NYU physicist Kyle Cranmer will discuss the significance of the Higgs boson and the intricacies of the Large Hadron Collider on Thurs., Aug. 9, 4 p.m. at NYU’s Center for Genomics and Systems Biology (auditorium, 12 Waverly Place, between Mercer and Greene Streets). Subway: R, W (8th Street); 6 (Astor Place).

Earlier this month, physicists announced the discovery of a new particle that is believed to be the Higgs boson, a sub-atomic particle that is a building block of the universe. Located at the CERN laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s most powerful particle accelerator, was used to make this most recent discovery.

The NYU Experimental High Energy Physics group has been a key part of a world-wide collaboration in the search for the Higgs boson, and Cranmer, an assistant professor in NYU’s Department of Physics, has several leadership roles in this endeavor. His lecture will explain how scientists made the discovery and why it is significant.

The lecture, co-sponsored by NYU’s Department of Physics and the Office of the Faculty of Arts and Science’s Dean for Science, is free and open to the public. No RSVP is necessary. For more information, call 212.998.3804.

Reporters wishing to attend the lecture must RSVP to James Devitt, NYU’s Office of Public Affairs, at 212.998.6808 or james.devitt@nyu.edu.

The Higgs boson is named after physicist Peter Higgs, who theorized its existence more than 40 years ago as a way to explain why atoms have weight. Its discovery would provide fundamental insights into the origin of mass—specifically, why some particles have mass—and explain other scientific mysteries. It has been dubbed the “God Particle” because it is associated with an energy field that gives other particles their mass, or resistance. Its discovery was fictionalized in Dan Brown’s Angels & Demons and in the 2009 film of the same name.

For more on NYU’s involvement, go here and click on the “Atlas” tab.