1. Particle Physics: building blocks of the universe Dr. James Catmore, Lancaster University Physics Dept.

2. James Catmore place, date 2 What is particle physics? The study of the basic constituents of matter and their interactions What is the Universe made of? How is it held together? People have been systematically studying matter for at least 2500 years 460BC: Concept of the atom is developed by Democritus 1803AD: Concept of the chemical element 1898: Measurement of the electron 1911: Atomic nucleus is discovered; proton 1919, neutron 1931 1929: First cyclotron (cirular particle accelerator) 1943: First nuclear reactor; nuclear weapons used in 1945 1968: First evidence for quarks (see next slide) 1974: Birth of the modern Standard Model 2008: Switch-on of the Large Hadron Collider @ CERN, Geneva

3. James Catmore place, date 3 Current State of Knowledge

4. James Catmore place, date 4 Scale

5. James Catmore place, date 5 Unanswered questions Why and how do particles get mass? How does gravity work? Are the particles we have found so far fundamental? What happened to the antimatter after the Big Bang? We hope to answer these and more by studying subatomic particles.

6. James Catmore place, date 6 Through collisions of stable particles Through collisions of stable particles Energy is supplied using a particle accelerator Energy is supplied using a particle accelerator How do we obtain subatomic particles?

7. James Catmore place, date 7 How do we study subatomic particles? Compu ter

8. James Catmore place, date 8 How do we study subatomic particles?

9. James Catmore place, date 9 How do we study subatomic particles?

24. James Catmore place, date 24 What you will see today The ATLAS videos Some simple particle detectors; Cloud chamber - with its own particle source Cosmic ray detector - using natural particles The largest computer on Earth - “The Grid”