Up and Atom! Large Hadron Collider May Have Found 'God Particle' (But what happens if you split it?)

Mike Wall, Senior Writer,

A rumor is floating around the physics community that the world’s largest atom smasher may

have detected a  long-sought subatomic particle called the Higgs boson,

also known as the “God particle.”

The controversial rumor is based on what appears to be a leaked internal note from physicists

at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a 17-mile-long particle accelerator near Geneva

Switzerland. It’s not entirely clear at this point if the memo is authentic, or what the data it refers

to might mean — but the note already has researchers talking.

The buzz started when an anonymous commenter recently posted an abstract of the note on

Columbia University mathematician Peter Woit’s blog, Not Even Wrong.

Some physicists say the note may be a hoax, while others believe the “detection” is likely a

statistical anomaly that will disappear upon further study. But the find would be a huge particle-

physics breakthrough, if it holds up.

“If it were to be real, it would be really exciting,” said physicist Sheldon Stone of Syracuse University.

HUNTING HIGGS