What if they find Higgs boson?
The Higgs boson is so central to modern physics that one Nobel laureate described it as the “God particle.” Finding it would essentially verify the Standard Model and bring scientists closer to a Grand Unified Theory describing all physical phenomena in nature—to “know the mind of God,” in Stephen Hawking’s phrase. Hawking, however, is betting that if the Higgs boson exists, its discovery will have to wait until scientists build an even more powerful accelerator. Higgs himself will be “very puzzled” if it isn’t found. “I will no longer understand what I think I understand,” he declares. What else might we learn? The possibilities are virtually limitless. Physicists hope to discover a “jewel box” of new particles; to test a group of theories, such as string theory and supersymmetry, that go beyond the Standard Model; to throw light on “dark matter,” which seems to make up most of the universe but is not visible; even, perhaps, to see evidence of further dimensions. They will also be loo
