The efforts to detect the existence of the Higgs boson particle have become frequent news in the recent past. What is /are the importance/importances of discovering this particle? [2013]

The efforts to detect the existence of the Higgs boson particle have become frequent news in the recent past. What is /are the importance/importances of discovering this particle?

It will enable us to understand why elementary particles have mass.
It will enable us in the near future to develop the technology to transfer matter from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them.
It will enable us to create better fuels for nuclear fission.

Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

1 only
2 and 3 only
1 and 3 only
1, 2 and 3

Explanation

Only statement 1 is correct

Peter Higgs and five other theorists proposed the Higgs boson in 1964 to explain why certain particles have mass. It is the b associated with the Higgs field, a field that gives mass to other fundamental particles such as electrons and quarks. Without it, atoms wouldn’t stick together, and there would be no stars, planets or us.
According to the Standard Model of particle physics, particles gain their mass by interacting with a field called the Higgs field. The Higgs field is hypothesised to exist everywhere in space, even in a vacuum, and has a non-zero value.
Particles like photons, which make up light, interact weakly with the Higgs field and have no mass. Particles like electrons and quarks, which make up protons and neutrons, interact strongly with the Higgs field and acquire mass. Experiments conducted at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in 2012 confirmed the existence of the Higgs boson.

PMF Concept Hack

The Higgs boson belongs to fundamental particle physics, whose role is limited to explaining mass generation. Any statement that jumps to futuristic tech like teleportation (Statement 2) can be eliminated as a clear sci-fi exaggeration. Similarly, Statement 3 can be ruled out because nuclear fission fuels fall under nuclear chemistry/energy, which has no direct conceptual linkage with the Higgs boson. Thus, both 2 and 3 can be eliminated, leaving Statement 1 only.

Diagram explaining fundamental particles, including matter, molecules, atoms, and nucleus structure, with classifications into bosons and fermions. It feature particle types, labels for quarks, leptons, gauge bosons, and scalar bosons, and highlights key properties such as charge, mass, and roles in atomic structure and forces.