Founder of ‘God Particle’, Professor Peter Higgs, who received 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics has died aged 94.
Theoretical physics is a complex domain. There are only few great minds who explored and revealed mysteries about it. Professor Peter Higgs is one of them. During the first decade of 21st century, the term ‘God Particle’ or ‘Higgs Boson’ became viral. Because, researchers at The European Organization for Nuclear Research or CERN were dedicated to discover “the final missing piece of the Standard Model of particle physics,” mentioned in the official website of the scientific body. Nearly an era ago, CERN announced that the Higgs boson had finally been found in the Large Hadron Collider, signifying one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs of this century. The theory of “Higgs Boson” was first made public by Peter Higgs.
As he passed away today, we will discuss about his life, theory, and scientific contribution.
Peter Higgs was born in Newcastle, England in 1929. His father was a BBC sound engineer. When Higgs was admitted to Cotham School, it was a disastrous start for him. He faced a bad accident after tumbling into a crater left by a second world war bomb in the school playground leading to a fracture in left hand. However, he was an intelligent student and showed interest in physics since his childhood. He won numerous prizes whenever any science competition used to happen in school. During that time, he came to know about Paul Dirac, one of the pioneers of quantum theory. Eventually, works of Einstein motivated him to fall in love with theoretical physics.
He joined King’s College London for higher studies, where he developed interest in subatomic particles.
As per Standard Model, the predicted fundamental particles can never possess any mass. Peter Higgs was specifically interested to know about the mass of fundamental particles.
Scientists did numerous experiments to explain how “fundamental particles gained mass through interactions with a quantum field that pervades the universe.”
Later on, he predicted in “The God Particle Theory” that “a fundamental particle associated with the Higgs field that gives mass to other particles, for example, quarks and electrons.”
He published a short note regarding this in September 1964 and wrote a detailed follow-up paper.
Initially, his idea was rejected. Even, renowned scientist Stephen Hawking predicted that it won't be possible to found any such particle. But his his doggedness paid off later.
For Peter Higgs, the high point of his life was proving his theory right by CERN. He was moved to tears as he was sitting watching the experiment as audience. It took 48 years to prove his theory right, which eventually brought him a Nobel Prize in physics in 2013 along with Belgian theoretical physicist François Englert who also predicted the same.
Peter Higgs was so devoted to science that it harmed his personal life. After the birth of their second child, Higgs seperated from his partner Jody. They only maintained a friendly relationship post seperation. Unfortunately, Jody passed away suffering from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2008.
His idea was not accepted in initial days because very few people understood it. Unlike other scientists, he was not a person to boast a lot about him in scientific community. He was shy and modest person with a visionary mind. His idea eventually helped us to understand universe in a better way.
Professor Sir Peter Mathieson, Principal and Vice Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh said: “Peter Higgs was a remarkable individual – a truly gifted scientist whose vision and imagination have enriched our knowledge of the world that surrounds us. His pioneering work has motivated thousands of scientists, and his legacy will continue to inspire many more for generations to come.”
