The Higgs boson and our life

On 4 July 2012, the ATLAS and CMS experiments operating at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) announced the discovery of a new particle compatible with the Higgs boson (hunted for almost 50 years), which is a crucial piece for our understanding of fundamental physics and thus the structure and evolution of the universe. This discovery led to the award of the Nobel prize In October of this year to Professor Peter Higgs and Professor Francois Englert.

Professor Fabiola Gianotti was the leader of the ATLAS experiment during this time and led ATLAS through this exciting period leading to the Higgs boson discovery. She presented the first results to the world on July 4th. She is a permanent member of staff at the CERN laboratory in Geneva, and now an Honorary Professor  at the University of Edinburgh.

This lecture describes the unprecedented instruments and challenges that have allowed such an accomplishment, the physics meaning and relevance of this discovery, and the implications for our day-by-day life.

16.30 Tea and Cake

Professor Fabiola Gianotti is an Honorary Professor in the School of Physics & Astronomy.