Peter Higgs passed away “peacefully at home after a short illness,” the University of Edinburgh said.
Higgs, born in Newcastle in 1929, presented his thoughts on what would come to be known as the Higgs particle, or Higgs boson, in a scientific article in the journal Physics Letters in 1964.
His work was purely theoretical, and a second paper on the subject was rejected by the same journal as lacking “obvious value to physical science”.
The proof took 48 years
Almost five decades later, the proof came. In 2012, scientists at Cern’s giant particle accelerator on the Swiss-French border managed to demonstrate the existence of the particle, which has often been called the “God particle”.
— This is an incredible event, an extraordinary feat. I didn’t think I would get to be part of it in my lifetime, Higgs said on site at Cern.
The atmosphere on site was described as “at a football match” when the experiment went into lockdown.
The following year, in 2013, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics together with the Belgian Francois Englert, who, according to the award justification, independently of Higgs put forward the theory that deals with why the particles in an atomic nucleus have a mass.
Turned Blair down
Peter Higgs was educated at King’s College in London, where he received his doctorate in physics in 1954. But the lion’s share of his work took place in Scotland.
The Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh, Peter Mathieson, calling Higgs a “remarkable individual” who has “enriched our knowledge of the world around us”.
“His pioneering work has motivated thousands of researchers and he will continue to inspire many future generations,” he says.
Higgs was a giant in his field and over the years was bestowed with a large number of honorary titles and academic awards. But when the then Prime Minister Tony Blair wanted him to be knighted by the Queen in 1999, he declined.
— I thought it felt too early and in any case it wasn’t a title I was interested in, no thank you. I didn’t want any title at all, he said according to The Scotsman newspaper.
Physics laureate Peter Higgs during his acceptance speech during the Nobel Banquet 2013. File photo.