Nobel Laureate François Englert, Key Discoverer of Higgs Boson, Dies at 93

François Englert, the Belgian theoretical physicist whose groundbreaking work led to the understanding of mass in subatomic particles, has died at the age of 93. His passing was announced by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).

Born in Brussels in 1932, Englert initially pursued a degree in electromechanical engineering before earning a doctorate in physics from the Free University of Brussels. It was there, alongside his collaborator Robert Brout, that he formulated the theoretical existence of a fundamental particle in 1964. This particle, later intrinsically linked to the concept of mass, was crucial for completing the Standard Model of particle physics.

Englert's hypothesis, independently proposed around the same time by British physicist Peter Higgs, took 48 years to be experimentally verified. The discovery of the associated particle, the Higgs boson, was finally confirmed in 2012 by experiments at CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC). This monumental achievement led to Englert and Higgs sharing the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics for their theoretical contributions to explaining the origin of mass.

Despite the Nobel recognition, Englert's public profile was often overshadowed by Higgs. However, his extensive career at the Free University of Brussels involved leading research groups that explored fundamental interactions, relativity, and cosmology. Englert remained dedicated to reconciling general relativity with quantum theory throughout his academic life, becoming an emeritus professor in 1998 while continuing to engage with theoretical physics developments.

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The announcement of the passing was made by the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN).