Advances in subatomic physics heavily depend on ingenuity and technology. And when it comes to discovering the nature of some of the most elusive particles in the universe, neutrinos, scientists need the best and most sensitive detector technology possible. Scientists working at CERN have started tests of a new neutrino detector prototype, using a very promising technology called “dual phase.”
Many researchers from Latin America can trace their entry into experimental particle physics to an initiative started by former Fermilab Director Leon Lederman.
Latin America has reached a pivotal moment in experimental particle physics and astrophysics research. Throughout the month of October, Symmetry will highlight important places, explain significant milestones, and introduce you to some of the people who have shaped and are continuing to shape particle physics and astrophysics in Latin America.
Working on hardware doesn’t come easily to all physicists, but Francesca Ricci-Tam has learned that what matters most is a willingness to put in the practice.
A composer has given new life to an amplifier used within a historically significant particle accelerator.
Fermilab scientist Jessica Esquivel donned a superhero costume to celebrate diversity in STEM, nerdiness and science at Wakandacon in Chicago.
Photographer Adam Nadel started his residency at Fermilab taking the portraits he is known for, but then he found himself venturing onto new artistic ground.
Our world is governed by general relativity, which sees gravity as the effects of massive objects warping space-time. The world of particle physics, on the other hand, envisions all forces as mediated by force-carrying particles — and ignores gravity entirely. This year’s Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics was awarded to three theorists who proposed a way to marry these contradictory descriptions: with a theory called “supergravity.”
In recent years, scientists have found ways to study black holes, listening to the gravitational waves they unleash when they collide and even creating an image of one by combining information from radio telescopes around the world. But our knowledge of black holes remains limited. So scientists are figuring out how to make do with substitutes — analogs to black holes that may hold answers to mysteries about gravity and quantum mechanics.
Chang Kee Jung almost lost his way as a risk-taking student, but after a university took a chance on him, he grew into a leader in physics.