GENEVA — After a quest spanning nearly half a century, physicists said Wednesday they had found a sub-atomic particle that may be the elusive Higgs boson, believed to confer mass on matter. Rousing cheers and a standing ovation erupted at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) after scientists presented astonishing new data in their search for the mysterious particle. Many hailed it as a moment in history, and white-haired veterans of the quest shed tears of joy. The new find is “consistent with (the) long-sought Higgs boson," CERN declared. “We have reached a milestone in our understanding of nature," said CERN Director General Rolf Heuer. He and others cautioned, though, that further work was needed to identify what exactly had been found. “As a layman I would say we have it, but as a scientist I have to say, ‘what do we have?'" Heuer told a press conference. “We have discovered a boson, and now we have to determine what kind of boson it is." Finding the Higgs would validate the Standard Model, a theory which identifies the building blocks for matter and the particles that convey fundamental forces. Peter Higgs, the shy, soft-spoken Briton who in 1964 published the conceptual groundwork for the particle and whose name became associated with it, expressed delight. “I never expected this to happen in my lifetime," the 83-year-old said in a statement. Higgs sat next to Belgian physicist Francois Englert, 79, who separately contributed to the theory. “I just want to say that my thoughts go to Robert Brout," said Englert, his eyes moist with tears, as he lauded a fellow pioneer who died in 2011. The Standar Model is a hugely successful theory but has several gaps, the biggest of which is why some particles have mass but others do not. Mooted by Higgs and several others, the boson is believed to exist in a treacly, invisible, ubiquitous field created by the Big Bang some 13.7 billion years ago. Over the years, tens of thousands of physicists and billions of dollars have been thrown into the search, gradually narrowing down the mass range where it might exist. At a particle-physics conference in Melbourne, a participant said there was a “jaw-dropping" moment when the scientists reacted to the announcement. Scientists began to pore over what the find could mean. “This is an important result and should earn Peter Higgs the Nobel Prize, but it is a pity in a way, because the great advances in physics have come from experiments that gave results we didn't expect," said cosmologist Stephen Hawking in an interview with the BBC. “For this reason I had a bet with Gordon Kane of Michigan University that the Higgs particle wouldn't be found. It seems I have just lost $100."— Agencies
