High Energy Physics

High Energy Physics

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CERN's NA64 experiment used a high-energy muon beam technique to advance the elusive search for dark matter, offering new hope for solving one of astronomy's greatest mysteries.
Comparison chart showing the Standard Model particles on the left and the hypothetical SUSY particles on the right. The red arrow highlights the SUSY gluon (g-tilde). Before we give up supersymmetry, consider how these theoretical particles could revolutionize our understanding of physics.
Almost 100 years ago, an asymmetric pathology led Dirac to postulate the positron. A similar pathology could lead us to supersymmetry.
fusion power
From forming bound states to normal scattering, many possibilities abound for matter-antimatter interactions. So why do they annihilate?
proton internal structure
It's 2024, and we still only know of the fundamental particles of the Standard Model: nothing more. But these 8 unanswered questions remain.
standard model color
Predicted way back in the 1960s, the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012 completed the Standard Model. Here's why it remains fascinating.
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Scientists are searching for dark matter particles that are trillions or even quadrillion times lighter than the more traditional searches. 
LHC insides
CERN's Large Hadron Collider is the most powerful particle accelerator ever. To go even further, we'll have to overcome something big.
CERN_ATLAS_Detector The standard model in physics
With new W-boson, top quark, and Higgs boson measurements, the LHC contradicts earlier Fermilab results. The Standard Model still holds.
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IceCube scientists have detected high-energy tau neutrinos from deep space, suggesting that neutrino transformations occur not only in lab experiments but also over cosmic distances.
Interior of a particle physics laboratory showing a complex particle accelerator setup with multiple cables, detectors, and machinery designed to study glueball particles.
Glueballs are an unusual, unconfirmed Standard Model prediction, suggesting bound states of gluons alone exist. We just found our first one.
atom quantum
Practically all of the matter we see and interact with is made of atoms, which are mostly empty space. Then why is reality so... solid?
symmetric
If the electromagnetic and weak forces unify to make the electroweak force, maybe, at higher energies, something even grander happens?
Abstract representation of a cosmic event with a burst of particles emanating from a central point, blending astrophysical imagery with geometric designs.
The "first cause" problem may forever remain unsolved, as it doesn’t fit with the way we do science.
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Lord Kelvin is thought to have said there was nothing new to discover in physics. His real view was the opposite.
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In the infant Universe, particle physics reigned supreme.
standard model structure
A great many cosmic puzzles still remain unsolved. By embracing a broad and varied approach, particle physics heads toward a bright future.
The letter j on a blue background.
Discrepancies between observations and theory regarding subatomic particles called muons may force scientists to rethink the quantum world.
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The $21.5-billion project could involve tunneling hundreds of feet under Lake Geneva.
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Recent measurements of CERN data seem to disagree with standard-model predictions about how the Higgs boson decays, though further analysis is needed to confirm the observations.
A tunnel is being constructed in a tunnel.
The DUNE project will beam tiny neutrinos across vast distances. But the first step involved moving a heavier material: 1 million tons of rock.
primordial black holes
Today, supermassive black holes and their host galaxies tell a specific story in terms of mass. But JWST reveals a different story early on.
An image of a star nebula in space.
A new measurement offers insights on the density of the mysterious force driving the Universe's expansion.
An image of a spiral galaxy in the night sky.
Physicists have yet to pinpoint the hypothetical matter that keeps galaxies from flying apart. Now they have a new focus.
fusion power
In our Universe, matter is made of particles, while antimatter is made of antiparticles. But sometimes, the physical lines get real blurry.
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U.S. particle physicists recently recommended a list of major research projects that they hope will receive federal funding.
A digital abstract composition with dynamic white lines and swirls on a black background, incorporating some blue rectangular shapes that appear to disappear like antimatter.
In the early stages of the hot Big Bang, matter and antimatter were (almost) balanced. After a brief while, matter won out. Here's how.
higgs event atlas detector CERN LHC
In the very early Universe, practically all particles were massless. Then the Higgs symmetry broke, and suddenly everything was different.
A diagram showing the difference between matter and antimatter.
In the earliest stages of the hot Big Bang, equal amounts of matter and antimatter should have existed. Why aren't they equal today?
A graphical representation illustrating the concept of the big bang and the subsequent expansion of the universe, depicted by a transition from a singular point of energy to a wide, grid-like spread of galaxies and celestial elements
When the hot Big Bang first occurred, the Universe reached a maximum temperature never recreated since. What was it like back then?
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Scientists will be able to make detailed "Claymation-like" movies of chemical reactions.