Higgs boson Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-18
The Higgs boson is the neutral radial excitation of the Higgs field about its vacuum expectation value.
In the single-doublet Standard Model this physical excitation is a spin zero excitation of a scalar field. Its mass depends on the Higgs potential, so the theory's gauge symmetry alone does not specify where to search. The Higgs boson discovery in 2012 tested the existence of a new particle resonance; establishing its detailed identity requires testing its interactions and spin as well.