Collider

Paul Halpern

Description

An accessible look at the hottest topic in physics and the experiments that will transform our understanding of the universe

The biggest news in science today is the Large Hadron Collider, the world's largest and most powerful particle-smasher, and the anticipation of finally discovering the Higgs boson particle. But what is the Higgs boson and why is it often referred to as the God Particle? Why are the Higgs and the LHC so important? Getting a handle on the science behind the LHC can be difficult for anyone without an advanced degree in particle physics, but you don't need to go back to school to learn about it. In Collider, award-winning physicist Paul Halpern provides you with the tools you need to understand what the LHC is and what it hopes to discover.

• Comprehensive, accessible guide to the theory, history, and science behind experimental high-energy physics
• Explains why particle physics could well be on the verge of some of its greatest breakthroughs, changing what we think we know about quarks, string theory, dark matter, dark energy, and the fundamentals of modern physics
• Tells you why the theoretical Higgs boson is often referred to as the God particle and how its discovery could change our understanding of the universe
• Clearly explains why fears that the LHC could create a miniature black hole that could swallow up the Earth amount to a tempest in a very tiny teapot
• "Best of 2009 Sci-Tech Books (Physics)"-Library Journal
• "Halpern makes the search for mysterious particles pertinent and exciting by explaining clearly what we don't know about the universe, and offering a hopeful outlook for future research."-Publishers Weekly
• Includes a new author preface, "The Fate of the Large Hadron Collider and the Future of High-Energy Physics"

The world will not come to an end any time soon, but we may learn a lot more about it in the blink of an eye. Read Collider and find out what, when, and how.
Preface to the Paperback Edition: The Fate of the Large Hadron Collider and the Future of High-Energy Physics.

Acknowledgments.

Prologue: Journey to the Heart of the Large Hadron Collider.

Introduction: The Machinery of Perfection.

1 The Secrets of Creation.

2 The Quest for a Theory of Everything.

3 Striking Gold: Rutherford’s Scattering Experiments.

4 Smashing Successes: The First Accelerators.

5 A Compelling Quartet: The Four Fundamental Forces.

6 A Tale of Two Rings: The Tevatron and the Super Proton Synchrotron.

7 Deep in the Heart of Texas: The Rise and Fall of the Superconducting Super Collider.

8 Crashing by Design: Building the Large Hadron Collider.

9 Denizens of the Dark: Resolving the Mysteries of Dark Matter and Dark Energy.

10 The Brane Drain: Looking for Portals to Higher Dimensions.

11 Microscopic Black Holes: A Boon to Science or a Boom for the World?

Conclusion: The Future of High-Energy Physics: The International Linear Collider and Beyond.

Notes.

Further Reading.

Index.

Sujets

• Sciences et techniques
• Gran colisionador de hadrones
• Higgs boson
• Paul Halpern
• Collider
• Physics
• Peter Johnson
• LHC
• Large Hadron Collider
• Science
• Physique
• Physical attractiveness

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 17 juillet 2009
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780470486214
• Langue: English

Extrait

Table of Contents
 
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Praise
Acknowledgements
Prologue
Introduction
 
Chapter 1 - The Secrets of Creation
Chapter 2 - The Quest for a Theory of Everything
Chapter 3 - Striking Gold Rutherford ’s Scattering Experiments
Chapter 4 - Smashing Successes
Chapter 5 - A Compelling Quartet
Chapter 6 - A Tale of Two Rings
Chapter 7 - Deep in the Heart of Texas
Chapter 8 - Crashing by Design
Chapter 9 - Denizens of the Dark
Chapter 10 - The Brane Drain
Chapter 11 - Microscopic Black Holes
 
Conclusion
Notes
Further Reading
Index

This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Copyright © 2009 by Paul Halpern. All rights reserved
 
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
 
Photo credits: Courtesy of the AIP Emilio Segre Visual Archives, 123; courtesy of the AIP Emilio Segre Visual Archives, Physics Today Collection, 91; courtesy of the AIP Emilio Segre Visual Archives, Rutherford Collection, 54; photographs by Maximilien Brice, copyright © CERN, published by permission of CERN, 171, 173; photograph by Joao Pequenao, copyright © CERN, published by permission of CERN, 215; all other photos are from the author’s collection.
 
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
 
Halpern, Paul, date.
Collider : the search for world’s smallest particles / by Paul Halpern. p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
eISBN : 978-0-470-48621-4
1. Large Hadron Collider (France and Switzerland) 2. Particles (Nuclear physics)
3. European Organization for Nuclear Research. I. Title.
QC787.P73H35 2009
539.7’376094—dc22
2009007114
 

 
To Joseph and Arlene Finston for their kindness over the years.
Now when chaos had begun to condense, but force and form were not yet manifest, and there was nought named, nought done, who could know its shape?
— THE KOJIKO (JAPANESE RECORDS OF ANCIENT MATTERS), TRANSLATED BY BASIL HALL CHAMBERLAIN
Acknowledgments
Thanks to the many researchers at CERN who took the time to speak with me about their work and show me around the facilities during my visit. In particular, I would like to thank Michael Rijssenbeek, head of the Stony Brook group working on ATLAS, for his hospitality in discussing aspects of the project with me and for organizing a full schedule of meetings that were extremely informative. I would also like to express my deep appreciation to Venetios Polychronakos, Larry Price, Charlie Young, Ashfaq Ahmad, Adam and Katie Yurkewicz, Alexander Khodinov, Jason Farley, Julia Gray, and Jet Goodson.
Many thanks to David Cassidy and Adam Yurkewicz for reading over sections of the text and making suggestions. I would also like to thank J. David Jackson of UC Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for his useful comments. Thanks to David Brin for kindly offering permission to include a quote from his novel Earth and to Herman Wouk for graciously allowing me to include a quote from A Hole in Texas.
I thank my editors at Wiley, Constance Santisteban and Eric Nelson, for their confidence, help, ideas, and vision, and my agent, Giles Anderson, for his thoughtful guidance and support.
I appreciate the support of my colleagues at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia for this and other writing projects, including Phil Gerbino, Elia Eschenazi, Jude Kuchinsky, Brian Kirschner, Phyllis Blumberg, Steve Rodrigue, Sergio Freire, Bernard Brunner, Jim Cummings, Ping Cunliffe, Roy Robson, David Traxel, Justin Everett, Deirdre Pettipiece, K. Shwetketu Virbhadra, and many others.
Thanks also to my friends with whom I have exchanged many intriguing ideas throughout the years, including Fred Schuepfer, Michael Erlich, Fran Sugarman, Mitchell and Wendy Kaltz, Simone Zelitch, Doug Buchholz, Bob Jantzen, Robert Clark, Scott Veggeberg, Evan Thomas, Dubravko Klabucar, Elana Lubit, and the late Donald Busky.
Many thanks to my wife, Felicia, and my sons, Aden and Eli, for offering a steady source of love, warmth, and ideas. I also appreciate the support of my parents, Stan and Bunny Halpern; my in-laws, Joseph and Arlene Finston; Shara and Richard Evans; Lane and Jill Hurewitz; Janice, Richard, Jerry, Dolores, Michael, and Maria Antner; Dena and Amritpal Hatton; Aaron Stanbro; Kenneth, Alan, Beth, Tessa, Richard, Anita, Emily, and Jake Halpern; and the rest of my family.
Prologue
Journey to the Heart of the Large Hadron Collider
The ATLAS complex, home to the largest scientific measuring device in the world dedicated to particle physics, offers no hint of its grandeur from street level. From Route de Meyrin, the heavily trafficked road that separates its ground-level structure from CERN’s main campus, it looks just like a warehouse near an ordinary filling station. Until I walked through the doors of its main entrance, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.
CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (from the French acronym for Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire), located on the Swiss-French border near Geneva, prides itself on its openness. Unlike a military facility, it allows anyone with permission to visit to snap pictures anywhere. Nevertheless, the dangerous and delicate nature of modern particle detectors warrants extremely tight protocols for entering the “caverns” where they are housed.
To tour a site that wasn’t yet completely finished, I put on a helmet like that a construction worker would use. My hosts, researchers Larry Price and Charlie Young, were wearing radiation badges—practice for the precautions needed when the beam line would be running. After getting final clearance, they entered the code for the gateway to the inner sanctum, and it electronically opened.
Before journeying underground, we viewed the two enormous shafts used to lower the detector’s components more than 350 feet down. I stood on the brink of one of these wells and gazed into the abyss. Awe and vertigo rivaled for my attention as I craned my neck to try to see the bottom.
Above the other well a giant crane was poised to lower parts down below. Transporting the original components of the detector from the various places they were manufactured and then putting them all together within such deep recesses in such a way that their delicate electronics weren’t destroyed surely was an incredible undertaking. The meticulous planning for such a complex project was truly phenomenal—and it continues.
We took a speedy elevator ride down to what is called “beam level.” Now we were at the same depth as the beam pipes for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)—the vast ring that will be used to collect protons and other particles, accelerate them in opposite directions, and smash them together at record energies. The ATLAS detector is located at one of the intersection points where protons will collide head on. Half of the detector is above the beam level and half below to accommodate the floods of particles gushing out in all directions from these crashes.
The passages from the elevator to the control rooms and viewing platform are twisty, to provide barriers in case of a radiation leak. Most forms of radiation cannot travel through thick walls. Gauges sample the radiation levels to try to minimize human exposure.
The air in the hallways below seemed a bit stale. Pumped in by means of the ventilation system, it is monitored extremely closely. One of the components of the detector is liquid argon, cooled to only a few degrees above absolute zero—the baseline of temperature. If for some reason the argon heated up suddenly, became gaseous, and leaked, it could rapidly displace all of the breathable air. Warning systems are everywhere; so if such a danger were imminent, workers would be urged to escape via elevator before it was too late.
I finally reached the viewing platform and was astounded by the panorama in front of me. Never before had I seen such a va