Atom smasher awaits elusive particle

GRENOBLE, France -- Scientists will find a long-sought theoretical particle -- or rule out that it exists -- by the end of 2012, the director of the world's largest atom smasher predicted yesterday.

Rolf Heuer, director of the European particle physics laboratory near Geneva, said his confidence was based on the latest findings from the $10- billion proton collider under the Swiss-French border.

"I would say we can settle the question, the Shakespearean question -- 'to be or not to be' -- end of next year," he told reporters at a major physics conference in Grenoble.

The Higgs boson isn't just any particle. It's the linchpin of the Standard Model of particle physics theory that explains the Big Bang, and is believed to give mass to other objects and creatures in the Universe.

Heuer said these are "exciting times" for particle physicists because of the latest findings among two separate teams of scientists at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research near Geneva, that he directs.

Scientists are starting to pinpoint the precise level of high energy where the Higgs boson is expected to be found. Smashing atoms at higher energy increases the likelihood that scientists have made it easier to examine the smallest particles and forces within the atom to reveal more about the make-up of matter and the universe.

"They have tested the Standard Model very well," Heuer said of CERN scientists. "They are now ready to bring us into uncharted territory."

Fabio Zwirner, a physicist at the University of Padua, Italy, said there is "considerable excitement because of the many new results" at the conference, but physicists were still unsure whether they were seeing "hints" at finding the particle, or were running into statistical errors. -- AP