Top Banner
Particle Physics, CERN and the Large Hadron Collider Juan Rojo Rudolf Peierls for Theoretical Physics University of Oxford St Aloysius Catholic Primary School Oxford, 23/04/2015 1
28

CERN, Particle Physics and the Large Hadron Collider

Jul 20, 2015

Download

Education

juanrojochacon
Welcome message from author
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
Page 1: CERN, Particle Physics and the Large Hadron Collider

!

Particle Physics, CERN !and the Large Hadron Collider

Juan Rojo!Rudolf Peierls for Theoretical Physics!

University of Oxford!!

St Aloysius Catholic Primary School!Oxford, 23/04/2015

1

Page 2: CERN, Particle Physics and the Large Hadron Collider

The Stuff of Matter A table, a cell phone and a squirrel look very different … but ultimately, they are

composed by the same kind of building blocks: we call them atoms

2

Page 3: CERN, Particle Physics and the Large Hadron Collider

The Stuff of Matter A table, a cell phone and a squirrel look very different … but ultimately, they are

composed by the same kind of building blocks: we call them atoms

3

Page 4: CERN, Particle Physics and the Large Hadron Collider

How small are atoms?

4

A squirrel has a length of 10 centimeters ….

Page 5: CERN, Particle Physics and the Large Hadron Collider

How small are atoms?

5

A squirrel has a length of 10 centimeters ….

All animals are composed by cells, of size 10 micrometers: 10000 times smaller …..

Page 6: CERN, Particle Physics and the Large Hadron Collider

How small are atoms?

6

A squirrel has a length of 10 centimeters ….

All animals are composed by cells, of size 10 micrometers: 10000 times smaller …..

The size of an atom is 0.1 nanometers, 1000 million times smaller! Atoms are really very very small!

Page 7: CERN, Particle Physics and the Large Hadron Collider

From atoms to protons to quarks

7

Atoms themselves have even smaller constituents: protons, neutrons and electrons

Protons are 10.000 times smaller than atoms!

Even the tiny protons have smaller constituents: we call them quarks and gluons

Are there more, even smaller, particles that we can find? We need to build gigantic experiments to answer this!

Page 8: CERN, Particle Physics and the Large Hadron Collider

High energy collidersThe idea behind high-energy colliders is very simple!!

We want to see what is inside protons: we need to break them. How we do this?!

8

Bad idea!

Page 9: CERN, Particle Physics and the Large Hadron Collider

High energy collidersThe idea behind high-energy colliders is very simple!!

We want to see what is inside protons: we need to break them. How we do this?!We make protons go very fast, and then collide them: by looking at the results of the collision, we can understand the stuff protons are made of, if there are new particles or forces ….!Since protons are very small, we need extremely high energies to see inside them: modern colliders are gigantic machines!

9

Bad idea! Good idea!

Page 10: CERN, Particle Physics and the Large Hadron Collider

The Large Hadron Collider

LHC tunnel length = 27 km

Geneva

Airport

CERN10

The LHC is the most powerful particle accelerator ever build by mankind!

Hosted by CERN in Geneva, the LHC is composed by a massive 27 km long tunnel with four gigantic detectors

Jura

Alps

1km = 0.6 miles

Page 11: CERN, Particle Physics and the Large Hadron Collider

The Large Hadron Collider

11

The LHC is the most powerful particle accelerator ever build by mankind!

Hosted by CERN in Geneva, the LHC is composed by a massive 27 km long tunnel with four gigantic detectors

Experiments are hosted in underground tunnel!to avoid noise and contamination

Length of LHC tunnel: 20 miles!!1/3 of the distance from Oxford to London

Page 12: CERN, Particle Physics and the Large Hadron Collider

The LHC Detectors

12

Where proton beams cross and collisions take place, huge detectors measure the products of the collision in an attempt to understand the laws of Nature at the smallest distances

CMS

Page 13: CERN, Particle Physics and the Large Hadron Collider

13 Juan Rojo PDF@CMS Kick-off Workshop, CERN, 07/05/2012

Page 14: CERN, Particle Physics and the Large Hadron Collider

Discovering New Particles

14

Peak at mH = 125 GeV!Evidence for Higgs Boson!

At the LHC, we search for new Fundamental Particles, like the recently discovered Higgs Boson, by looking for deviations with respect known processes

Page 15: CERN, Particle Physics and the Large Hadron Collider

Discovering New Particles

15

Peak at mH = 125 GeV!Evidence for Higgs Boson!

At the LHC, we search for new Fundamental Particles, like the recently discovered Higgs Boson, by looking for deviations with respect known processes

Page 16: CERN, Particle Physics and the Large Hadron Collider

16

Remarkable facts about the LHC The LHC is the most powerful microscope ever constructed, able to see the smallest things ever seen by mankind!

Just as I can use a microscope to see cells ….

Page 17: CERN, Particle Physics and the Large Hadron Collider

17

Remarkable facts about the LHC The LHC is the most powerful microscope ever constructed, able to see the smallest things ever seen by mankind!

Just as I can use a microscope to see cells ….

… I can use the LHC to see new fundamental particles

Page 18: CERN, Particle Physics and the Large Hadron Collider

Remarkable facts about the LHC

18

The emptiest place in the Solar System: vacuum in the beam pipe similar to interplanetary space

Page 19: CERN, Particle Physics and the Large Hadron Collider

Remarkable facts about the LHC

19

One of coldest places in the Universe: the LHC magnets are kept at only 1.9 degress above absolute zero, colder than interstellar space!

Page 20: CERN, Particle Physics and the Large Hadron Collider

20

The data volume recorded is like reading 10,000 times the full Encyclopedia Britannica - each second!

Remarkable facts about the LHC

Page 21: CERN, Particle Physics and the Large Hadron Collider

21

One of hottest places in the Galaxy: collisions generate a temperature billions of times larger than the Sun, reproducing conditions of early Universe

Remarkable facts about the LHC

Page 22: CERN, Particle Physics and the Large Hadron Collider

22 Juan Rojo Saturday Mornings of Theoretical Physics, Oxford, 07/02/2015

Remarkable facts about the LHC The LHC is so powerful that can reproduce the conditions of the Early Universe, just after the Big Bang, about 14 Billion years ago!

Page 23: CERN, Particle Physics and the Large Hadron Collider

Black Holes at the LHC?

23

Black holes are one of the most fascinating objects in the Universe: nothing can escape from their attraction, not even light!

Page 24: CERN, Particle Physics and the Large Hadron Collider

Black Holes at the LHC?

24

At the LHC, we might even create artificially mini Black Holes, for example if there are new space-time dimensions

Page 25: CERN, Particle Physics and the Large Hadron Collider

Extra Dimensions?

25

Perhaps space-time has more dimensions that we are used to if they are small enough

At the LHC, using the very high energy, we might resolve new space-time dimensions!

Page 26: CERN, Particle Physics and the Large Hadron Collider

26 Juan Rojo Saturday Mornings of Theoretical Physics, Oxford, 07/02/2015

Page 27: CERN, Particle Physics and the Large Hadron Collider

27 Juan Rojo Saturday Mornings of Theoretical Physics, Oxford, 07/02/2015

The future of CERN Building huge accelerators like LHC takes 10-15 years, so CERN is already thinking about what the next big machine will be

Perhaps a 100 km circular proton collider? or a linear electron collider?!

You could be the ones making the next big discovery there!

Page 28: CERN, Particle Physics and the Large Hadron Collider

28

!!!

!!

!!!

!!

Fascinating times ahead at the high-energy frontier!

Stay tuned for news from the LHC!