Il Nobel per la Fisica è stato assegnato al belga François Englert, della Libera Università di Bruxelles, e al britannico Peter W. Higgs, dell'università di Edimburgo. Entrambi, in modo indipendente, hanno previsto l'esistenza della particella grazie alla quale esiste la massa.
Englert, 81 anni, e Higgs, 85 anni, hanno teorizzato l'esistenza del bosone di Higgs in modo indipendente nel 1964. Englert aveva pubblicato il suo articolo insieme all'americano Robert Brout, morto nel maggio 2011, pochi mesi prima dell'annuncio dei dati preliminari sulla scoperta, presentati nel dicembre 2011 al CERN di Ginevra.
Vista la scelta di assegnare il premio ai fisici teorici fatta dalla Fondazione Nobel, il terzo dei premiati avrebbe potuto sicuramente essere Brout. Non è stato possibile però premiare anche Brout perché il regolamento del Nobel non prevede l'assegnazione del premio a ricercatori deceduti.
Teoria confermata grazie agli esperimenti condotti al CERN
La teoria è stata confermata nel 2012 grazie agli esperimenti condotti nel CERN di Ginevra Cms e Atlas, guidati all'epoca dagli italiani Guido Tonelli e Fabiola Gianotti, dell'Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (Infn).
Modem: il Nobel della fisica a Higgs, e il Cern?
Ospiti di Modem, mercoledì mattina alle 8.25 su Rete1, due rappresentanti del CERN, Lucio Rossi e Fabio Cerutti, ed un divulgatore scientifico esperto in materia, Piero Bianucci.
RedMM
Gallery image - Nobel per la Fisica a Higgs e Englert
Gallery audio - Nobel per la Fisica a Higgs e Englert
RG 12.30 Le considerazioni di Vincenzo Napolano, fisico e divulgatore scientifico
RSI Cronaca 08.10.2013, 15:03
Gallery audio - Nobel per la Fisica a Higgs e Englert
La ricercatrice del CERN Fabiola Gianotti, al microfono di Gabriele Fontana
RSI Cronaca 08.10.2013, 20:11
Gallery image - Nobel per la Fisica a Higgs e Englert
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