Crosswords0 min ago
Lhc Update
For those who were interested, here's my (brief... ish) summary of 2016 at CERN:
- Last year saw a bit of excitement as there appeared to be signs of a "bump" in certain decays that could have been a new particle. 2016 saw this bump disappear. Ah, well.
- This year has seen the continued discovery of what might be called "minor" new stuff -- things that are of interest to the specialists, but still exciting nonetheless. A few new decays that were expected but never before seen, that sort of thing.
- In 2015 one of the experiments, LHCb, announced the potential discovery of a new class of particle known as a "pentaquark" state -- that's 5 quarks (well, really 4 quarks and an antiquark) in a single particle. Previously we'd only ever observed two- and three-quark states, conclusively at least. 2016 followed up with the potential discovery of tetraquark starts. These have yet to be totally confirmed but they're vital to understand if we want to get how the Standard Model turns quarks into actual matter, so it's exciting stuff (sort of).
- There are a few results that look "interesting", although not yet robust enough to be "exciting" or even "definite" signs of new physics. Most of these are in certain decays of B mesons; for the time being we need to wait for yet more experimental data to see where things go, and the interpretation is subtle, but 2016 seems to me to have seen this strengthen rather than weaken so it's exciting times!
However, in terms of the really new stuff 2016 hasn't seen anything turn up yet, that I'm aware of. Most of the experimental papers on New Physics searches, from the ATLAS and CMS experiments, tend to include the line "No significant deviation from the Standard Model expectation is observed..." We're testing the Standard Model -- the current best explanation for all particle physics -- to its limits, and it essentially continues to hold up stronger and stronger, with increasingly little room for the New Physics we were hoping, or expecting, to find.
Having said that, a lot of the analysis of 2016 data will really start to roll out next year, so there may be a few surprises yet. So far, though, the LHC is suggesting that it will soon be time for theorists to go back to the drawing board...
- Last year saw a bit of excitement as there appeared to be signs of a "bump" in certain decays that could have been a new particle. 2016 saw this bump disappear. Ah, well.
- This year has seen the continued discovery of what might be called "minor" new stuff -- things that are of interest to the specialists, but still exciting nonetheless. A few new decays that were expected but never before seen, that sort of thing.
- In 2015 one of the experiments, LHCb, announced the potential discovery of a new class of particle known as a "pentaquark" state -- that's 5 quarks (well, really 4 quarks and an antiquark) in a single particle. Previously we'd only ever observed two- and three-quark states, conclusively at least. 2016 followed up with the potential discovery of tetraquark starts. These have yet to be totally confirmed but they're vital to understand if we want to get how the Standard Model turns quarks into actual matter, so it's exciting stuff (sort of).
- There are a few results that look "interesting", although not yet robust enough to be "exciting" or even "definite" signs of new physics. Most of these are in certain decays of B mesons; for the time being we need to wait for yet more experimental data to see where things go, and the interpretation is subtle, but 2016 seems to me to have seen this strengthen rather than weaken so it's exciting times!
However, in terms of the really new stuff 2016 hasn't seen anything turn up yet, that I'm aware of. Most of the experimental papers on New Physics searches, from the ATLAS and CMS experiments, tend to include the line "No significant deviation from the Standard Model expectation is observed..." We're testing the Standard Model -- the current best explanation for all particle physics -- to its limits, and it essentially continues to hold up stronger and stronger, with increasingly little room for the New Physics we were hoping, or expecting, to find.
Having said that, a lot of the analysis of 2016 data will really start to roll out next year, so there may be a few surprises yet. So far, though, the LHC is suggesting that it will soon be time for theorists to go back to the drawing board...
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In actual fact jim360, I know that the letters Lhc are the abbreviation for 'Large Hadron Collider' and my posting above was me trying to be humerous.
To be serious, I've seen your name on numerous occasions in AB but never realised that you are engaged in Science at a very high level.
Best wishes to you for Christmas and the New Year
Cheers.....Hans.
To be serious, I've seen your name on numerous occasions in AB but never realised that you are engaged in Science at a very high level.
Best wishes to you for Christmas and the New Year
Cheers.....Hans.
@douglas9401......I almost reported you for what you said above to MM on her birthday. However, when I re-read your posting and realised that your last word was Hadron, it became obvious to me that I was the bad minded one and had transposed the D and R. It's a case of needing to go to Specsavers.
Hans. ☺☺☺
Hans. ☺☺☺
A friend of mine has been involved in the work on the LHC. I wonder if your paths have crossed at any time?
http://
http://
OK. I thought that it was probably a long shot but I know that Sergio (or 'Boby' to his friends) was a participant at the LHCb 20th Anniversary event in 2015 and that he's attended some events in Geneva since then.
I daren't ask him about physics. I just know that he's brilliant at solving crosswords ;-)
I daren't ask him about physics. I just know that he's brilliant at solving crosswords ;-)
Thanks for the compliments Douglas, Hans, and Chris by the way. (And also no apology necessary Hans!) If only all the other people who purport to respect my "engagement in Science at a very high level" bothered to pay actual attention to what I said about science... but never mind.
Happy Christmas all!
Happy Christmas all!
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