing is dramatic. This is indeed a new particle. We know it must
be a boson and it’s the heaviest boson ever found,” said CMS experiment
spokesperson Joe Incandela. “The implications are very significant and it
is precisely for this reason that we must be extremely diligent in all of
our studies and cross-checks."

“It’s hard not to get excited by these results,” said CERN Research
Director Sergio Bertolucci. “ We stated last year that in 2012 we would
either find a new Higgs-like particle or exclude the existence of the
Standard Model Higgs. With all the necessary caution, it looks to me that
we are at a branching point: the observation of this new particle
indicates the path for the future towards a more detailed understanding of
what we’re seeing in the data.”

The results presented today are labelled preliminary. They are based on
data collected in 2011 and 2012, with the 2012 data still under analysis. 
Publication of the analyses shown today is expected around the end of
July. A more complete picture of today’s observations will emerge later
this year after the LHC provides the experiments with more data.

The next step will be to determine the precise nature of the particle and
its significance for our understanding of the universe. Are its properties
as expected for the long-sought Higgs boson, the final missing ingredient
in the Standard Model of particle physics? Or is it something more exotic?
The Standard Model describes the fundamental particles from which we, and
every visible thing in the universe, are made, and the forces acting
between them. All the matter that we can see, however, appears to be no
more than about 4% of the total. A more exotic version of the Higgs
particle could be a bridge to understanding the 96% of the universe that
remains obscure.

“We have reached a milestone in our understanding of nature,” said CERN
Director General Rolf Heuer. “The discovery of a particle consistent with
the Higgs boson opens the way to more detailed studies, requiring larger
statistics, which will pin down the new particle’s properties, and is
likely to shed light on other mysteries of our universe.”

Positive identification of the new particle’s characteristics will take
considerable time and data. But whatever form the Higgs particle takes,
our knowledge of the fundamental structure of matter is about to take a
major step forward.

The link to the press release is:
http://press.web.cern.ch/press/PressReleases/Releases2012/PR17.12E.html
and here you can find links to further information.


-- 
Fikiswa Majola
Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRF)
Science Awareness Programme
Tel: 012 301 3220/100
Fax: 012 301 3300/20
http://www.hartrao.ac.za/

"Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him and
calls the adventure Science."
-Edwin Hubble