Discovery Mondays - 'The LHC: an accelerator of science'

Is the LHC about to turn the theories of the infinitesimally small on their heads? Whether or not this proves to be the case, physicists hope that the 27-kilometre-long accelerator due to be commissioned at the end of 2007 will shake up the Standard Model. This theory, which describes elementary particles and forces, leaves many questions unanswered. The LHC and its experiments have been designed to shed light on them.

Unresolved questions include how elementary particles acquire mass and why their masses differ. The disappearance of antimatter from our Universe is another such mystery. Physicists want to know what matter was like just after the Big Bang and what the dark matter in the Universe could be: only 5% of the matter of the Universe is visible, and the effects of gravity indicate the presence of another type of matter that cannot be seen by the instruments available today. The theory of supersymmetry, which predicts that each particle has a corresponding superparticle, could go some way towards explaining the question of dark matter. The LHC could allow physicists to validate the theory but, if the results aren't forthcoming, what will happen?

The next Discovery Monday will tell you everything you've always wanted to know about the reasons for this huge machine with its tremendous discovery potential.

The event will be in French.

Join us at Microcosm (Reception, Building 33, Meyrin site)
On Monday, 6 November, from 7.30 p.m. to 9.00 p.m.
Entrance is free
http ://www.cern.ch/LundisDecouverte/