The efforts to detect the existence of Higgs boson particle have become frequent news in the recent past. What is/are the importance/importances of discovering this particle?
- 1.It will enable us to understand as to why elementary particles have mass.
- 2.It will enable us in the near future to develop the technology of transferring matter from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them.
- 3.It will enable us to create better fuels for nuclear fission.
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
Answer & explanation
Answer: (a) 1 only
The Higgs boson is the particle linked to the Higgs field, which gives mass to elementary particles. Finding it confirmed the theory of how particles get mass. It has no link to teleportation or to fuels for nuclear fission. Only statement 1 is correct, so the answer is (a).
- ✓ 1. Elementary particles gain mass by interacting with the Higgs field. The Higgs boson is an excitation of that field, so its discovery confirmed this mass-giving mechanism. The 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics honoured the theory of this mechanism, which was confirmed through the discovery of the predicted particle.
- ✗ 2. Moving matter from one point to another without crossing the space between them (teleportation) has nothing to do with the Higgs boson. The discovery explains the origin of mass and offers no such technology.
- ✗ 3. Fission fuels such as uranium-235 and plutonium-239 are used because their nuclei can be split to release energy. The Higgs boson concerns the origin of mass of elementary particles and does not lead to better fission fuels.
Remember · The Higgs boson (discovery announced at CERN's LHC on 4 July 2012) confirms the Higgs field, which gives elementary particles their mass. It has no practical link to teleportation or nuclear fuels.
Sources
- CERN – The Higgs boson ↗ · reference work “The Higgs field was proposed in 1964 as a new kind of field that fills the entire Universe and gives mass to all elementary particles.”
- The Nobel Prize in Physics 2013 – Press release ↗ “for the theoretical discovery of a mechanism that contributes to our understanding of the origin of mass of subatomic particles, and which recently was confirmed through the discovery of the predicted fundamental particle”
Question: UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) 2013, General Studies Paper I. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 25 Oct 2026 (how we verify). ·
