The efforts put into finding the boson relate to its status as the last missing piece in the the Standard Model - the most widely accepted theory of particle physics.
In a bid to restore yet more symmetry to the universe, a number of particle physicists are developing a theory called supersymmetry.
ECONOMIST: Particle physics makes sense, but it assumes too much
The elusive particle is part of a theory first proposed by physicist Peter Higgs and others in the 1960s to explain how particles obtain mass.
The simplest form - that which fits neatly into the existing Standard Model of particle physics - would surely shore up the theory, but the possible existence of more "exotic" versions of the particle would open exciting new vistas in science.
Fortunately, exceptional mathematical fluency is required in only a few disciplines, such as particle physics, astrophysics and information theory.
And we might be provided with clues that reveal the trail to unraveling the ultimate holy grail of fundamental particle physics -- a quantum theory of gravity.
Proposed to be the missing link to the theory of everything, the particle is breakfast table talk, because the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland is searching for it through a series of spectacular experiments.
The God particle is an integral solution to explaining a theory of everything, and thus serves a useful purpose.
His theory has dominated the world of particle physics ever since.
The theory predicts the existence of a new particle, which also carries Prof Higgs' name.
BBC: Peter Higgs: honour for physicist who proposed particle
Their work, for example, has helped to focus the search for the Higgs particle, the entity which, according to current theory, gives matter its mass.
In particle physics, sound-bite explanations are much harder: wave-particle duality, quantum mechanics, general relativity and string theory make good mathematical sense, or so I am told, but they generally defy translation into English.
According to quantum theory, all particles are wave-like (and all waves particle-like).
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