January 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M University Texas Junior Science and Humanities Symposium 1 David Toback Texas A&M University Texas Junior Science and Humanities Symposium January 2011 The Big Bang, Dark Matter and Searching for New Particles at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)

January 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M University Texas Junior Science and Humanities Symposium 2 Abstract Physicists have entered a golden age of science. We are starting to be able to answer some of the most exciting questions ever asked, including questions that touch on the Big Bang, the fundamental building blocks of nature, and the Dark Matter that fills the Universe. There is good reason to believe that by both pointing our telescopes and satellites to study the heavens and using the world’s highest energy particle accelerators we can discover how the biggest things in the Universe (like the Universe itself) and the smallest things (like quarks and electrons) are inextricably linked at the most fundamental levels. Perhaps a new fundamental particle is just around the corner to be discovered.

January 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M University Texas Junior Science and Humanities Symposium 3 Outline Why is today such an exciting time to be a scientist? –Cosmology (Big Bang) –Dark Matter –Particle Physics and the LHC Evidence for the Big Bang Evidence for Dark Matter Can we discover Dark Matter with giant accelerators like the LHC?

January 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M University Texas Junior Science and Humanities Symposium 4 Standing on the Shoulders of Giants Edwin HubbleAlbert Einstein

January 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M University Texas Junior Science and Humanities Symposium 5 The Big Bang Inquiring Minds Want to Know What is the scientific evidence that a Big Bang occurred 13.5 billion years ago?

January 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M University Texas Junior Science and Humanities Symposium 6 What did Hubble See? Hubble observed lots of galaxies with the world’s best telescope He noticed that All the far away ones are moving away from us VERY quickly

January 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M University Texas Junior Science and Humanities Symposium 7 So What? All the galaxies will come from a single point in space ~13.5 billion years ago Name this time The Big Bang  A moment of Creation What happened in the past? Run the clock backward in time

January 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M University Texas Junior Science and Humanities Symposium 8 The Big Bang occurred, then what? How did we get from the bang to the Universe we have today?

January 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M University Texas Junior Science and Humanities Symposium 9 A Brief History of Time Zero One millionth of one second after the Bang A few minutes A few hundred thousand years 100 million to 1 billion years 9 billion years ~13.5 billion years The Big Bang  produces lots of particles Quarks combine to form protons and neutrons Protons and Neutrons combine to form the nucleus of an atom Nuclei and electrons combine to form atoms Atoms combine to form Stars and Galaxies The Earth and our solar system forms You attend this symposium

January 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M University Texas Junior Science and Humanities Symposium 10 Is that the whole story? Far from it!

January 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M University Texas Junior Science and Humanities Symposium 11 Dark Matter What’s the evidence for Dark matter?

January 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M University Texas Junior Science and Humanities Symposium 12 As the Solar System Turns Gravity! Newton figured this out and you can calculate everything yourself now!

January 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M University Texas Junior Science and Humanities Symposium 13 Is that what our galaxy, the Milky Way, looks like? Does it spin like our solar system? Closest stars go around quickest?

January 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M University Texas Junior Science and Humanities Symposium 14 How the Galaxy Turns

January 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M University Texas Junior Science and Humanities Symposium 15 Lots of Dark Matter out there! What’s the Matter in the Universe? No clue what this stuff is…

January 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M University Texas Junior Science and Humanities Symposium 16 The Known Particles –No known particles have the properties of Dark Matter –Other credible reasons to believe there are new fundamental particles to be discovered –Maybe Dark Matter is a New Particle!

January 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M University Texas Junior Science and Humanities Symposium 17 Astronomy, Cosmology and Particle Physics: The Dark Matter in the Universe is made up of LOTS of particles that we haven’t discovered yet! Best Guess: Got created in the Early Universe like everything else and is still here today! Big Bang! Then Universe gets bigger Dark Matter = New Particle? High energy collisions between particles in the early Universe If they created Dark Matter, maybe we can also!

January 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M University Texas Junior Science and Humanities Symposium 18 Particle Physics How might Giant Particle Accelerators Help us Answer This Question? Tevatron at Fermilab Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN

January 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M University Texas Junior Science and Humanities Symposium 19 Can we Make and Discover Dark Matter? High energy collisions between particles in the Early Universe Recreate the conditions like they were RIGHT AFTER the Big Bang If we can produce Dark Matter in a collision then we can STUDY it

January 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M University Texas Junior Science and Humanities Symposium 20 High Energy Collisions  New particles Tevatron  ≈10 ps after the Big Bang LHC  ≈1 ps after the Big Bang Dark Matter Particle Detector Proton Anti-Proton Ok… Its more complicated than this since Dark Matter Particles don’t easily interact with detectors… Nor do we usually produce them directly

January 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M University Texas Junior Science and Humanities Symposium 21 Example Detector Surround the collision point with a detector and look at the stuff pops out after a collision as it interacts with the various components Powerful multi-purpose detector Really Big with LOTS of cool electronics and other toys! 10 Meters Tall! 30 Meters Long!

January 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M University Texas Junior Science and Humanities Symposium 22 Where in the world is the LHC? Geneva France Switzerland Jura Mountains 100 yards Underground! The accelerator Actually… It’s down here

January 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M University Texas Junior Science and Humanities Symposium 23 Another view of the LHC CMS ATLAS 27 km in Circumference! One of the largest and the most complex scientific instrument ever conceived & built by humankind p p Collides high energy protons Two huge detectors Lake Leman Geneva Airport

January 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M University Texas Junior Science and Humanities Symposium 24 What does it DO? Accelerates protons to REALLY high energies, then bashes them together

January 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M University Texas Junior Science and Humanities Symposium 25 High Energy Collisions So… The LHC makes really high energy collisions that might produce Dark Matter so we can discover it LHC is creating the conditions like they were RIGHT AFTER the Big Bang Can study Cosmology, Particle Physics and Astronomy with one experiment!

January 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M University Texas Junior Science and Humanities Symposium 26 Interested in learning more? Physics department now offers a course entitled “Big Bang, Black Holes, No Math” –Covers Stephen Hawking’s “Brief History of Time” More about what you heard today, plus much more! –Cosmology –How do Stars form? –Black Holes –General Relativity –Quantum Mechanics –Particle Physics –Etc…. Astronomy/ Physics 109

January 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M University Texas Junior Science and Humanities Symposium 27 Conclusions It’s an incredibly exciting time to be a scientist! Astronomy, Cosmology and Particle Physics are all coming together! Starting to understand the Big Bang and Dark Matter! If our understanding is correct, a major discovery may be just around the corner at the LHC! Wanna join us? We need your help!