Live from the Perimeter Institute: The Most Wanted Particle

Live at 7 p.m. ET: CERN researcher and physicist Jon Butterworth considers the quest for Higgs boson

<p>Mandatory Credit: Photo by Rex Features (1792830n)<br />
The simulation of a Higgs boson decaying, CGI images of experiments to find the God Particle &#8211; Higgs Boson, The simulation of a Higgs boson decaying &#8211; CGI images of experiments to find the God Particle &#8211; Higgs Boson<br />
ATLAS (A Toroidal LHC Apparatus) &#8211; a particle detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a new particle accelerator at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Switzerland.<br />
ATLAS is 44 metres long and 25 metres in diameter, weighing about 7,000 tonnes.<br />
The hunt for the Higgs boson &#8211; the &#8216;God particle&#8217; that holds the universe together &#8211; is over.<br />
Scientists at Switzerland&#8217;s CERN (the European Council for Nuclear Research) announced the discovery to an audience including Professor Peter Higgs, who first suggested the existence of the particle four decades ago.<br />
Professor Higgs, 83, wiped a tear from his eye as the findings were announced, and later said<br />
Has The Higgs Boson Been Found?<br />
For all you physicists out there, the wait is finally over and the champagne corks can get popping: the Higgs boson &#8211; or God Particle &#8211; has finally been (probably) discovered.</p>
<p>48 years after Professor Peter Higgs first thought up the concept while walking through the Cairngorms, scientists at Cern&#8217;s Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland have announced to the world that their long experiment has finally brought results they were looking for.</p>
<p>However, plenty of analysis lies ahead to confirm that the particle they have found is the genuine article &#8211; or perhaps something even more exciting</p>

Rex Features/CP

Jon Butterworth (Gabriela Secara photo)
Jon Butterworth (Gabriela Secara photo)

Dr. Jon Butterworth is a CERN researcher and head of physics at University College London. In tonight’s lecture from the Perimeter Institute, he considers the excitement and tension surrounding the quest for the Higgs boson and his own research at CERN’s ATLAS detector. Watch as he discusses the exciting breakthroughs that still await the world of high-energy physics:

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