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British physicist Peter Higgs, whose idea of a mass-giving particle – the so-called Higgs boson – collectively earned him the Nobel Prize for Physics, has died aged 94, the College of Edinburgh introduced on Tuesday.
“He handed away peacefully at house on Monday 8 April following a brief sickness,” the Scottish college, the place he had been a professor for practically 5 a long time, stated in a press release.
It referred to as him “a terrific trainer and mentor, inspiring generations of younger scientists”.
“His household has requested that the media and public respect their privateness presently,” the college added.
Higgs used ground-breaking theoretical work to assist clarify how the Universe has mass, thus resolving one of many biggest puzzles in physics and incomes him a spot alongside Albert Einstein and Max Planck in textbooks.
His 1964 idea of a mass-giving particle, which grew to become referred to as the Higgs boson or the “God particle”, gained him and Belgian physicist Francois Englert the 2013 physics Nobel Prize.
The award adopted experiments the earlier yr with the Massive Hadron Collider on the European Group for Nuclear Analysis (CERN) that lastly confirmed the speculation, practically half a century after it was formulated.
“Peter Higgs was a exceptional particular person – a really gifted scientist whose imaginative and prescient and creativeness have enriched our information of the world that surrounds us,” stated Peter Mathieson, Vice Chancellor of the College of Edinburgh.
“His pioneering work has motivated 1000’s of scientists, and his legacy will proceed to encourage many extra for generations to return.”
Remembered
CERN Director Common Fabiola Gianotti paid tribute to Higgs.
“Apart from his excellent contributions to particle physics, Peter was a really particular individual, an immensely inspiring determine for physicists the world over, a person of uncommon modesty,” she stated in a press release.
Fabiola additionally lauded him as a “nice trainer” in a position to clarify physics “in a quite simple and but profound approach”.
“An vital piece of CERN’s historical past and accomplishments is linked to him. I’m very saddened, and I’ll miss him sorely,” she added.
Brian Cox, a professor within the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy on the College of Manchester and a science tv programme presenter, stated Higgs’s title “will likely be remembered so long as we do physics”.
“I used to be lucky sufficient to satisfy him a number of instances, and past being a well-known physicist – I feel to his embarrassment at instances – he was all the time charming and modest,” he stated on social media.
Born in 1929 in Newcastle, northwest England, Higgs graduated in 1950 with First Class Honours in Physics from King’s Faculty London.
By 1954 he had been awarded a Masters diploma and a PhD, and shortly opened his hyperlinks with the College of Edinburgh by changing into a senior analysis fellow.
After a long time of analysis there and elsewhere, he would in 1996 develop into professor emeritus on the college.
Higgs obtained quite a few educational honours over time, and a bunch of honorary levels, together with from the College of Cambridge.
Britain made him a Companion of Honour within the 2013 New 12 months Honours record, handed out for service of conspicuous nationwide significance.
© Agence France-Presse
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