Events

The CERN library hosts regular presentations by scientists, educators and visiting artists, etc.I have been invited to talk about the work I am doing as part of my research stay through the ATLAS Experiment at CERN. Thanks to Annette Holtkamp for inviting me and organizing this. Here is the link to the CERN library post.

I have been walking past these rows of filing cabinets that sit outside the library all week and finally found a minute to peek inside one of the drawers to see what was inside. I thought someone might scold me for doing so. I found thousands of scientific papers that date back to 1954 when CERN was formed. Papers in all languages. Lovely little manuscripts. Some only a few pages and others like manuscripts. Many with wonderful diagrams and drawings and of course, formulas. Formulas that to me are like hieroglyphics and as always, draw me in to this world. I plan to open a different drawer every time I walk by.

This short animation “The basics of the Higgs-Boson”, by David Barney of the CMS collaboration and Steven Goldfarb of the ATLAS collaboration, really helps to grasp the Higgs-Boson and Higgs Field concept. Animation by Jeanette Nørgaard for TED-Ed (link is external)

After checking in, orientation and the constant stream of information provided by my guide, Dr. Steven Goldfarb, I sat for a crash course on the basics of the Standard Model of Physics. Special thanks to the simplicity and gentle patience of physicist Peter Watkins. In this 2 hour chat we gleamed into the basic particles that make up the universe-fermions and bosons, the four forces, dark matter, dark energy, antimatter, Higgs field and the Higgs-Boson particle, uncertainty principle and super symmetry, and reviewed some basic math! Absorbing it all now. The CERN website has some great educational material for beginners like me http://home.web.cern.ch/students-educators