Higgs Boson: Scientists May Be Closer To Finding Particle That Started Universe
2012 could be a big year for the Higgs Boson.
Last week, a researcher promised to present something "interesting" next month related to the subatomic particle said to be the building block of the Universe.
Scientists still have not proved the existence of the Higgs Boson particle, but Scientific American reports that at least one team of researchers may be getting closer to finding the elusive, so-called "God particle."
Rob Roser, whose team has been culling through information from the recently shutdown Tevatron accelerator, said he hopes the data will show that scientists have almost certainly discovered the Higgs Boson.
In fact, Scientific American reports that Roser's team hopes to identify the Higgs with “three-sigma” certainty.
This is a statistical term that indicates the finding only has a tenth of a percent chance of being due to a random statistical fluctuation. Such a result would still fall short of being considered a "discovery," however, as the field of particle physics has adopted the more stringent five-sigma standard -- a one-in-a-million chance.
The Toronto Star notes that the existence of the particle was first proposed by British physicist Peter Higgs in 1964.
Discovery's Ian O'Neil writes that 2012 is likely the year the Higgs Boson is either discovered or disproved. "But my money is on the former," O'Neil writes.
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First Posted: 02/21/2012 1:08 pm Updated: 02/21/2012 1:30 pm