The Origin of Mass and the Search for the Higgs Particle

The very successful Standard Model of particle interactions has, as a crucial ingredient, the so called Higgs mechanism, named after Edinburgh physicist Peter Higgs. Whilst we have so far measured compelling indirect evidence for the Higgs mechanism at previous experiments, there is today no direct signature. The search for the Higgs boson is, therefore, one of the key goals of the Large Hadron Collider programme (LHC) at CERN. Current research interests include the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider in CERN, theoretical studies of dynamic models for the top and Higgs particle masses, models for the neutrino mass matrix, and experimental and theoretical work towards precision studies at a future linear e+e- collider.

A simulated event at ATLAS involving the production of a Higgs particle and its decay to 4 muons.

 

New theories of fundamental particle physics have impact on our understanding of how the Universe evolved from the Big Bang.