For three and a half decades, the Standard Model has described the inner workings of nature with astonishing accuracy. Its predictions have withstood the challenge of every experiment in particle physics. Nevertheless, a crucial building block of the theory, the Higgs boson, has remained elusive. On July 4, 2012, the ATLAS and CMS collaborations at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) announced the discovery of a new particle whose properties appear to be consistent with the long-sought Higgs boson. In this colloquium, the importance of the Higgs boson within the Standard Model will be presented, together with a brief history of the search for the Higgs and the latest experimental results. Have we finally discovered the Higgs, or is this the first hint of something even more extraordinary?

For more information, please contact: Dr. Anzhong Wang x 2276.