Comments on: Discovering the Quantum Universe

By: Travel, Travel, and More Travel | Cosmic Variance

Travel, Travel, and More Travel | Cosmic Variance — Sun, 12 Nov 2006 22:51:15 +0000

[…] So, my trip to Kentucky? To give a physics department colloquium on Discovering the Quantum Universe. I enjoy communicating the excitement of my field and the impending scientific revolution we expect at the LHC! […]

By: Panning for Gold | Cosmic Variance

Panning for Gold | Cosmic Variance — Wed, 19 Jul 2006 22:51:49 +0000

[…] We are in our 3rd day of the Institute and, speaking from an organizors point of view, all is running smoothly (except for the usual MAC-PC issues). We have an exciting program of lectures and topical talks. We opened with an overview of the physics anticipated at the Terascale, expertly given by Guido Altarelli of CERN. We had two lectures on the most important aspect of the LHC: the accelerator! The LHC accelerator is very complex and let’s face it, without a working accelerator, we can’t do our science. This series was given by Lyn Evans of CERN, who is basically the guy in charge of the LHC accelerator complex. James Stirling of Durham, the guy who literally wrote the book on his lecture topic, beautifully explained the theory behind proton proton collisions. Lance Dixon of SLAC will continue on this topic, outlining the details of higher precision calculations. We have a series of detector talks, introduced by Jos Engelen (deputy director of CERN), where we focus on a specific detector component each day. Michael Peskin of SLAC will discuss the connections between colliders and cosmology. And that’s just the first week! Next week, we will separately explore specific physics topics in depth (Higgs, Supersymmetry, top-quark, extra dimensions, etc), taking a look at both theory and how the signatures will actually be observed in the demanding experimental environment at the LHC. […]

By: Supersymmetry Closer To Home | Cosmic Variance

Supersymmetry Closer To Home | Cosmic Variance — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 23:46:54 +0000

[…] If Supersymmetry shows up, (we’d need a new experiment -such as the ILC- designed to study the problem once the LHC has shown the way, to be sure about it), we may well have the beginnings of the answers to the Dark Matter problem too, since the unknown form of matter needed in that context may well be a particle required by supersymmetry. […]

By: Vince

Vince — Thu, 25 May 2006 21:02:32 +0000

Go on…

By: JoAnne

JoAnne — Thu, 25 May 2006 01:47:13 +0000

Vince: I see you are a physics graduate student - I have no idea which field or how advanced. So let me give you my synopsis of the hierarchy problem in fairly technical language.

The global set of precision electroweak data indicates that there is a light Higgs-like object (

By: Vince

Vince — Wed, 24 May 2006 21:02:31 +0000

Why is the hierarchy problem a problem (in the literal sense) in the first place?

By: JoAnne

JoAnne — Wed, 24 May 2006 20:54:40 +0000

Thanks to all who have read the report and enjoyed it! It’s great to get such positive feedback!

By: JoAnne

JoAnne — Wed, 24 May 2006 20:53:19 +0000

Let me just add that string theory does not predict that the LHC will find Supersymmetry or extra dimensions. String theory merely predicts that the two (supersymmetry and x-tra dims) must exist at the string scale (nominally the Planck scale, but could be lower) or below.

However, we have other, more compelling, reasons to believe that supersymmetry or extra dimensions, or something of that ilk does exist at the Terascale and that the LHC will find it. New physics is needed to solve the hierarchy problem.

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 24 May 2006 20:45:11 +0000

Simple, Dick. Lack of evidence just means that the SUSY energy scale is higher than expected. Same for the extra dimensions. See how convenient that is? Oh, and remember: it’s not string theory, it’s magic theory.

By: Dick

Dick — Wed, 24 May 2006 20:14:15 +0000

The LHC will probe that other pitch-black room, the one supposedly containing the twin pitch-black cats of supersymmetry and extra dimensions. Since they don’t exist, it won’t find them. The Higgs is a cat of a different color, and the LHC will probably find it, but there’s a chance that it won’t because the Higgs is not a particle field. (The idea that other particles get mass by bumping into Higgs particles is naÃ¯ve and silly.) In general, scalar fields are structural fields, not particle fields. It will be interesting to see how true believers justify their continuing faith in string theory after the LHC fails to find supersymmetry and extra dimensions.