One of the hottest research topics in particle physics is the study of neutrinos, especially a strange behavior called neutrino oscillation. In episode 10 of Subatomic Stories, Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln explains some fascinating features of neutrinos that are very weird, including the fact that the known neutrinos don’t have a single and unique mass.
One of the most bizarre predictions of modern physics is that at the quantum level, subatomic particles are constantly flickering in and out of existence. In episode 9 of Subatomic Stories, Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln explains the key idea and briefly describes some compelling experiments that show that this weird phenomenon is really happening.
The Standard Model of particle physics was devised in the 1960s and 1970s and tested extensively over the decades. One unanswered question was on the origin of the mass of subatomic particles. A theory proposed in 1964 by Peter Higgs and others proposed an energy field called the Higgs field and a particle called the Higgs boson. It took nearly 50 years, but in 2012, the Higgs boson was discovered. In episode 8 of Subatomic Stories, Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln sheds some light on this last discovered feature of the Standard Model.
One of the amazing claims in physics is that for every kind of known matter, there is a cousin version called antimatter. Antimatter is the opposite of ordinary matter and will annihilate into pure energy when it encounters matter. In episode 7 of Subatomic Stories, Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln gives you the low-down on this amazing substance.
To understand the universe, you need to understand the different forces that govern it. In this 11-minute video, episode 6 of Subatomic Stories, Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln explains the nature of the forces that govern the microcosm.
Subatomic forces at the quantum level are best understood as a cloud of force-carrying particles jumping from one object to another. In Episode 5 of Subatomic Stories, Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln gives a brief explanation of this phenomenon, including two analogies for how this complicated mathematics can be understood.
Of all of the inhabitants of the subatomic realm, it is said that neutrinos have surprised researchers more than the rest. In episode 4 of Subatomic Stories, Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln both introduces you to these perplexing fundamental particles and answers some fascinating viewers’ questions. View the 11-minute video.
The most familiar subatomic particle is the electron, which is a member of a class of particles called the charged lepton. In addition, there are two cousin particles, the muon and the tau lepton. In this nine-minute video, episode 3 of the Subatomic Stories series, Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln takes us on a whirlwind tour of these interesting particles and answers questions from previous videos.
Quarks are fundamental subatomic particles found in the center of atoms. They interact strongly with one another and are the building blocks of protons and neutrons. Two of them were discovered at Fermilab. In episode 2 of Subatomic Stories, Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln tells us about these fascinating particles.