The efforts to detect the existence of Higgs boson particle have become frequent news in the recent past. What is/are the importance (s) of discovering this particle?

1. It will enable us to understand as to why elementary particles have mass.
2. It will enable us in the near future to develop the technology of tranferring matter from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them.
3. It will enable us to create better fuels for nuclear fission.

Select the correct answer using the codes given below.

[UPSC Civil Services Exam – 2013 Prelims]

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Answer: (a)        

Explanation:

• The Higgs boson was proposed in 1964 by Peter Higgs, François Englert, and four other theorists to explain why certain particles have mass.
• Scientists confirmed its existence in 2012 through the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Switzerland.
• This discovery led to the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics being awarded to Higgs and Englert.