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The Higgs field is extremely important in particle physics. It's no exaggeration to say that it makes your existence is enabled by itpossible. Without it, atoms would not exist; electrons would zip away from nuclei at the speed of light. The value of the Higgs field determines what kinds of nuclei are stable and some of the differences between matter and antimatter. Almost all particles we know of are affected in some way by the Higgs field.
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Not by any means. We have found something, but have only been able to get a brief glimpse of it. The exact properties of this particle will be able to give us huge insight into what additional particles and forces there might be. We are planning to study this particle in great detail to accumulate as much information about it as we can.
How is UT involved?
UT physicists form part of the ATLAS collaboration, which built and operates a particle physics experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, the European particle physics laboratory. This facility is the only place in the world where Higgs bosons can be produced and studied.