When was Higgs Boson Found at LHC?

Answer 1

The Higgs boson first arose after a process called electroweak-symmetry breaking, which is a bit technical to explain in detail.

Basically, the current theories for particle physics state that at a certain energy level (higher than we can reach at the moment) the electromagnetic force merges with the weak nuclear force. Below this energy level (or temperature) the two forces are distinct. You can view this as a phase transition, and the Higgs boson is a by product of it.

This phase transition should have taken place mere seconds after the big bang, so if they exist (they haven't been experimentally verified), they have been present since almost the very start of the Universe.

Answer 2

The Higgs boson was first theorized in the 60's, and now, at CERN, the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) has just reopened after some technical difficulties. This machine will collide particles up to 3.5 Tev. The hope is that in the debris, a Higgs boson will materialize, probably for a very, very short period of time. As to when we'll find it, all we can say is that we're still looking for it. That's assuming it exists.

Answer 3

No exact date can be given.

Unfortunately, the decay of a Higgs Boson looks like the decay of a LOT of other particles. Thus, any event seen at LHC can only be described as an event that MIGHT be the Higgs Boson -- or it might be something else.

Fortunately, we know the odds of an event being "something else." Thus, over time, the scientists at LHC can make a pretty exact prediction of how many "Something Else" Events they will see. Thus, if they wait until there are a LOT of events under the category of "It's either a Higgs Boson or it's something else", they can logically reach the conclusion that there are more "Higgs or Something Else" Events than the expected number of "Something Else" Events. At that point, they can reasonably conclude that SOME of those "Higgs or Something Else" Events were, indeed, Higgs Bosons. But they can not say, "This event was a Higgs Boson, but this one wasn't."

More precisely, the scientists at LHC can calculate the probability that NONE of the "Higgs or Something Else" Events were actually Higgs Bosons -- ie, the odds that ALL of them were something else. On July 4 of this year, the LHC announced that the odds of every "Higgs or Something Else" Event was something else was 2 million to one -- pretty small odds! However, particle physics protocol requires that no particle can be declared to be found until the odds are down to 3.5 million to one (more exactly, at the "five sigma" level of variation).

Bizarre as it may sound, right as I was researching my answer, I found that, two days ago, that hurdle had been reached.