![\"Physicist](\"https:\/\/c.ndtvimg.com\/2024-04\/it30os9o_peter-higgs_625x300_09_April_24.jpeg\"\/ "\\"Physicist")
<\/div>\nPeter Higgs used ground-breaking theoretical work to help explain how the Universe has mass (File)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
British physicist Peter Higgs, whose theory of a mass-giving particle — the so-called Higgs boson — jointly earned him the Nobel Prize for Physics, has died aged 94, the University of Edinburgh announced on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
“He passed away peacefully at home on Monday 8 April following a short illness,” the Scottish university, where he had been a professor for nearly five decades, said in a statement.<\/p>\n
It called him “a great teacher and mentor, inspiring generations of young scientists”.<\/p>\n
“His family has asked that the media and public respect their privacy at this time,” the university added.<\/p>\n
Higgs used ground-breaking theoretical work to help explain how the Universe has mass, thus resolving one of the greatest puzzles in physics and earning him a place alongside Albert Einstein and Max Planck in textbooks.<\/p>\n
His 1964 theory of a mass-giving particle, which became known as the Higgs boson or the “God particle”, won him and Belgian physicist Francois Englert the 2013 physics Nobel Prize.<\/p>\n
That followed experiments at the Large Hadron Collider at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) finally confirming the theory the previous year, nearly half a century on.<\/p>\n
“Peter Higgs was a remarkable individual — a truly gifted scientist whose vision and imagination have enriched our knowledge of the world that surrounds us,” Peter Mathieson, Vice Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh, said.<\/p>\n
“His pioneering work has motivated thousands of scientists, and his legacy will continue to inspire many more for generations to come.”<\/p>\n
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n