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?
- It will enable us to understand as to why elementary particles have mass.
- 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.
- 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.