What on earth is What on earth is Particle Physics?Particle Physics?
Divine KumahDivine Kumah
European Particle Physics European Particle Physics LabLab
Geneva, SwitzerlandGeneva, Switzerland
The Big WHAT and WHYThe Big WHAT and WHY
People have long asked, People have long asked,
"What is the world made "What is the world made of?" of?"
"What holds it "What holds it together?" together?"
•Ancient Belief that matter consisted of 4 elements:•EARTH •WIND•FIRE•WATER
What is matter made up What is matter made up of?of?
Matter we can see and touch
Atoms made up of Protons, Neutrons and Electrons
Molecules
A Brief HistoryA Brief History
YearYear ExperimenteExperimenterr
DiscoveryDiscovery
18971897 ThomsonThomson ElectronElectron
19091909 RutherfordRutherford NucleusNucleus
19321932 ChadwickChadwick NeutronNeutron
19321932 AndersonAnderson AntimatterAntimatter
19561956 Reines, Reines, CowanCowan
NeutrinoNeutrino
Since 1956Since 1956 Quarks, leptons, tau, pionsQuarks, leptons, tau, pions
What are Atoms?What are Atoms?
We used to think We used to think that atoms were that atoms were the fundamental the fundamental particles.particles.
Atoms Nucleus and ElectronsProtons and Neutrons
Guess WHAT?Guess WHAT? We were wrong!!! We were wrong!!!
Can we get more Can we get more FunFun--damental?damental?
Yes!Yes!Particle Physicists have discovered Particle Physicists have discovered
that we matter is made up of more that we matter is made up of more elementary particles which can be elementary particles which can be classified into classified into
I. I. Quarks Quarks
II. II. LeptonsLeptons
After extensively testing
this theory, scientists now
suspect that quarks and
the electron (and a few
other things we'll see in a
minute) are fundamental.
What are Quarks and What are Quarks and Leptons?Leptons?
QuarksQuarks combine with each other to make combine with each other to make
matter particles like protons and matter particles like protons and neutrons neutrons
LeptonsLeptons are particles like electrons. Unlike the are particles like electrons. Unlike the
quarks, they do not combine with each quarks, they do not combine with each other to make other particles other to make other particles
The Building BlocksThe Building Blocks
UpUp DownDown
TopTop BottomBottom
CharmCharm StrangeStrange
QuarksQuarksElectronElectron Electron Electron
NeutrinoNeutrino
TauTau Tau Tau NeutrinoNeutrino
MuonMuon Muon Muon NeutrinoNeutrino
Matter consists of elementary particles which Matter consists of elementary particles which can be divided into quarks and leptonscan be divided into quarks and leptons
LeptonsLeptons
How do we know?How do we know?
How do we see stuff so How do we see stuff so small??small??
We really cannot directly see these tiny particles but we can identify them based on the way they act in our experiments.
How Do we Study the How Do we Study the Particles?Particles?
The two “toys” used to study sub-The two “toys” used to study sub-atomic particles are atomic particles are Particle Accelerators and CollidersParticle Accelerators and Colliders
Particles such as electrons, protons and Particles such as electrons, protons and ions are accelerated in electromagnetic ions are accelerated in electromagnetic fields and bombarded into other particles fields and bombarded into other particles and studiedand studied
Particle DetectorsParticle Detectors Special gadgets used to study the products Special gadgets used to study the products
(energy and momenta) of collided particles(energy and momenta) of collided particles
A Particle DetectorA Particle Detector(A Toroidal LHC Aparatus)(A Toroidal LHC Aparatus)
How it Works•Consists of layers like an onion•Different Layers detect different products•All Information fed to a computer system for reconstruction and analysis
Unanswered QuestionsUnanswered Questions
Are quarks and leptons made up of Are quarks and leptons made up of other particles?other particles?
Where does mass come from?Where does mass come from? Are there some other fundamental Are there some other fundamental
forces?forces?
Review.Review.
What do we find in the nucleus of an What do we find in the nucleus of an atom?atom?
What are the two categories of the What are the two categories of the fundamental particles?fundamental particles?
How many quarks do we have?How many quarks do we have? How many leptons do we have?How many leptons do we have? Do you want to be a particle Do you want to be a particle
Physicist?Physicist?
Website ReferencesWebsite References
www.fermilab.govwww.fermilab.gov www.llnl.govwww.llnl.gov www.cern.chwww.cern.ch www.particleadventure.orgwww.particleadventure.org www.phys.subr.edu/TA/spswww.phys.subr.edu/TA/sps
Questions???Questions???
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