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The Biggest Experiment in History

The Biggest Experiment in History. Well, a tiny piece of it at least… Space is big…really BIG! Where did it all come from? . Hubble Ultra Deep Field [NASA]. Before atoms Before light Before space Before time Before the B of the Bang… .

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The Biggest Experiment in History

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  1. The Biggest Experiment in History

  2. Well, a tiny piece of it at least… • Space is big…really BIG! • Where did it all come from? Hubble Ultra Deep Field [NASA]

  3. Before atoms • Before light • Before space • Before time • Before the B of the Bang…

  4. When the universe was a hundredth of a billionth of a second old… • And the size of a football… • When the laws of the universe were being written…

  5. Is it really possible to recreate the conditions at the very beginning of the universe, as it was 13.7 billion years ago?

  6. Near Geneva, in a circular tunnel 27km long and buried 100m underground, that’s just what scientists are doing, right now • It’s the most complicated machine ever built • It’s the Large Hadron Collider at CERN LHC tube in tunnel [CERN]

  7. The world's largest particle physics laboratory • On the border between France and Switzerland • Thousands of scientists from dozens of countries study the building blocks of matter and the forces that hold them together Aerial view of CERN [CERN]

  8. Protons and neutrons are examples of hadrons • Hadrons are not fundamental particles, but they are made up of quarks • Collisions create particles that don’t normally exist in nature • This is the only way to find out what makes the universe tick Proton showing quarks [Wikipedia]

  9. Pulsing electric fields accelerate bunches of protons to near light-speed, increasing their energy • Sending two beams round in opposite directions doubles theenergy when they hit head-on • Powerful magnets steer and focus the beam • Result: the highest-energy proton collisions ever, recreating the conditions of the beginning of the universe Simulated collision event [CERN]

  10. To Find out: • What is the missing 96% of the universe made of? • What causes mass? • Where did the antimatter go? • Are there more than 4 dimensions? Map of dark matter [NASA]

  11. Almost a million collisions every second create new particles • We can’t see them, so 4 huge detectors record their paths and energies • Then scientists piece these clues together to reconstruct what happened and identify any new particles or phenomena Simulation of Higgs decay [CERN]

  12. Recording and processing all this information uses computers all round the world, networked together in the Grid • The LHC experiments create enough data to fill a DVD every 10 seconds – that’s 3 million DVDs a year • It will take months to process this information and confirm a new discovery PC Farm [CERN]

  13. Scientists come up with ideas to explain what we see in the universe • Sooner or later ideas need to be tested to see if they hold up • Nobody knows what the LHC experiments will reveal… • …But the LHC will change our view of the universe • It’s a journey into the unknown! CERN control centre [CERN]

  14. Play the Particle Detectives Simulator LHC UK website • Log on to the LHC UK websiteto find out more • Watch this 5 minute film http://www.seedmagazine.com/news/2006/07/seed_feature_film_lords_of_the.php

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