Particle discovery is a start, not an end

"LIKE being knocked over by a wave." That is how Peter Higgs describes the euphoria following last week's announcement that a particle resembling the one bearing his name had been discovered at CERN's Large Hadron Collider. Those in attendance reacted more like victorious football supporters than delegates at a sober scientific seminar.

The party has been a long time coming. When Higgs and others first conceived of the idea of a field that gives rise to mass, almost half a century ago, they could not have expected evidence for their theory to eventually come from an international collaboration of thousands of people operating the most complex machine ever built.

What is there to celebrate, though? In some ways, the most honest answer is: we're not quite sure yet. Most of the possibilities that were on the table when the LHC first powered up are still on the table. But there are ample grounds for jubilation, whatever the new particle turns out to be.

It could be that CERN, near Geneva, Switzerland, has found exactly what was predicted - the boson completing the standard model of particle physics. That would be an intellectual triumph; a tribute to the power of the human mind - or rather, many minds working through the scientific method - to decipher the cosmos.

Satisfying though that might be for one generation of theorists, it would be frustrating for the next - offering few clues about how to address the universe's many remaining mysteries. Physicists just embarking on their careers, and those who may be inspired to join them, are hoping that the new particle's puzzling features will grow more persistent, rather than vanishing, as results are gathered over the next few months (see "Beyond Higgs: Deviant decays hint at exotic physics").

That would be even more worthy of celebration than confirmation of the standard model. Surprises are the greatest gift that nature can offer science. They open up new vistas and fresh avenues for exploration.

"In one sense, it is the end of the road," says Higgs. "But in another, it's the beginning of where machines like the LHC go next." Proposals are already being put forward for the next generation of colliders (see "Let's build a Higgs factory - on the cheap"). Tellingly, there is considerable emphasis on cost. Big physics is expensive, and cheaper options may prove tempting during times of enforced austerity. Certainly, the high profile of Italian participants at CERN does not seem to have prompted their hard-pressed government to reconsider deep funding cuts for the Italian Institute for Nuclear Physics.

And the desolate tunnels of the Superconducting Super Collider under Waxahachie, Texas - which could have anticipated CERN's discovery by a decade or more - should be a sobering reminder that politicians are often more concerned with addressing short-term practicalities than fostering long-term possibilities.

In the current cash-strapped climate, the case for big physics will be tougher to make than ever. But the excitement provoked by CERN's discovery - for millions outside the conference room, as well as those within it - shows that the basic human urge to push back the boundaries of knowledge still thrives. And that is worth celebrating in itself.

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