The Higgs boson is a subatomic particle that is believed to give other particles their mass. It was predicted by the Standard Model of particle physics and was finally discovered in 2012 by the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.
The term "God particle" was coined by Nobel Prize-winning physicist Leon Lederman in his book, "The God Particle: If the Universe Is the Answer, What Is the Question?" It is a nickname for the Higgs boson because of its crucial role in explaining the origin of mass in the universe.
No, the Higgs boson is not a particle of pure mass. It is a particle that interacts with the Higgs field, which is a theoretical field that permeates the universe. This interaction gives particles their mass, but the Higgs boson itself has a very small mass of its own.
The Higgs boson interacts with the Higgs field, which gives particles their mass by slowing them down as they move through it. The more a particle interacts with the Higgs field, the greater its mass will be.
The discovery of the Higgs boson confirmed the validity of the Standard Model of particle physics and provided a better understanding of how particles acquire mass. It also opened up new possibilities for further research and could potentially lead to new breakthroughs in our understanding of the universe.