Boson has Indian connection

Fact box: Higgs boson

What is it? The Higgs boson is conceived as a sub-atomic particle that confers substance. It is conceived as existing in a treacly, invisible field that was created after the "Big Bang" and pervades the Universe. Higgs bosons "stick" to fundamental particles of matter, dragging on them, and then decay themselves into another form. Some of these particles interact more with the Higgs than others and thus have greater mass, according to the theory. But particles of light, also called photons, are impervious to it and have no mass.

Why is it important? The origin of mass -- meaning the resistance of an object to being moved -- has been fiercely debated for decades. Finding the Higgs boson would vindicate the so-called Standard Model of physics, a theory that developed in the early 1970s, which says the Universe is made from 12 particles which provide the building blocks for all matter. These fundamental particles are divided into a bestiary comprising six leptons and six quarks, which have exotic names such as "strange," "up", "tau" and "charm."

Why is it called the Higgs boson? The name comes from a British physicist, Peter Higgs, today aged 83, who conceived of a field of mass-conferring particles in 1964 and became the first to publish his idea. Important theoretical work was also done separately by Belgian physicists Robert Brout, who died in 2011, and Francois Englert, 79. Bosons are non-matter particles which are force carriers, or messengers that act between matter particles. The interaction gives rise to three fundamental forces -- the strong force, the weak force and the electromagnatic force. There is a fourth force, gravity, which is suspected to be caused by a still-to-be found boson named the graviton.