Particle Physics after the Higgs-Boson Discovery: Opportunities for the Large Hadron Collider

TL;DR

The paper reviews the Higgs boson discovery at the LHC, discusses recent experimental advancements, and outlines future research opportunities in particle physics following this landmark event.

Contribution

It summarizes current knowledge of the Higgs boson and highlights key questions and opportunities for future experiments at the upgraded LHC.

Findings

Discovery of the Higgs boson at 125 GeV

Increased collision energy to 6.5 TeV per beam

Identification of future research directions in particle physics

Abstract

The first run of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN brought the discovery of the Higgs boson, an apparently elementary scalar particle with a mass of 125 GeV, the avatar of the mechanism that hides the electroweak symmetry. A new round of experimentation is beginning, with the energy of the proton--proton colliding beams raised to 6.5 TeV per beam, from 4 TeV at the end of the first run. This article summarizes what we have learned about the Higgs boson, and calls attention to some issues that will be among our central concerns in the near future.