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Interactive TheGodParticle Published:March2008 ADVERTISEMENT

GoInsidetheGodParticle

Seehowphysicistswillusea
giantatomsmasherinhopes
offindingthesocalledGod
particle.

PhotoGallery

AttheHeartofAllMatter

ThehuntfortheGodparticle

TheLargeHadronCollider
ByJoelAchenbach
TakeaphototourofEurope's
PhotographbyPeterGinter
subterraneanparticle
accelerator.

Ifyouweretodigahole300feetstraightdownfromthecenterofthecharming
FrenchvillageofCrozet,youdpopintoasettingthatcallstomindthesubterranean
LearnMore
lairofoneofthoseJamesBondvillains.Agarishlylittunneltenfeetindiameter
GeoPedia:AtomSmashers
curvesawayintothedistance,interruptedeveryfewmilesbyloftychambers
WillEurope'snewgiantatom
smashercrackthephysical
crammedwithheavysteelstructures,cables,pipes,wires,magnets,tubes,shafts,
universe'scode? catwalks,andenigmaticgizmos.

Thistechnologicalnetherworldisoneverybigscientificinstrument,specifically,a
particleacceleratoranatomicpeashootermorepowerfulthananyeverbuilt.Its
calledtheLargeHadronCollider,anditspurposeissimplebutambitious:tocrack
thecodeofthephysicalworldtofigureoutwhattheuniverseismadeofinother
words,togettotheverybottomofthings.

Startingsometimeinthecomingmonths,twobeamsofparticleswillraceinopposite
directionsaroundthetunnel,whichformsanundergroundring17milesin
circumference.Theparticleswillbeguidedbymorethanathousandcylindrical,
supercooledmagnets,linkedlikesausages.Atfourlocationsthebeamswillconverge,
sendingtheparticlescrashingintoeachotheratnearlythespeedoflight.Ifallgoes
right,matterwillbetransformedbytheviolentcollisionsintowadsofenergy,which
willinturncondensebackintovariousintriguingtypesofparticles,someofthem
neverseenbefore.Thatstheessenceofexperimentalparticlephysics:Yousmash
stufftogetherandseewhatotherstuffcomesout.

Thosemassesofequipmentspacedalongthetunnelwillscrutinizethesprayfromthe
collisions.Thelargest,ATLAS,hasadetectorthatssevenstoriestall.Theheaviest,
CMS(forCompactMuonSolenoid),isheftierthantheEiffelTower.Biggerisbetter
ifyouresearchingforsmallercouldbethemottoattheEuropeanOrganizationfor
NuclearResearch,betterknownbyitshistoricacronymCERN,theinternational
laboratorythathousestheLargeHadronCollider.

Itsoundsscary,anditis.BuildingtheLHCinatunnelwasaprudentmove.The
particlebeamcoulddrillaholeinjustaboutanything,althoughthemostlikelyvictim
wouldbetheapparatusitself.Oneminorcalamityhasalreadyhappened:Amagnet
allbutjumpedoutofitsskinduringatestinMarch2007.Sincethen24magnets
havebeenretrofittedtofixadesignflaw.ThepeoplerunningtheLHCarentinarush
totalkaboutallthethingsthatcangowrong,perhapsbecausethepublichasawayof
worryingthatmadscientistswillaccidentallycreateablackholethatdevoursthe
Earth.

Themoreplausiblefearisthatthecolliderwillfailtofindthethingsthatphysicists
insistmustbelurkinginthedeepsubstrateofreality.Suchabigmachineneedsto
producebigscience,biganswers,somethingthatcangenerateaheadlineaswellas
interestingparticles.Butevenanendeavorofthisscaleisntgoingtoanswerallthe
importantquestionsofmatterandenergy.Notachance.Thisisbecauseacenturyof
particlephysicshasgivenusafundamentaltruth:Realitydoesntrevealitssecrets
easily.

Putitthisway:Theuniverseisatoughnuttocrack.

Gobackalittlemorethanacenturytothelate1800s,andlookatthefieldofphysics:
amaturescience,andrathercomplacent.Therewerethosewhobelievedtherewasnt
muchmoretodothansmoothoutsomeroughedgesinnaturesplan.Therewasa
sensibleordertothings,aclockworkuniversegovernedbyNewtonianforces,with
atomsasthefoundationofmatter.Atomswereindivisiblebydefinitiontheword
comesfromtheGreekforuncuttable.

Butthenstrangethingsstartedpoppingupinlaboratories:xrays,gammarays,a
mysteriousphenomenoncalledradioactivity.PhysicistJ.J.Thomsondiscoveredthe
electron.Atomswerenotindivisibleafterall,buthadconstituents.Wasit,as
Thomsonbelieved,apudding,withelectronsembeddedlikeraisins?No.In1911
physicistErnestRutherfordannouncedthatatomsaremostlyemptyspace,their
massconcentratedinatinynucleusorbitedbyelectrons.

Physicsunderwentonerevolutionafteranother.Einsteinsspecialtheoryof
relativity(1905)begatthegeneraltheoryofrelativity(1915),andsuddenlyevensuch
reliableconceptsasabsolutespaceandabsolutetimehadbeendiscardedinfavorofa
mindbogglingspacetimefabricinwhichtwoeventscanneverbesaidtobe
simultaneous.Matterbendsspacespacedirectshowmattermoves.Lightisbotha
particleandawave.Energyandmassareinterchangeable.Realityisprobabilistic
andnotdeterministic:EinsteindidntbelievethatGodplaysdicewiththeuniverse,
butthatbecamethescientificorthodoxy.

Bytheearly1930sErnestLawrencehadinventedthefirstcircularparticle
accelerator,orcyclotron.Itfitinhishand.

NowtheU.S.governmenthasanacceleratorthatshiddenbeneathseveralsquare
milesoftallgrassprairieandasmallherdofbuffaloatitsFermilabfacilitywestof
Chicago.WhenyoudriveontheJuniperoSerrafreewaynearPaloAlto,California,
youpassdirectlyoveratwomilelinearaccelerator.TheLHCcrossestheborder
 betweentwocountries.Therearestillphysicistswhodotabletopphysicswhotryto
getbiganswerswithmodestmeansbutrealisticallyyouneedhuge,powerful,
energeticdevicestopryopenthefabricofreality.

WeknowthingstodaythatEinstein,Rutherford,MaxPlanck,NielsBohr,Werner
Heisenberg,andtherestofthegreatphysicistsofacenturyagocouldnthave
imagined.Butwerenowherenearafinaltheoryofphysicalreality.Moleculesare
madeofatomsatomsaremadeofparticlescalledprotons,neutrons,andelectrons
protonsandneutrons(whicharethehadronsthatgivethecollideritsname)are
madeofoddthingscalledquarksandgluonsbutalreadywereintoafuzzyzone.Are
quarksfundamentalparticles,ormadeofsomethingsmalleryet?Electronsare
believedtobefundamental,butyouwouldntwanttobetyourlifeonit.

Still,theoreticalphysicistscravesimplicity.Theydliketohaveamodelofrealitythat
snapstogetherneatly.Theirstandardmodel,developedinthe1960sand1970s,is
widelyviewedasunwieldy,likeacontraptionwithtoomanylooseendsandknobs
anddanglingbits.Itincludes57fundamentalparticles,withnorhymeorreasonto
manyofthenumbersdescribinghowtheparticlesinteract.Wehadatheorythat
startedoutreallybeautifulandelegant,saysJoeLykken,atheoristatFermilab,
andthensomeonebeatonitandmadeitreallyugly.

Thestandardmodelcantexplainseveraltoweringmysteriesabouttheuniversethat
havetheirrootsintheminusculeworldofparticlesandforces.Iftheresonetruly
extraordinaryconcepttoemergefromthepastcenturyofinquiry,itsthatthe
cosmosweseewasoncesmallerthananatom.Thisiswhyparticlephysiciststalk
aboutcosmologyandcosmologiststalkaboutparticlephysics:Ourexistence,our
entireuniverse,emergedfromthingsthathappenedatthesmallestimaginablescale.
Thebigbangtheorytellsusthattheknownuniverseoncehadnodimensionsatall
noupordown,noleftorright,nopassageoftime,andlawsofphysicsbeyondour
vision.

Howdoesaninfinitelydenseuniversebecomeavastandspaciousone?Andhowisit
filledwithmatter?Intheory,astheearlyuniverseexpanded,energyshouldhave
condensedintoequalamountsofmatterandantimatter,whichwouldthenhave
annihilatedeachotheroncontact,revertingtopureenergy.Onpaper,theuniverse
shouldbeempty.ButitsfullofstarsandplanetsandcharmingFrenchvillagesandso
on.TheLHCexperimentsmayhelpphysicistsunderstandourgoodfortunetobeina
universethatgrewwithjustenoughmorematterthanantimatter.

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