God particle physicists awarded Nobel Prize
WILL SPLIT US$1.2M
• The “God particle” became the prize particle Tuesday.
Two theoretical physicists who suggested an invisible ocean of energy suffusing space is responsible for the mass and diversity of the particles in the universe won the Nobel Prize in physics. They are Peter Higgs, 84, of the University of edinburgh and François Englert, 80, of the University Libré de bruxelles.
The theory, elucidated in 1964, sent physicists on a generation-long search for a telltale particle known as the Higgs boson, or the God particle.
The chase culminated in July 2012 with the discovery of the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron collider at the european Organization for Nuclear research, also known as cerN, in Switzerland.
The two men will split a prize of US$1.2-million, to be awarded in Stockholm dec. 10.
The Swedish royal Academy of Sciences said they won “for the discovery of the mechanism that contributes to understanding the origin of the mass of subatomic particles.”
“you may imagine that this is not unpleasant,” Mr. englert said in an early morning news conference.
As of the time of the news conference, the academy still had not been able to reach Mr. Higgs, the J.d. Salinger of physics, who was standing by his word to be unavailable.
The prize had been expected ever since physicists working at the Large Hadron collider announced July 4, 2012, they had discovered a particle matching the description of the Higgs, setting off headlines and sending champagne fountains flowing around the world.
but it came with a dose of disappointment for some. The notion of this energy ocean arose in three papers published independently in 1964. One was by Mr. Higgs. Another was by Mr. englert and his colleague robert brout, who died in 2011. The third was by Tom Kibble of Imperial college, London, carl Hagen of the University of Rochester, N.Y., and Gerald Guralnik of brown University. It came last and its authors have struggled for recognition.