MEDIA ADVISORY: Johns Hopkins expert available to discuss Higgs boson
July 3, 2012
TO: Reporters, editors, producersFROM: Lisa De Nike | 443-287-9960 | RE: CERN progress report on the “God particle”
Andrei Gritsan, a Johns Hopkins University experimental physicist, is available to speak to reporters working on stories regarding the scheduled July 4 news conference at CERN on progress in the quest for the elusive Higgs boson particle.
Gritsan is a member of one of the two groups of scientists working on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, the European Center for Nuclear Research, to find and identify the particle.
He belongs to the CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid Experiment) collaboration and is co-leader of a team investigating one of the most promising channels revealing how Higgs could be found and studied.
Often referred to as the “God particle,” the Higgs boson is a hypothetical sub-atomic particle predicted to exist by the Standard Model of particle physics. It is thought to appear from the Higgs field, which endows all the fundamental particles -- including the Higgs boson -- with mass. Physicists have been searching for it for more than 40 years.
“At the end of last year, a tantalizing hint for the Higgs boson was observed, and since then we have significantly increased our sensitivity. A discovery of a new boson will depend on its true nature, but the latest results will certainly be very interesting,” Gritsan said. “Even if we observe a new boson, it will take us some time to study its properties and establish that it is the Higgs boson.”
Andrei Gritsan can be reached by calling the Office of Communications at 443-287-9960. If you want to reach him on July 4, when the office will be closed, contact Phil Sneiderman at [email protected] or at 410-299-7462.###
RSS