Beyond the Higgs: What's Next for the LHC? - with Harry Cliff

The speaker begins by expressing gratitude for the introduction and delves into the history of particle physics, particularly the discovery of the Higgs boson at CERN. The audience is taken through the excitement that followed the announcement of this groundbreaking discovery in 2012. The speaker also humorously dispels the myth that the team at CERN has been on holiday since the discovery, highlighting the continuous and arduous work in the field. The session sets the stage for a deeper exploration into the world of particle physics and the pursuit of understanding the universe at a fundamental level.

This paragraph takes the audience on a detailed tour through the Standard Model of particle physics. The speaker explains the构成 of atoms, the discovery of electrons, quarks, and the forces that bind them together. The discussion includes the role of the Higgs boson in giving mass to particles and the importance of the Standard Model in explaining the universe's fundamental workings. The speaker also touches on the limitations of the model, particularly its inability to include gravity, setting the stage for the exploration of new theories and discoveries.

The speaker delves into the conceptual framework of modern physics, distinguishing between particles and fields. The audience learns that particles are not the fundamental entities but rather disturbances in underlying fields. The Higgs field is introduced as a cosmic energy field responsible for imparting mass to other particles. The Higgs boson, a manifestation of the Higgs field, is highlighted as a critical component of the Standard Model, with its discovery confirming the field's existence and the importance of the Higgs mechanism.

The speaker discusses the predictive power of the Standard Model, exemplified by the precise calculation and measurement of the electron's magnetic moment. However, the speaker also points out the model's limitations, particularly its inability to account for 95% of the universe's content, including dark matter and dark energy. The existence of dark matter is supported by gravitational lensing and cosmological simulations, while dark energy is implicated in the accelerating expansion of the universe. The speaker emphasizes the mystery surrounding these 'dark' components and the challenges they pose to our understanding of the cosmos.

The speaker continues the exploration of dark matter, a mysterious substance that makes up a significant portion of the universe, and the efforts to detect it indirectly through gravitational effects. The speaker also discusses the quest for a grand unified theory that could reconcile the apparent disparities between the forces of nature, specifically the weakness of gravity compared to other fundamental forces. Theories like supersymmetry and extra dimensions are introduced as potential explanations for these mysteries, with the speaker highlighting the excitement and challenges in pursuing these leads in particle physics research.

The speaker provides an overview of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world's largest particle accelerator, and its role in advancing our understanding of the universe. The LHC's function, including the process of accelerating protons to near light speed and colliding them to create new particles, is explained. The speaker also describes the engineering marvel of the LHC, its underground location, and the detectors used to capture data from particle collisions. The significance of the LHC in the discovery of the Higgs boson and the search for new physics beyond the Standard Model is emphasized.

The speaker explains the process of collision experiments at the LHC and how they led to the discovery of the Higgs boson. The audience learns how protons, when collided at high energies, can produce new particles, including the Higgs, which is always the same mass and decays into two photons. The detection of these photons and the analysis of their energies allow physicists to infer the presence of the Higgs boson. The speaker also discusses the importance of the simultaneous detection of the Higgs by two independent experiments, ATLAS and CMS, which confirmed its existence and solidified the Standard Model of particle physics.

The speaker discusses the ongoing search for physics beyond the Standard Model, particularly in light of new findings that challenge the Model. Despite the Model's success, there are still unanswered questions, such as the nature of dark matter and the asymmetry between matter and antimatter. The speaker also mentions the excitement around a potential new particle detected as a bump in the data, which, if confirmed, could point to new physics. However, the speaker cautions that such findings can also be statistical fluctuations and emphasizes the need for further research and evidence before drawing conclusions.

The speaker introduces the LHCb experiment, which focuses on indirect searches for new physics by studying the decay of b quarks. Unlike direct searches by ATLAS and CMS, LHCb looks for subtle effects in decay rates that could indicate the presence of new forces or particles. The speaker explains the concept of lepton universality and recent measurements that show slight discrepancies from the Standard Model predictions, which could hint at new physics. The speaker also mentions the potential implications of these findings, including the possibility of a new force and the Higgs boson not being an elementary particle, and concludes by expressing optimism for the future of particle physics research.