Search for the Standard Model Higgs boson produced by vector-boson fusion and decaying to bottom quarks in s√=8 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

The path to a deeper understanding of matter

26 July 2017

Data suggests that the Higgs boson, often nicknamed ‘the god particle’, is responsible for the mass of quarks, elementary particles that are the building blocks of matter, according to a study published in the Journal of High Energy Physics.

An international team of physicists, including researchers from the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute, used data from the Large Hadron Collider’s ATLAS detector to investigate how Higgs bosons decay into other particles almost as soon as they are formed.

Since it was detected in 2012, less than a third of the different types of decay Higgs bosons can undergo have been observed. By sifting through enormous amounts of data, the researchers have identified the decay path — into a pair of so-called ‘bottom’ quarks — responsible for its very short lifetime.

This finding could confirm that the Higgs boson is responsible for the mass of quarks, promising new insights into the nature of matter.

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References

1. Journal of High Energy Physics 112, (2016). doi: 10.1007/jhep11(2016)112