Peter Higgs, Physicist Who Proposed the 'God Particle,' Dies at 95
Nobel prize-winning scientist helped explain how the universe is held together
Higgs boson, named after him, was discovered in 2012, confirming his decades-old theory
Sir Peter Higgs, the British theoretical physicist who proposed the existence of the "God particle," a subatomic particle that helps explain how the universe is held together, has died at the age of 95.
Higgs's theory, which he first proposed in 1964, predicted the existence of a new particle that would give mass to other particles. This particle, later dubbed the Higgs boson, was finally discovered in 2012 at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research.
The discovery of the Higgs boson was a major scientific breakthrough, confirming Higgs's decades-old theory.
Higgs was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, in 1929. He studied physics at King's College London and the University of Edinburgh. After graduating, he worked at the University of Edinburgh, Imperial College London, and the University of Glasgow.
In 1964, Higgs published a paper in the journal Physical Review Letters in which he proposed the existence of the Higgs boson. The paper was largely ignored at the time, but it was later recognized as a major breakthrough.
Higgs was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2013 for his work on the Higgs boson. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2014.
Higgs is survived by his wife, Jody, and two daughters.
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