The Higgs boson

TL;DR

This paper discusses the theoretical background, discovery, and ongoing research related to the Higgs boson, highlighting its role in particle physics and the Standard Model, and exploring alternative theories.

Contribution

It provides an overview of the Higgs mechanism, recent experimental discovery, and discusses extensions and alternative theories beyond the Standard Model.

Findings

Observation of a 125 GeV bosonic particle at CERN

Discussion of symmetry breaking mechanisms in physics

Review of current research and alternative theories

Abstract

The Higgs boson was predicted in 1964 by British physicist Peter Higgs. The Higgs is the key to explain the origin of the mass of other elementary particles of Nature. However, only with the coming into operation of the LHC, in 2008, there were technological conditions to search for the Higgs boson. Recently, a major international effort conducted at CERN, by means of ATLAS and CMS experiments, has enabled the observation of a new bosonic particle in the region of 125 GeVs. In this paper, by means of known mechanisms of symmetry breaking that occur in the BCS theory of superconductivity and in the theory of nuclear pairing, we discuss the Higgs mechanism in the Standard Model. Finally, we present the current state of research looking for the Higgs boson and the alternative theories and extensions of the Standard Model for the elementary particle physics. Keywords: Higgs boson, BCS theory, nuclear pairing, Higgs mechanism, Standard Model.