Higgs boson: Quick Facts

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Last updated

Sep. 21, 2026

Facts

Also Known As	Higgs particle • God particle

Photos and Videos

Higgs boson detection

A Feynman diagram showing two protons colliding, with their quarks interacting to produce W bosons that combine into a Higgs boson, which then decays into two Z bosons and further into electron and muon pairs.

Know why the Higgs boson is included in the standard model alongside particles like electrons, photons, and quarks

Learn how the Higgs field gives particle mass

Know the challenges in proving evidence for a newly discovered particle like the Higgs boson

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Topics

Higgs mechanism subatomic particle quark weakly interacting massive particle magnetic monopole gluon tachyon CP violation symmetry quantum field theory lepton Pauli exclusion principle

Key People

Peter Higgs

Peter Higgs

British physicist

François Englert, 2012

François Englert

Belgian physicist

Italian-born physicist Dr. Enrico Fermi draws a diagram at a blackboard with mathematical equations. circa 1950.

Physics and Natural Law