The Higgs boson implications and prospects for future discoveries

International audienceThe discovery of the Higgs boson was a major milestone in particle physics, confirming the standard model.Direct tests of the couplings of the Higgs boson to fermions confirmed the mechanism that gives mass to the W and Z bosons, thus making the electroweak interaction short range. A recent highlight is the direct observation of the Higgs boson coupling to muons.The observed properties of the Higgs boson put the standard model vacuum intriguingly close to the border between stable and metastable. Further connections to the open questions pertaining to baryogenesis, the nature of dark matter and dark energy and cosmic inflation mean that the Higgs boson is central to our understanding of the Universe.Precision measurements of the Higgs boson to further probe its interactions and possible deeper origin and structure are an essential part of the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider programme and were recently identified by the European Strategy for Particle Physics to be the highest priority for the next high-energy collider facility.The discovery of the Higgs boson was a major milestone in particle physics, confirming the standard model.Direct tests of the couplings of the Higgs boson to fermions confirmed the mechanism that gives mass to the W and Z bosons, thus making the electroweak interaction short range. A recent highlight is the direct observation of the Higgs boson coupling to muons.The observed properties of the Higgs boson put the standard model vacuum intriguingly close to the border between stable and metastable. Further connections to the open questions pertaining to baryogenesis, the nature of dark matter and dark energy and cosmic inflation mean that the Higgs boson is central to our understanding of the Universe.Precision measurements of the Higgs boson to further probe its interactions and possible deeper origin and structure are an essential part of the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider programme and were recently identified by the European Strategy for Particle Physics to be the highest priority for the next high-energy collider facility