Higgs boson
The Higgs boson is a quantum manifestation of the Higgs field, a fundamental scalar field (its value is given by a single number rather than a vector) that permeates the entire Universe. In the Standard Model, the mass of elementary particles arises from their interaction with this field: the stronger the coupling, the greater the mass. The boson itself is a localized excitation of the field, detected in 2012 at the Large Hadron Collider at an energy of about 125 GeV.
History
The idea was proposed in 1964 by Peter Higgs and other scientists. After nearly half a century, in 2012, physicists at the Large Hadron Collider (a huge device for colliding protons) detected a particle matching the predictions.
How it works
A fish in water is slowed by the resistance of the medium — similarly, the Higgs field slows particles, giving them mass. The stronger a particle interacts with the field, the more massive it is. Vibration of this field manifests as the Higgs boson, like a sound wave in water.
💡 Due to a popular science book, the Higgs boson is sometimes called the 'God particle', but physicists avoid this term: it creates a false impression of the particle's role and evokes inappropriate religious associations.