Long-Sought 'God Particle' Cornered, Scientists Say   
   By Clara Moskowitz | LiveScience.com - 2 hrs 23 mins ago   
       
   Physicists are closer than ever to hunting down the elusive Higgs boson   
   particle, the missing piece of the governing theory of the universe's tiniest   
   building blocks.   
       
   Scientists at the world's largest particle accelerator, the Large Hadron   
   Collider at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva,   
   Switzerland, announced today (Dec. 13) that they'd narrowed down the list of   
   possible hiding spots for the Higgs, (also called the God particle) and even   
   see some indications that they're hot on its trail.   
       
   "I think we are getting very close," said Vivek Sharma, a physicist at the   
   University of California, San Diego, and the leader of the Higgs search at   
   LHC's CMS experiment. "We may be getting the first tantalizing hints, but it's   
   a whiff, it's a smell, it's not quite the whole thing."   
       
   Today's announcement was highly anticipated by both the physics community and   
   the public, with speculation running rampant in the days leading up to it that   
   the elusive particle may have finally been found. Though the news is not the   
   final answer some were hoping for, the progress is a significant, exciting   
   step, physicists say. [Top 5 Implications of Finding the Higgs Boson]   
       
   "It's something really extraordinary and I think we can be all proud of this,"   
   said CERN physicist Fabiola Gianotti, spokesperson for the LHC's ATLAS   
   experiment, during a public seminar announcing the results today.   
   Experts outside the LHC collaborations agreed.   
       
   "These are really tough experiments, and it's just really impressive what   
   they're doing," Harvard University theoretical physicist Lisa Randall told   
   LiveScience.   
       
   Origin of mass   
       
   The Higgs boson is thought to be tied to a field (the Higgs field) that is   
   responsible for giving all other particles their mass. Ironically, physicists   
   don't have a specific prediction for the mass of the Higgs boson itself, so   
   they must search a wide range of possible masses for signs of the particle.   
   Based on data collected at LHC's CMS and ATLAS experiments, researchers said   
   they are now able to narrow down the Higgs' mass to a small range, and exclude   
   a wide swath of possibilities.   
       
   "With the data from this year we've ruled out a lot of masses, and now we're   
   just left with this tiny window, in this region that is probably the most   
   interesting," said Jonas Strandberg, a researcher at CERN working on the ATLAS   
   experiment.   
       
   The researchers have now cornered the Higgs mass in the range between 114.4   
   and 131 gigaelectronvolts (GeV).For comparison, a proton weighs 1 GeV. Outside   
   that range, the scientists are more than 95 percent confident that the Higgs   
   cannot exist.   
       
   Within that range, the ATLAS findings show some indications of a possible   
   signal from the Higgs boson at 126 GeV, though the data are not strong enough   
   for scientists to claim a finding with the level of confidence they require   
   for a true discovery.   
       
   "Based on the predicted size of the signal, the experiments may have their   
   first glimpse of a positive signal," University of Chicago physicist Jim   
   Pilcher wrote in an email to LiveScience. "It is especially important to   
   compare the results of two independent experiments to help reduce statistical   
   fluctuations and experimental biases."   
       
   But it shouldn't be much longer before scientists can be sure if the Higgs   
   exists, and if so, how much mass it has.   
       
   "We know we must be getting close," Strandberg told LiveScience. "All we need   
   is a little bit more data. I think the data we take in 2012 should be able to   
   really give a definitive answer if the Higgs boson exists."   
       
   Underground explosions   
       
   The Large Hadron Collider is a 17-mile (27-kilometer) loop buried underneath   
   France and Switzerland, run by CERN, based in Geneva.   
       
   Inside this loop, protons traveling near the speed of light collide head-on,   
   and release huge amounts of energy in powerful explosions.   
       
   This energy then coalesces into new particles, some of which are exotic,   
   hard-to-find species like the Higgs. The Higgs quickly decays into other   
   particle products, which are then sensed by the detectors inside ATLAS and   
   CMS. [6 Exotic Particles Explained]   
       
   The new results are based on data accumulated over 500 trillion proton-proton   
   collisions inside the LHC.   
       
   Big payoff   
       
   The Higgs boson and its related Higgs field were predicted in 1964 by   
   physicist Peter Higgs and his colleagues. Though the Higgs mechanism is the   
   best explanation for why particles have mass, it can't be trusted until its   
   major prediction - the Higgs boson - is found. [Infographic: The Higgs Boson]   
       
   "It would be a major discovery, absolutely," said Randall, who is the author   
   of a recent book covering the Higgs and other particle mysteries called   
   "Knocking on Heaven's Door: How Physics and Scientific Thinking Illuminate the   
   Universe and the Modern World" (Ecco, 2011). "We've known about the Higgs   
   mechanism for years, but we don't know if it's right."   
       
   The discovery of the Higgs would offer final credence to the idea and its   
   originators.   
       
   "If it is found there are several people who are going to get a Nobel prize,"   
   said Vivek Sharma, a physicist at the University of California, San Diego, and   
   the leader of the Higgs search at LHC's CMS experiment.   
       
   You can follow LiveScience senior writer Clara Moskowitz on Twitter   
   @ClaraMoskowitz. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and   
   discoveries on Twitter @livescience and on Facebook.   
       
       
   Regards,   
       
   Roger   
      
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