The Higgs boson is a massive scalar elementary particle predicted to exist by the Standard Model in particle physics. At present there are no known fundamental scalar particles in nature. The Higgs boson is the only Standard Model particle that has not yet been observed.

Experimental detection of the Higgs boson would help explain the origin of mass in the universe. More specifically, the Higgs boson would explain the difference between the massless photon, which mediates electromagnetism, and the massive W and Z bosons, which mediate the weak force. If the Higgs boson exists, it is an integral and pervasive component of the material world.

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Geneva, which briefly came online on September 10, 2008 and was scheduled to become fully operational by late 2009 (now postponed due to several problems) is expected to provide experimental evidence either confirming or refuting the Higgs boson's existence. An accident in September 2008 has the LHC temporarily out of commission; ongoing experiments at Fermilab continue previous attempts at detection (although hindered by the lower energy of the Fermilab Tevatron accelerator). It has been reported that Fermilab physicists suggest the odds of Tevatron detecting the Higgs boson are between 50% and 96%, depending on its precise mass.

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