Register Log in  Scientific Method / Science & Exploration
Higgs week starts with Fermilab updates, strong evidence
expected  Latest analysis of Tevatron's data leaves large window
open for the LHC.  A four-lepton decay, one option that the
Standard Model provides for getting rid of a Higgs.  This week,
the European physics lab CERN will be hosting an announcement
(scheduled for early on July 4th). It's expected that strong
evidence for the Higgs boson will be presented. Rumors about
exactly what will be announced are swirling, but most informed
expectations indicate a very strong signal that falls just short
of the standard for discovery. To set the stage for that
announcement, Fermilab hosted two seminars today that gave an
update on the search for the Higgs performed at the Tevatron,
its now-defunct particle collider.  The Higgs is the last
undiscovered particle predicted by the Standard Model; it
mediates the interactions that give particles mass. Although its
existence was proposed decades ago, direct e