Monday, July 21, 2008
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Talks Brian Cox: What really goes on at the Large Hadron Collider
"Rock star physicist" Brian Cox talks about his work on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Discussing the biggest of big science in an engaging, accessible way, Cox brings us along on a tour of the massive complex and describes his part in it -- and the vital role it's going to play in understanding our universe.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Large Hadron Collider - Southampton Cafe Scientifique
I attended a talk by Prof. Nick Evans at Southampton Cafe Scientifique on 24th January. He talked entertainly and in simple terms about the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) (wiki) coming into operation in May 2008 at CERN Switzerland. The talk was well attended with 80+ persons.
Prof. Nick Evans, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton
Cafe Scientifique say 'In just a few months particle physicists will be switching on a multi-billion pound atom smasher in Geneva called the Large Hadron Collider. This machine will probe the most basic building blocks of nature and shed light on our understanding of the masses of particles. Excitingly, the machine must uncover the explanation to a missing piece in our understanding of the weak nuclear force. Speculation is rife as to what will be found from the mysterious Higgs particle to "supersymmetry" or extra dimensions of Space-Time.'
The main points that he presented were:-
- detecting the Higgs Boson is the main aim of LHC
- LHC costs $2.6 billion over 10 years - this is comparitively a small amount of money
- LHC will probe the nature of matter by firing hadrons (eg protons) into each other at speeds approaching speed of light with 14TeV 'smashability'
- we humans see a 4 Dimensional world - if hadrons at LHC collide and some of the energy of collision is not accounted for - then maybe the energy has gone to another dimension (String Theory predicts 11 dimensions)
- LHC is unlikely to give experimental support to String Theory (cf. Lisa Randall)
all matter is composed of 3 fundamental particles: electrons, up quarks, down quarks- a proton contains 2 up quarks and one down quark
- a neutron contains 2 down quarks and one up quark
- electrons v electron neutrino
- he successfully resisted the temptation to delve into detail!
- he only mentioned his book twice, en passant!
- his (tongue in cheek) goal is to get a Nobel Prize!
- we could be in for some surprises at LHC!!
- whatever happens LHC will get some results
- LHC is expected to be able to confirm or deny the existence of the Higgs boson in most circumstances.
- Nick Evans "The Newtonian Legacy" - fiction FREE book
- LHC Machine Outrearch
- Wikipedia
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Particle physics is sexy
Particle physics is the quest to understand the most fundamental constituents of matter. But the deeper we probe into the secrets of subatomic particles, the bigger the machine required. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the next generation of atom smasher. Having a circumference of 27km and sitting 100m beneath the Swiss/French border, the LHC is the largest machine ever made. When operating it will be the coldest place in the universe, and create conditions not witnessed since just after the dawn of the universe. The construction of the LHC is a big step forward for science. Once the LHC switches on in 2008, it will make us think about the universe differently.
But is this the end for big physics? At a cost of some 2 billion euros, the LHC did not come cheap. Famously, in trying to explain the need to fund the LHC in the 1980s, scientists were reduced to appealing to Margaret Thatcher’s ego. But has the justification for pure scientific research run out of steam? Even scientists at CERN now take great pains to explain their work’s spin-offs for medical physics. At a time when science seems to be re-orientating itself around the battle to stop climate change, is there a place for particle physics? With the closure of so many university physics departments over recent years it would seem the writing is already on the wall. And yet the questions big physics addresses colour everyone’s view of the universe we live in. Our fascination with the seeming implausibility of the Big Bang and the quantum theory of matter mean bookshops continue to be filled with biographies of Einstein and lay guides to physics.
At a time when theoretical physics seems trapped in speculation about the validity or otherwise of string theory, the LHC experiment gives us the chance to rejuvenate our understanding of the universe from particle physics to cosmology. Will this finally convince the world that particle physics is sexy?
 | Joe Kaplinsky science writer and researcher |
| |
 | Dr Brian Cox Royal Society university research fellow, University of Manchester; particle physicist working at CERN |
| |
| Chair: | |
| David Perks head of physics, Graveney School; lead author, What Is Science Education For? |
| Joe Kaplinsky science writer and researcher |
| |
| David Perks head of physics, Graveney School; lead author, What Is Science Education For? |
| |
