The CMS and ATLAS experiments have presented their most recent initial results of their research on the Higgs boson particle at a seminar hosted by CERN as a curtain raiser to ICHEP2012, a key particle physics conference to be held in Melbourne, Australia.
Both experiments have detected a new particle in mass region of approximately 125-126 GeV at the 5 sigma level. According to Joe Incandela, spokesperson of the CMS experiment, the new particle is the heaviest boson particle ever observed. These preliminary results are on the basis of data gathered during 2011 and 2012, of which analysis is underway for the 2012 data. Publication of the demonstrated results is anticipated during the end of July 2012. More insights of these preliminary results will be revealed in late 2012 after the experiments get more data from the LHC.
The next move is to identify the particle’s specific characteristics and its role in better understanding the universe; whether the new particle’s properties are consistent with that of the Higgs boson particle, the last missing link of the Standard Model of particle physics, or the new particle is another exotic form. The Standard Model depicts the basic particles that form every visible matter in the universe and the forces existing between them. However, all the visible matter accounts for merely 4% of the total. A more exotic Higgs particle version may help understand the remaining 96% of the universe.
Rolf Heuer, CERN Director General, informed that the detection of a Higgs boson-consistent particle lays the foundation for in-depth studies, demanding huge statistics, which will identify the new particle’s properties and provide insights into other secrets of the universe. More data and time are required to identify the properties of the new particle. Nevertheless, the understanding of the basic structure of matter is a significant progress no matter what structure the Higgs particle takes.
Source: http://www.cern.ch/