The Higgs boson may be the single central subatomic particle, providing matter with mass, but some researchers believe the tiny entity may still be unseen. In 2012, investigators at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) announced the particle had been seen discovered, a momentous finding which could now be called into doubt.
Centre for Cosmology and Particle Physics Phenomenology, Department of Physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy researchers in Denmark are now claiming that CERN data could be explained by other processes.
"The CERN data is generally taken as evidence that the particle is the Higgs particle. It is true that the Higgs particle can explain the data but there can be other explanations, we would also get this data from other particles. The current data is not precise enough to determine exactly what the particle is. It could be a number of other known particles," Mads Toudal Frandsen of the University of Southern Denmark, said.
Physicists have developed two main models for the Cosmos at large, the standard model of particle physics, and the multiverse theory. This second idea is centered on the possibility of a large, or infinite, number of other universes, which could affect our own. Physicists once believed the mass of the Higgs boson, expected to be either 115 or 140 giga-electron-volts (GeV), would provide evidence for one of these models, while eliminating the other. When researchers announced their finding two years ago, their measured result was around 125 GeV, suggesting problems with both great cosmological models.
This new statement from Frandsen and his team does not eliminate the possibility that the particle discovered in 2012 was the Higgs. Researchers simply point out that the CERN data could be explained by other means.
Techni-Higgs particles, a theoretical subatomic particle, could explain the 2012 findings, according to this new information. These tiny structures are not elementary particles - they are made up from techni-quarks, just as normal quarks make up protons and neutrons. However, for techni-quarks to bind together, they must be held in place by a an unknown force - none of the four forces in nature known to modern physics can play that role. Physicists refer to this undiscovered natural process the technicolor force. Frandsen believes the particle seen at CERN may have been a techni-Higgs, composed of a pair of techni-quarks. Further research at CERN could differentiate between the techni-Higgs and the true Higgs boson.
Peter Higgs and Francois Englert were awarded the Noble Prize in physics in 2013 for their theoretical work predicting the Higgs particle.
