An international science collaboration involving 11 MSU scientists has refined the mass measurement of an important subatomic particle.

DZero, a group of university scientists and students from 18 nations, found a more accurate determination of the top quark particle may verify the Standard Model - a theory that explains how subatomic interactions occur - and would allow scientists to more completely understand the nature of the world and what holds it together.

The finding may allow scientists to understand the exact makeup of matter and, in turn, inertia.

"People have debated this since time began, the question is why inertia exists at all," said Maris Abolins, an MSU physics professor involved in DZero. "Without inertia, with the flick of a finger you would move an object infinitely fast. But you don't."

Scientists previously had a less accurate weight of the top quark, the heaviest particle in the Standard Model theory.

By refining its mass measurement, science is one step closer to zeroing in on another particle, called the Higgs Boson, which, theoretically, gives mass to subatomic particles, though scientists are unsure exactly how.

Scientists are searching for the Higgs particle because they are looking to verify the Standard Model, which after numerous experiments has yet to be discredited nor completely confirmed.

Through the process of elimination, scientists said they hope to discover the Higgs particle's mass.

"By measuring other particles, (scientists) can determine the Higgs particle mass is greater than a certain number," said Harry Weerts, an MSU physics professor and DZero member. "The finding is very important, but it doesn't exactly point to any new insight."

The importance of the Higgs particle lies with what the theoretical particle does.

"If you didn't have the Higgs particle, protons and electrons wouldn't have any mass," said Ken Johns, a physics professor at the University of Arizona and a DZero collaborator.

The MSU scientists discovered a new technique that allowed old data to be recalculated into a more accurate estimation of the mass of the top quark.

With the new approximation - the weight still is subject to further refinement - scientists will be conducting more experiments in Switzerland at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, the world's largest particle physics laboratory.

Scientists will attempt to locate the Higgs particle, though its exact location within atoms continues to elude them.

"I think it will be harder to find," Abolins said.

"It's good that we've gotten a more precise measurement of the top quark, but that means the mass of the Higgs Boson is higher, and the higher the mass, the harder it is to find."