An as yet undiscovered particle that appears when sufficient energy is imparted to the Higgs Field.

a theoretical spin-0 boson that is the proposed mechanism by which particles acquire mass.

The carrier particle or quantum excitation of the additional force needed to introduce particle masses in the Standard Model. Not yet observed.

Quantum of the Higgs field. In the SM particles are thought to get mass by interacting with the Higgs field.

The Higgs boson is a hypothetical massive scalar elementary particle predicted to exist by the Standard Model of particle physics. It is the only Standard Model particle not yet observed, but plays a key role in explaining the origins of the mass of other elementary particles, in particular the difference between the massless photon and the very heavy W and Z bosons. Elementary particle masses, and the differences between electromagnetism (caused by the photon) and the weak force (caused by the W and Z bosons), are critical to many aspects of the structure of microscopic (and hence macroscopic) matter; thus, if it exists, the Higgs boson has an enormous effect on the world around us.