But this end also marked the beginning of a new era of experimental physics.
But it soon became clear that discovering this particle would be challenging.
When three theoretical physicists calculated the properties of a Higgs boson,they concluded with an apology.
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In 2011, the Tevatron ceased operations the Higgs boson escaped detection again.
This almost sells it short.
Physicist Peter Higgs.
Without the Higgs boson, the whole theoretical framework describing particle physics at its smallest scales breaks apart.
Trouble on the horizon
Yet the discovery has raised new, fundamental questions.
Experiments at Cern have continued to probe the Higgs boson.
Its properties not only determine the masses of elementary particles, but also how stable they are.
As it stands, the results indicate thatour universe isnt in a perfectly stable state.
Instead, similar to ice at the melting point, the universe could suddenly undergo a rapid phase transition.
The experiment could help answer other questions, too.
Dark matter is not charged.
And the Higgs bosonhas a unique way of interactingwith uncharged matter.
Perhaps a force that binds so far unknown particles into a composite object we call the Higgs boson?
Eventually, the LHC will run into the same problem as the Tevatron did.
Proton collisions are messy and the energy of their collisions will only reach so far.
This in turn would determine how the Higgs boson interacts with its own field.
Studying this interaction could therefore help us probe the underlying process which gives particles masses.
