諾貝爾物理學獎：上帝粒子預測者獲獎

The Higgs boson, or the "God particle," which was discovered last year, garnered two physicists the Nobel Prize in physics on Tuesday.

Nearly 50 years ago, Francois Englert of Belgium and Peter Higgs of the United Kingdom had the foresight to predict that the particle existed.

Now, the octogenarian pair share the Nobel Prize in physics in recognition of a theoretical brilliance that was vindicated by the particle's discovery last year.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the prize to them.

Higgs and Englert's theories behind the elusive Higgs boson explained what gives matter its mass.

The universe is filled with Higgs bosons. As atoms and parts of atoms zoom around, they interact with and attract Higgs bosons, which cluster around them in varying numbers.

Certain particles will attract larger clusters of Higgs bosons, and the more of them a particle attracts, the greater its mass will be.

The explanation helped complete scientists' understanding of the nature of all matter.

"The awarded theory is a central part of the Standard Model of particle physics that describes how the world is constructed," the Royal Swedish Academy said in a post on Twitter.

As is tradition, the academy phoned the scientists during the announcement to inform them of their win. They were unable to reach Higgs, for whom the particle is named.

The conversation with Englert was short and sweet. "I feel very well, of course," he said, when he heard the news. "Now, I'm very happy."

【新聞快訊】

2013年諾貝爾物理學獎10月8日在瑞典揭曉，比利時理論物理學家弗朗索瓦·恩格勒和英國理論物理學家彼得·希格斯因希格斯玻色子的理論預言獲獎。

希格斯玻色子（Higgs boson）又稱上帝粒子（God particle），是粒子物理學標準模型預言的一種自旋爲零的玻色子。它是標準模型中最後一種未被發現的粒子。它可以幫助解析爲何其它粒子會有質量。

1964年，恩格勒和羅伯特·布繞特（已故）共同提出希格斯機制與希格斯玻色子理論。同年，彼得·希格斯也在《物理評論快報》發表文章，提出希格斯機制理論。

2011年12月13日，歐洲核子研究中心科學家宣佈，他們發現了希格斯玻色子存在的跡象。但經考慮實驗其它誤差後，宣佈實驗結果無效。2012年7月4 日科學家宣佈發現了一個新粒子，與希格斯玻色子特徵有吻合之處。