CERN Special Supplement Winter 2014/15
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Summer 2014 CERN special supplement Winter 2014/15 CERN special An interview CERN Where’s with walkabout SUSY? John Ellis page 4 page 8 page 16 CERN special supplement Winter 2014/15 WELCOME CONTENTS Welcome to Fascination’s Ever wondered what it’s like inside CERN? Walk the corridors of the world’s most famous research facility for the special CERN supplement first time with our roving STFC explorer on page 10. Particle physics is the study of the fundamental particles The search for dark matter is on. Find out why it’s important of the Universe. It seeks to understand the fundamental on page 14. forces of nature at a basic level, so we can learn more about Can you tell your ATLAS from your CMS? Now’s your chance the world we live in. Often this knowledge is the basis of to swat up and learn more about CERN’s awesome science dramatic changes in technology, from the discovery of facilities with our ‘CERN: decoded’ feature on page 20. electricity to the invention of the World Wide Web. STFC If leading physicist John Ellis, Professor of Theoretical funds particle physics projects at home and in locations all Physics at CERN, could design and build a new science over the world. We also fund the UK’s membership to CERN, facility with a limited budget, what would he build? Find out the world’s largest and most famous centre for scientific on page 4. research in the field. We hope you enjoy this special edition. Join the In this one-off extra edition, we celebrate some of the conversations on Twitter using #UKatCERN. Please let us exciting developments the UK is involved with at CERN - know if there’s another subject you’d like to see us dedicate from the discovery of the elusive Higgs boson through to the another special edition to. search for supersymmetry – and why they’re so important. Best wishes, Your Fascination editorial team ABOUT US Our scientific research seeks to understand the Universe from the largest astronomical scales to the tiniest constituents of matter. Providing access to and managing a range of world-class research facilities, STFC delivers fundamental insight and scientific breakthroughs in areas ranging from particle and nuclear physics to space, laser and materials science. Through our UK operations and our involvement in major international collaborations, we generate outcomes that shape societies, strengthen economies, build industries, create jobs and transform lives. 20 Don’t miss an issue Fascination is STFC’s quarterly in-house magazine. We also produce ad-hoc themed editions like this one throughout the year. To receive an electronic version straight into your inbox, please visit: www.stfc.ac.uk/fascination and subscribe. 4 An interview with John Ellis 10 CERN walkabout CONTACT US We’d love to hear what you think. 12 CERN news Tell us what you’d like to see in the next edition, or if you have any news or features ideas you’d like us to cover. Email: [email protected] 14 Delving into the dark Write: Fascination editor, Office B89, STFC, Daresbury Laboratory, Sci-Tech Daresbury, Daresbury, Cheshire, WA4 4AD 16 Where’s SUSY? www.stfc.ac.uk New horizons beckon for the Higgs boson Cover: Copyright STFC/Ben Gilliland 18 14 20 CERN: decoded Find STFC on social media 2 Science and Technology Facilities Council - Fascination Science and Technology Facilities Council - Fascination 3 CERN special supplement Winter 2014/15 What is exciting you most about your field at immediately. The discoveries we’re making today may the moment? not have an impact on our lives until 50 years’ time – like Maxwell’s electromagnetic theory, which now underpins “Right now we’re in a transition from understanding just An interview with the technology used in TVs and radio. Another example is the visible stuff in the universe to going far beyond that. We the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics; together know how the visible stuff, like stars, planets, etc, are made they predicted anti-particles, and these are used in - but we don’t understand dark matter, and we think this medical diagnosis. Particle physics has a huge influence could be how galaxies were formed. We know the Universe By Charlotte Houghton on our understanding of the Universe. Physicists do not John Ellis used to be much smaller and denser and that it’s expanding, yet know all the rule book, but we are trying to read the but how did the matter in the universe get born out of the instruction manual. We’re trying to figure out what the John Ellis CBE is a British-born theoretical primordial soup? Another deep problem that interests me Universe does and what to do with it. It may take some physicist, who is working on some of the is that we haven’t been able to combine our understanding time to revolutionise human life but it will revolutionise our most exciting discoveries with the Large of gravity and the theory of matter. We’re currently chasing understanding of the Universe now.” Hadron Collider at CERN. Currently Clerk the answer now.” What do you think the Higgs discovery and legacy has Maxwell Professor of Theoretical Physics You mentioned primordial soup - what exactly is it? at King’s College London, John’s CERN done for the world of science and particle physics? “Primordial soup was the state of the universe when it was activities have covered everything from “I think the Higgs boson has finally convinced us that we’re a fraction of second old, with particles running around but Division Leader for Theory to studies on the right track in our understanding and our work. This no larger structures.” for future particle accelerators. As well allows us to go on and answer bigger questions like, what’s as his inspiring research, John has also What’s your favourite physics theory and why? dark matter? How to unify fundamental forces? It gives us received a number of awards including; “Supersymmetry. So far it’s a confidence to go further.” the Mayhew Prize, the Maxwell Medal hypothesis, but it’s a beautiful What do you think the and Prize and the Paul Dirac Medal and and elegant hypothesis that I find it interesting tax payer gets back from Prize. We caught up with him to find out could solve our current large- scale science facilities more about his work at CERN and his problems. I really hope that one to talk to philosophers like CERN? love of science. day we find it. It could explain and I hope they find “Well you get new dark matter and it could also technologies, for example, combine gravity with the theory it interesting to talk the World Wide Web was John Ellis, CERN, King’s College London. Credit: Wikipedia, CC BY 2.0 of matter. It could be a biggie!” invented at CERN to enable With your interest in future to me, but I wouldn’t scientists around the world Nice to talk to you, John. You’re a theoretical particle You’ve mentioned in the past that your primary school opportunities for particle to work together. You also physicist - could you explain the term ‘theoretical headteacher was an Antarctic explorer. How did this want to be one accelerators at CERN, you get a lot of technologies that particle physics’ in laymen’s terms? influence your curiosity about the world we live in? Did think a lot about out what’s come out of CERN that can be this ignite your interest in science? “Physicists try to understand how the Universe works, on the horizon. So what’s next used in medicine, for example, particle physicists try to understand what the Universe is “My primary school head teacher played a part in getting for CERN? diagnosing and treating cancer. There’s also lots of highly- made out of. Some particle physicists do experiments and me interested in science, but what really turned me “In a few months we will restart the LHC (Large Hadron trained young people here at CERN that have a lot of skills, the theorists try to understand what the experiments have onto science was reading those popular science books Collider), and then we’ll be able to do experiments with and a lot of them don’t decide to stay in research science. found. They also predict some of the questions that could in the library. My other family members had no scientific double the energy and produce more collisions, which will So those high-level skills go out into industry and are of be asked in the future.” background so it was the library that really got me mean the experiments will be more powerful. The first run direct benefit to the economy.” interested in science. I hope the kids of today have access How did your career in science begin? of experiments on the LHC had tremendous impact and If you could design and build a new facility at CERN to a local library to read books.” we’re hoping to get a similar reaction the second time “It was around age 12 that I really started to become (with a limitless budget), what would it be? How has theoretical particle physics changed during round.” interested in science. I used to read lots of books from the “I would like to build another larger, circular tunnel, three your career, in particular looking at the popularity of local public library. I found the children’s fiction books Will the LHC make another discovery on the same or four times larger than the current tunnel.