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Nuclear & Particle Physics

Higgs Boson

An elementary scalar boson associated with the Higgs field that endows fundamental particles with rest mass via electroweak symmetry breaking.

Governing formula m_H ≈ 125.1 GeV/c², Spin = 0, Scalar Field φ
SI unit GeV/c² (Mass Energy)

In depth

Particles acquire inertial mass through quantum interaction with the non-zero vacuum expectation value of the pervasive Higgs field. Discovered at CERN's Large Hadron Collider in 2012, completing the Standard Model.

Examples in the real world

Confirming the Bachel-Englert-Higgs mechanism through Higgs boson decay into two gamma-ray photons at the LHC.