The Start of the LHC Era Peter Wittich Laboratory of Elementary Particle Physics Cornell University
Big Bang - where it all began 3
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13 billion years ago 4
13 billion years ago hot, highly energetic explosion 4
13 billion years ago hot, highly energetic explosion universe: particles and radiation 4
13 billion years ago hot, highly energetic explosion universe: particles and radiation no galaxies, planets, or even atoms... 4
13 billion years ago hot, highly energetic explosion universe: particles and radiation no galaxies, planets, or even atoms... particles and radiation in thermal equilibrium 4
thermal equilibrium? elenaerda on flickr We all know E = mc 2 equivalence of Energy and matter turn energy (radiation) into matter and back freely particle! radiation! particle equilibrium is balance 5
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particles and radiation in thermal equilibrium 6
particles and radiation in thermal equilibrium but the universe cooled 6
particles and radiation in thermal equilibrium but the universe cooled eventually nuclei formed 6
particles and radiation in thermal equilibrium but the universe cooled eventually nuclei formed atoms 6
particles and radiation in thermal equilibrium but the universe cooled eventually nuclei formed atoms molecules 6
particles and radiation in thermal equilibrium but the universe cooled eventually nuclei formed atoms molecules planets 6
particles and radiation in thermal equilibrium but the universe cooled eventually nuclei formed atoms molecules planets 6
particles and radiation in thermal equilibrium but the universe cooled eventually nuclei formed atoms molecules planets you and me 6
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simultaneously, heavier particles disappeared - E too low to balance mc 2 7
simultaneously, heavier particles disappeared - E too low to balance mc 2 Any heavy particles effectively disappear, only to be recreated when we can find enough energy 7
simultaneously, heavier particles disappeared - E too low to balance mc 2 Any heavy particles effectively disappear, only to be recreated when we can find enough energy in nature 7
simultaneously, heavier particles disappeared - E too low to balance mc 2 Any heavy particles effectively disappear, only to be recreated when we can find enough energy in nature at the LHC 7
So what can we hope to find?
The driving questions "What is space and time? "What is dark matter? "Are there more than three space-like dimensions? "What gives particles mass? "Higgs Boson "Where is the antimatter? Some of the most fundamental questions in science today.
How? Einstein to the rescue E = mc 2 again! smash fast-moving particles together; their kinetic energy and mass combine to create the heavy particles better yet: smash matter and anti-matter together 10 NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio
matter/antimatter antiparticle is just like particle but different charge discovered in nature (cosmic rays, 1932) real mystery: where did it go? good for us: matter & antimatter annihilate 11
so what do we need? jpctalbot on flickr " lots of particles to smash together " particle source " some way of making them really fast " 99.99% of speed of light " racetrack " a way to see what happens " big camera 12
so what do we need? jpctalbot on flickr " lots of particles to smash together " particle source " some way of making them really fast " 99.99% of speed of light Then analyze the pictures, i.e., the data " racetrack " a way to see what happens " big camera 12
Large Hadron Collider
Hadron?
Hadron? Hadron = two or more bound quarks
Hadron?
we use protons @ LHC simple hydrogen bottle the source
The Racetrack
downtown GVA, Alps
GVA airport
main lab
ATLAS CMS
Jura Mountains
our local racetrack Cornell Electron Storage Ring Smaller version of the same device think of LHC as an upgrade
Parts of the racetrack F. Blas et al. use electric and magnetic fields to steer and accelerate the beams courtesy FNAL 18
LHC steering magnet being lowered into place (the last one!) bends the beam around the 17 mile track
tunnel under construction
tunnel under construction
tunnel under construction
fast camera new particles we create decay immediately t ~ 10-24 s what s left over is the particles we know and love e, #, $, % Our camera records traces of these well-known and wellunderstood particles 21
ATLAS A Toroidal LHC ApparatuS >30 747-400 s 45 m x 25 m 7000 tons 23
CMS - My camera
CMS - My camera
CMS - My camera
CMS Compact Muon Solenoid 12500 tons - almost 2x heavier more 747 s! 21 m x 16 m - smaller! compact 25
a cross section
a cross section
a cross section
all the experiments CMS Higgs, Dark Matter, LHCb understand the extra dimensions, SUSY ATLAS Higgs, Dark Matter, ALICE extra dimensions, SUSY matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe ALICE quark-gluon plasma - phase of matter at t=1 s LHCb 27
Getting out the science A lot of data: 15 Petabytes/year. how to analyze? tiered computing model worldwide access to computing resources the grid http://lcg.web.cern.ch/lcg/ Arguably largest computing grid on the planet. 28
Large Experiments to build these instruments need a lot of skills and labor thousands of collaborating scientists internal structure of experiments formal very international experience: shift with people from three continents 29
Cornell at CERN 30
International 32
Cornell Faculty interested in LHC
we are on the cusp of a new frontier exploring new energy frontiers exciting discoveries and we put it to music!
The research Royalty-free image collection on flickr paradox Why do we drink COW milk? Who was the guy who first looked at a cow and said. I think I ll drink whatever comes out of these things when I squeeze em! - Calvin