Higgs boson’s effects on universe boosted

Higgs particles may get an upgrade from by-product to big player in the explanation of how the universe ended up with more matter than antimatter. They could also explain one possible way dark matter was made.

New calculations suggest that if an early-universe imbalance existed between the Higgs boson and its antiparticle, then the resulting physical processes could account for how the universe developed more matter than antimatter. The Higgs may also have decayed into dark matter and influenced how densely packed the material is in the cosmos.

Two physicists explain the ‘Higgsogenesis’ theory in a paper accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters. Another team proposed a similar idea in a paper posted on arXiv.org in July.