- By Abhirupa Kundu
- Wed, 10 Apr 2024 01:26 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Peter Higgs, the man behind the 'God Particle' passed away at the age of 94 at his home in Edinburgh, Scotland, The British physicist demise, has us remembering the discovery of the 'Higgs Boson' particle. His reflections on the origins of mass sparked a nearly five-decade, multibillion dollar search for a subatomic particle, later known as the 'Higgs boson', which was thought to hold the key to understanding the nature of the universe. This groundbreaking theory won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2013.
In a statement, the University of Edinburgh announced his passing on April 8 but did not cite a cause. His hypothesis required the presence of a particle that was undiscovered then. It was eventually dubbed the God Particle, a playful nod to its apparent significance in the creation explanation.
What is The God Particle?
Peter Higgs, the discoverer himself, being an atheist didn't like the name 'God Particle' due to its association with religion. The God Particle or Higgs Boson got its name from the "Goddamn Particle", a term used by Nobel Prize winner physicist Leon Lederman in his book, a moniker stemming from frustration over its elusive detection.
Later, the name was changed to the 'god particle' which has also drawn criticism from various religious sects.
When the universe began, even though particles make up for everything, it did not have any mass and all sped around at the speed of light, the European Council for Nuclear Research (CERN) has said. Everything including, planets, stars, and life originated after particles gained mass from a fundamental field associated with the Higgs Boson particle.
According to CERN, the particle possesses a mass of 125 billion electron volts, making it approximately 130 times heavier than a proton. It's noteworthy that bosons, the subatomic particles, are named in honor of the Indian physicist Satyendra Nath Bose.
Who Is Peter Higgs?
Peter Ware Higgs was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England on May 29, 1929. The family frequently moved because his father was a sound engineer for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). In 1962 Higgs married Jody Williamson, an American linguist and nuclear disarmament campaigner, who died in 2008. They had two sons.
Higgs first believed he would become a chemist, but quickly realised he was "hopeless in the lab" and changed his career path to theoretical physics.
He landed in the University of Edinburgh following his three degrees from King's College London, which included a PhD in physics in 1954. He retired from the college in 1996.
Higgs was modest about his achievements and shy of the media. In an interview on the Nobel prize website, he recounted how, on the morning that the 2013 Nobel announcement was due, he had anticipated media attention and taken steps to avoid it.
"I said: 'What award?'" Higgs had remarked, chuckling.