Nobel laureate Peter Higgs died: what is known (video)

The press service of the University of Edinburgh announced the death of Peter Higgs, who discovered an unknown elementary particle in 70 of the last century. The scientist was 94 years old, the details of his death are unknown.

Theoretical physicist, Nobel Prize laureate Peter Higgs died at the age of 94. The scientist theoretically proved the existence of the elementary particle Higgs boson. Its existence was confirmed 50 years later, thanks to the work of the Large Hadron Collider. The press service of Edinburgh University told about the event.

The post of the press service appeared online on April 9. The message succinctly states that the person who predicted the appearance of the Higgs boson half a century earlier than it was proved with the help of equipment has passed away. In addition to his scientific activities, the physicist was a “mentor and teacher” who taught young scientists.

The press service of the university does not disclose the circumstances of his death. Here are the words of grief written by the director of the educational institution, Professor Sir Peter Matheson: Higgs, in his opinion, will inspire more than one generation of scientists.

— cited Matheson's words on the Edinburgh University portal.

Peter Higgs died — biography details

Peter Ver Higgs (Peter Higgs, or Peter Higgs) — 94-year-old British scientist, professor emeritus of the University of Edinburgh, who was engaged in theoretical physics. In 1964, he proposed a theory of a field that permeates the universe. Thanks to this field, elementary particles have mass. The scientist also substantiated the existence of a hitherto unknown particle, upon interaction with which other particles gain mass. The discoveries were named after the physicist — the Higgs field and the Higgs boson.

In 2012, the theory was confirmed after a series of experiments at the Large Hadron Collider. Just then, with the help of special equipment, scientists noticed traces of a particle — Higgs boson.

In 2013, Peter Higgs, together with his colleague Francois Engler, received the Nobel Prize — for joint work on the boson and the Higgs field. The award-winning discovery was called the “mechanism of electroweak symmetry breaking due to an additional field”.

On the Internet, you can find a video with a basic explanation of the discovery of the boson, which was called the “God particle” in the media.