Life of the Higgs boson

The Higgs boson is peculiar in many respects. Like most other elementary particles, it is unstable and lives only for an extremely short time, 1.6 x 10-22 seconds, according to the established theory of particle physics (the standard model). Pretty short, isn't it? Compare this number to 880 seconds (about 15 minutes), the average lifetime of a neutron outside an atomic nucleus. The lifetime of an unstable particle is connected to the available options for it to decay. A value shorter than what is theoretically calculated could hint at new decay options, potentially into new, undiscovered particles. A longer lifetime could be even more surprising as it would indicate that the particle is more stable than what the standard model predicts; this is equivalent to saying its interaction with other particles is weaker than predicted. For this reason, the experimental measurement of the lifetime of the Higgs boson is very important: It allows us to learn about the strength of its interaction...