Big Bang: Glossary of particle physics terms

CERN : The European Organisation for Nuclear Research, a major laboratory located near Geneva on the Swiss-French border. PARTICLE : An object which is sub-atomic, smaller than an atom, and has a definite mass and charge. HADRON: A particle with mass, made up of smaller units called quarks that are bound together. Protons and electrons are types of hadron. LHC : CERN's Large Hadron Collider that has been under development for 20 years, with a total project cost of 10 billion Swiss francs ($9 billion). PARTICLE ACCELERATOR : A machine used to accelerate streams of particles in a defined direction at high speeds. The LHC is the world's largest. COLLIDER : An accelerator in which two beams travelling in opposite directions are steered together to induce high-energy collisions between particles in one beam and those in the other. HIGGS BOSON : A theoretical particle which is thought to give matter its mass, known as the "God particle." First proposed by Peter Higgs of the University of Edinburgh in 1964, the LHC should confirm whether it exists. STANDARD PRINCIPLE : The standard theory of modern physics is based on two other theories -- general relativity and quantum mechanics. Its main weakness is that it cannot yet fully describe gravity or mass.