The scientific world was excited last year, when CERN announced that they had observed the Higgs particle with the help of their particle accelerator (the large Hadron Collider). Until then, the Higgs boson was referred to only in theory, because there was no direct evidence of its existence.

Only a year after the discovery, November 7, scientists at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, have received disturbing news about the Higgs Boson (which some have called the “god particle”). According to a new study, the particle they uncovered is not actually Higgs Boson, but one similar to it.

“The CERN data is generally taken as evidence that the particle is the Higgs particle. It is true that the Higgs particle can explain the data but there can be other explanations, we would also get this data from particles.” Mads Toudal Frandsen, particle physicists at the University of South Denmark

In case you didn’t know, the Higgs Boson is a sub-atomic particle which has yet to be practically discovered. Nevertheless, it has become the most essential particle of physics. In theory, it is the source of higgs field, a part of electromagnetic waves which provide atoms with mass. With the help of the Higgs field scientists have also learned more about gravity.

The new research claims that the Higgs Boson particle exists, but CERN researchers do not have it in their grasp. The question now is, if CERN doesn’t have the Higgs particle, then what type of particle have they discovered? Frandsen believes that the CERN team has actually found what could have been an LHC (Large Hadron Collider), also known as techni-higgs.

“A techni-higgs particle is not an elementary particle. Instead, it consists of so-called techni-quarks, which we believe are elementary. Techni-quarks may bind together in various ways to form, for instance, techni-higgs particles, while other combinations may form dark matter. We therefore expect to find several different particles at the LHC, all built by techni-quarks.” – Frandsen

According to Frandsen and his fellow researcher, the best way to settle the uncertainty is by running several experiments with the CERN LHC accelerator. Also, if CERN would be outfitted with a more powerful accelerator, scientists would be able to observe techni-quarks directly.

The study conducted by the University of Southern Denmark started after the two researchers heard claims made by other scientists, including particle physicist Thomas Ryttov, who believes that the Higgs particle is probably a composite of other, smaller subatomic particles.