LA SCOPERTA DEL BOSONE DI HIGGS

Abstract

In July 2012, the two experiments ATLAS and CMS, operating at the CERN proton-proton collider LHC, announced the discovery of a new particle consistent with the Higgs boson. This observation confirms a key prediction of the Standard Model of particle physics, that the Universe is pervaded by a field which conveys mass to the elementary constituents of matter. This paper reviews the experimental effort which led to such a result, and the challanges that had to be overcome during the conception and constuction of LHC and its experiments, the most powerful accelerator and the most complex detectors ever built. Finally, the nature and role of CERN and the meaning and impact of fundamental research are briefly discussed.