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Peter Higgs

British physicist behind the Higgs mechanism.

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Peter Ware Higgs was a British theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate born 29 May 1929 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England.[1][2] He proposed the Higgs mechanism in 1964, which predicted the Higgs boson particle.[3] At the age of 94, Peter Higgs passed away on 8 April 2024 following a brief illness, with his death occurring at his Edinburgh residence.[4]

Life and work

He graduated with a first-class honours degree in physics from King's College London in 1950 and earned a PhD in 1954.[5][6] After a Senior Research Fellowship at the University of Edinburgh, he held posts at Imperial College London and University College London.[7][6] Higgs returned to the University of Edinburgh in 1960 as a Lecturer at the Tait Institute of Mathematical Physics.[7][6] He developed the Higgs mechanism after a failed camping trip, writing a paper published in Physics Letters in 1964.[8][9]

A second paper describing the Higgs model was rejected by Physics Letters but later published by Physical Review Letters in 1964.[10][9] Between 1941 and 1946, Peter Higgs was a pupil at Cotham Grammar School in Bristol, where the achievements of former student Paul Dirac sparked his interest in theoretical physics.[11][12] A new particle consistent with the Higgs boson was reported by CERN on 4 July 2012, based on data from the ATLAS and CMS experiments.[13][14] The 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded jointly to Peter Higgs and François Englert.[15][16]

The Royal Society elected Higgs as a Fellow in 1983, and later awarded him the Copley Medal in 2015.[17][18]

What the cited sources add

A 2007 Guardian profile notes that Higgs rarely gives interviews and lets requests gather dust.[12] The same source reports that Higgs's father worked as a sound engineer for the BBC and that Higgs was raised by his mother in Bristol while his father relocated to Bedford.[12] Higgs's curriculum vitae lists honorary degrees from universities including Bristol, Edinburgh, Cambridge, and Trinity College Dublin.[6] The same source notes that the referee for Higgs's Physical Review Letters paper was Yoichiro Nambu.[9]

A 2013 Guardian interview reports that Higgs has never sent an email or browsed the web.[19] According to the Edinburgh University School of Physics and Astronomy, Higgs's subsequent paper was turned down by Physics Letters because the editors felt it did not merit being published quickly.[9] In a Guardian interview, Higgs expressed his view that the government exploits the honours system for political ends.[19][20]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Peter Higgs" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Griggs, Jessica (Summer 2008) The Missing Piece Edit the University of Edinburgh Alumni Magazine, p. 17; Overbye, "A Discoverer as Elusive as His Particle", The New York Times, 15 September 2014; Overbye, Dennis. A Pioneer as Elusive as His Particle , The New York Times website, 15 September 2014. Also published in print on 16 September 2014, on page D1 ; Blum, "The Recluse Who Confronted the Mystery of the Universe – Frank Close's "Elusive" looks at the life and work of the man who changed our ideas about the basis of matter.", The New Yor en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Peter Higgs" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: GRO Register of Births: Peter W Higgs, Jun 1929 10b 72 Newcastle T., mmn = Coghill; GRO Register of Marriages: Thomas W Higgs = Gertrude M Coghill, Sep 1924 6a 197 Bristol; Staff (29 November 2012) Peter Higgs: Curriculum Vitae The University of Edinburgh, School of Physics and Astronomy. Retrieved 9 January 2012; Sample, Ian. "The god of small things" , The Guardian, 17 November 2007, weekend section.; Macdonald, Kenneth (10 April 2013) Peter Higgs: Behind the scenes at the Universe . BBC.; "Peter Higgs", The Nobel Prize (we also read that en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Peter Higgs" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Griffiths, "The tale of the blogs' boson", Physics World, 1 May 2007; Fermilab Today (16 June 2005) Fermilab Results of the Week. Top Quarks are Higgs' best Friend Retrieved on 27 May 2008; "Higgs boson-like particle discovery claimed at LHC", BBC, 4 July 2012; Rincon, Paul (10 March 2004) Fermilab 'God Particle' may have been seen Retrieved on 27 May 2008 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Peter Higgs" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Overbye, "Peter Higgs, Nobelist Who Predicted the 'God Particle,' Dies at 94", The New York Times, 9 April 2024; Carrell, "Peter Higgs, physicist who discovered Higgs boson, dies aged 94", The Guardian, 9 April 2024 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Peter Higgs" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Peter Higgs", King's College London; 1851 Royal Commission Archives; Higgs, "Some problems in the theory of molecular vibrations", ethos.bl.uk, 1954; Higgs, "Some problems in the theory of molecular vibrations", ethos.bl.uk, 1954; Staff (29 November 2012) Peter Higgs: Curriculum Vitae The University of Edinburgh, School of Physics and Astronomy. Retrieved 9 January 2012; King's College London, "Professor Peter Higgs" (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Staff (29 November 2012) Peter Higgs: Curriculum Vitae The University of Edinburgh, School of Physics and Astronomy. Retrieved 9 January 2012. facts only, no text reused. ph.ed.ac.uk
  7. Wikipedia, "Peter Higgs" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mackenzie, Kate (2012) "It Was Worth The Wait" The Interview, The University of Edinburgh Alumni Magazine, Winter 2012/13; "Professor Peter Higgs broadcast footage", University of Edinburgh, 2012 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Peter Higgs" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Martin, Victoria (14 December 2011) Soon we'll be able to pinpoint that particle The Scotsman. Retrieved 10 January 2013; Collins, Nick (4 July 2012) Higgs boson: Prof Stephen Hawking loses $100 bet The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 10 January 2013; Staff (4 July 2012) Scientists discover 'God' particle The Herald. Glasgow. Retrieved 10 January 2013; "Meeting the Boson Man: Professor Peter Higgs", BBC News, 24 February 2012; Staff (5 January 2012) Brief History of the Higgs Mechanism The Edinburgh University School of Physics and Astronomy. en.wikipedia.org
  9. Staff (5 January 2012) Brief History of the Higgs Mechanism The Edinburgh University School of Physics and Astronomy. Retrieved 10 January 2013. facts only, no text reused. ph.ed.ac.uk
  10. Wikipedia, "Peter Higgs" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sample, Ian. "The god of small things" , The Guardian, 17 November 2007, weekend section. (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Peter Higgs" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Staff (29 November 2012) Peter Higgs: Curriculum Vitae The University of Edinburgh, School of Physics and Astronomy. Retrieved 9 January 2012; The Cotham Grammar School, a High-Performing Specialist Co-operative Academy The Dirac-Higgs Science Centre Retrieved 10 January 2013; Sample, Ian. "The god of small things" , The Guardian, 17 November 2007, weekend section. (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Sample, Ian. "The god of small things" , The Guardian, 17 November 2007, weekend section.. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com
  13. Wikipedia, "Peter Higgs" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Higgs within reach", CERN, 4 July 2012; "Higgs boson-like particle discovery claimed at LHC", BBC, 4 July 2012; Griggs, Jessica (Summer 2008) The Missing Piece Edit the University of Edinburgh Alumni Magazine, p. 17 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  14. "Higgs boson-like particle discovery claimed at LHC", BBC, 4 July 2012. facts only, no text reused. bbc.co.uk
  15. Wikipedia, "Peter Higgs" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Amos, Jonathan (8 October 2013) Higgs: Five decades of noble endeavour BBC News Science and Environment; retrieved 8 October 2013 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  16. Wikipedia, "Peter Higgs" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Press release from Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences", 8 October 2013; Boucle, "The Life Scientific", BBC RADIO4, 18 February 2014; "Peter Higgs was told about Nobel Prize by passing motorist"; "Prof Peter Higgs did not know he had won Nobel Prize", BBC News, 11 October 2013 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  17. Wikipedia, "Peter Higgs" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Swansea University Honorary Fellowship", Swansea University (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  18. Wikipedia, "Peter Higgs" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: High Energy Particle Physics Division of EPS, "High Energy Particle Physics Prize", eps-hepp.web.cern.ch; Staff (29 November 2012) Peter Higgs: Curriculum Vitae The University of Edinburgh, School of Physics and Astronomy. Retrieved 9 January 2012; "Prof Peter Higgs wins the Royal Society's Copley Medal", BBC News, 20 July 2015 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  19. Aitkenhead, "Peter Higgs interview: 'I have this kind of underlying incompetence'", The Guardian, 6 December 2013. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com
  20. Wikipedia, "Peter Higgs" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Aitkenhead, "Peter Higgs interview: 'I have this kind of underlying incompetence'", The Guardian, 6 December 2013; Press Association, "Physicist Higgs honoured by Queen", The Courier, 1 July 2014 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Peter Higgs (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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