An account of the two times I thought I have discovered new physics, but it was a mistake!
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Spooky Computers at CERN
Quantum of what? Physicists have been wrestling for more than a century with quantum mechanics, a set of rules that govern the behaviour of atoms and other small systems - small compared to a human being. As a matter of fact, even what quantum mechanics is about is not so obvious: first, because if everything … Continue reading Spooky Computers at CERN
Why don’t we build a particle accelerator orbiting the Sun?
Disclaimer: this is a blog post, not a paper. Seriously, I'm not suggesting to build such an accelerator, but I believe that by trying to answer this question the reader can learn something about the intriguing realm of accelerator physics. The Large Hadron Collider operating at CERN is the most powerful collider ever built by … Continue reading Why don’t we build a particle accelerator orbiting the Sun?
What to do in physics when “everything else fails”
10. Subtract Infinity 9. Add heavy fermions 8. Set all fermion masses to zero 7. Invent another symmetry 6. Throw it on the lattice 5. Blame it on the Planck scale 4. Recall the success of the SM 3. Invoke the Anthropic Principle 2. Wave hands a lot, speak with a strong accent 1. Manipulate … Continue reading What to do in physics when “everything else fails”
Are more babies born when there’s a new moon?
Introduction According to folklore, more babies are born under a New Moon. I was also said that during those days midwives have to book for more shifts. I think this is a pretty simple statement that can be tested (falsified) with some basic statistics, the main problem being where to find good data. My answer? Facebook, of … Continue reading Are more babies born when there’s a new moon?
Live Blogging: #Higgs Boson
One day before: Update from CDF/D0 Tevatron's experiments CDF and D0 just published their most up-to-date searches for the Standard Model Higgs boson. You can read the preprint here [arXiv:1207.0449] and take a closer look at the bonanza of new plots here.What they see is a mild excess especially in the h->bb decay channel, for which … Continue reading Live Blogging: #Higgs Boson
The Hunt for the Higgs Boson
Forewords The hunt officially started on Oct 19th, 1964 when Peter Higgs published a paper called "Broken symmetries and the masses of gauge bosons" on Physical Review Letters (Vol 13, No. 16). Nowadays, his brilliant explanation about the origin of the mass of elementary particles is being tested in two laboratories: at Fermilab, 80 miles … Continue reading The Hunt for the Higgs Boson
Sunday Afternoon TED Talks
Stephen Wolfram: Computing a theory of everything Brian Cox on CERN's supercollider Patricia Burchat sheds light on dark matter Brian Greene on String Theory Jill Tarter's call to join the SETI search
ATLAS: Last detector connected
The LUCID detector, which will measure the luminosity of the collisions occurring in the centre of ATLAS, was among the last pieces of the detector to get approval. In fact, the small collaboration, based in Bologna, Italy; Alberta, Canada; Lund, Sweden; and at CERN, didn’t even begin building until February of last year. LUCID is … Continue reading ATLAS: Last detector connected
Beyond the Standard Model Pub 