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Alpha
This lesson is in the alpha phase, which means that it has been taught once and lesson authors are iterating on feedback.
Particle Physics Primer
Key Points
- Particle physics is the study of the objects that make up
atoms.
- Particle physicists try to understand how these particles interact
with each other.
- They often need to push the limits of technology to experimentally
test different theories.
- CERN is a multinational particle physics lab in Geneva,
Switzerland
- The LHC is a 27-km proton accelerator that is used by multiple
experiments to study the building blocks of matter
- CMS is one of these experiments and had a role in the discovery of
the Higgs boson
- There is more new physics waiting to be discovered!
- Special relativity provides a different relationship between energy,
momentum, and mass than classical physics.
- High energies correspond to shorter wavelengths and probing nature
on a smaller scale.
- Experiments like those at the LHC have been critical in discovering
new particles and new forces.
- The standard model of particle physics explains almost all the
interactions we have observed in our experiments.
- Neutrinos are not as well understood as we would prefer,
particularly with respect to their masses.
- While the effects of dark matter are well established on galactic
scales, we do not understand exactly what is causing those
observations.
- Special relativity provides a mechanism for determining the mass of
particles
- We can use the decay products to infer the existence of particle
with extremely short lifetimes
- There are many steps to a particle physics analysis
- These steps are similar for many studies and there are software
tools which make those steps easier