A graphic showing a collision at full power is pictured at the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experience control room of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Meyrin, near Geneva March 30, 2010. Scientist
A graphic showing a collision at full power is pictured at the Compact Muon Solenoid experience control room of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Meyrin, outside Geneva, on March 30 of last year. Reuters

Scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva hope to resolve the God particle (Higgs boson) mystery within the next 12 months.

“I think by this time next year I will be able to bring you either the Higgs boson or the message that it doesn’t exist,” Rolf-Dieter Heuer, CERN director general said in reports by news agencies.

The Higgs boson is called the God particle because it is believed to have given shape to the universe. It is considered to be the missing piece in the Standard Model of particle physics. It is thought to be the building block of all other subatomic particles, allowing them to attain mass.

CERN scientists believe that even if the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is able to rule out the existence of the Higgs boson, then that will be a major achievement in itself.

CERN representative James Gillies has said the Higgs boson is not the only solution to the mystery of the universe.

“The Standard Model of particle physics has lasted for forty years. But it's a flawed theory. Something within it has got to give. At the kind of energies the LHC is probing, we are investigating what generates the mass of particles. Higgs is just one theory,” Mail Online quoted Gillies as saying.

“Higgs is the most popular because it's mathematically appealing, Gillies said. If we don't find the Higgs, we will go on to find whatever else it is that is generating mass.”