Remembering Peter Higgs and his gift to the world

Imagine proposing a crucial theory in particle physics that is so complex that the world has to wait more than half a century to be able to prove its existence in the real world. That is precisely what happened on 4th July 2012 when the world finally witnessed the existence of the Higgs Boson, the last missing puzzle in the Standard Model consisting of the 17 fundamental particles that make up our universe. Peter Higgs proposed the existence of this elementary particle back in the 1960s when theoretical physicists the world over were trying to dive deep into understanding the fundamental building blocks of our universe. Around the same time, another physicist named François Englert independently proposed a similar mechanism.
It was only after more than 60 years that their theory proved right when several elaborate experiments were carried out at the Large Hadron Collider, located near Geneva, Switzerland in a quest to discover the much sought-after particle. Both Higgs and Englert shared a Nobel Prize in 2013 for predicting its existence

Even though we have proved the existence of this ‘God Particle’, physicists at the LHC still believe that we have only been scratching the surface and that our complete understanding of this universe, its beginning, and its true nature is far from over. We need a dedicated collider, much more sophisticated than the existing ones to study the role of Higgs Boson in shaping our reality and thus gain profound knowledge on the same.
Many legendary scientists and physicists did not live long enough to see their theories proved right. Albert Einstein, for example, was long dead before we could prove the existence of black holes and gravitational waves using his theories of relativity. Peter Higgs on the other hand, survived to see his theory validated. Despite being primarily responsible for singlehandedly furthering our understanding of the universe, Peter Higgs has always been a man of utmost modesty. He was never fond of the attention that came with being recognized for his extraordinary achievement. Much like the particle he had proposed, Higgs himself preferred to remain elusive to the world, even when he was bestowed with the prestigious Nobel Prize in 2013.

 
Peter Higgs passed away on 9th April 2024, Tuesday at the age of 94. The scientific community shall continue to reap the benefits of his groundbreaking theory in the coming years.