March 6, 2012
The Higgs boson was conceived in 1960s with a very special purpose: in the standard model of elementary particles, it is via interactions with the Higgs boson field that particles can acquire masses without breaking the foundational principle of the gauge invariance. The Large Hadron Collider was designed to discover the Higgs boson or ascertain its non-existence. The former outcome will be seen as a triumph of the standard model, while the later result would be qualified as a revolution in the particle physics. I will briefly overview the standard model basics and the Higgs mechanism by which particles acquire masses, review the design and operation of the Large Hadron Collider and its experiments, and give insights into the recent very suggestive, and highly publicized, results that have been released by the LHC experiments in December.
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Colloquia are held Tuesdays in Room 1410 at 4:00 pm (preceded by light refreshments at 3:30). If you have additional questions, please call 301-405-5946.
