FSU Physicists Helping Make History at New Large Hadron Collider

Colleges and Universities A-Z Florida State University
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<p>FSU News Release:</p>

<p>TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Several members of the FSU Department of Physics are preparing to take part in the largest science experiment in history.</p>

<p>After 40 years of planning and construction, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which will be the world’s highest-energy particle accelerator, is poised to provide new insights into the mysteries of the universe. Created by the greatest minds in physics from all over the world, the LHC will go online Wednesday, Sept. 10.</p>

<p>Located at CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, in Geneva, Switzerland, the LHC cost $10 billion to build, and its resulting data have the potential to explain why we and the universe exist. The collider will allow researchers to smash protons toward one another at speeds approaching the speed of light, trying to mimic what happened in the fraction of a second after the Big Bang.</p>

<p>“The word ‘historic’ is overused,” said Harrison Prosper, a professor of physics at FSU. “However, in the case of the start of the LHC, the word is apt. This will be a historic milestone in the history of science. If things unfold as we hope, the start of this extraordinary science project could mark the dawn of another golden age of discovery in physics. We have been waiting for something like this for more than 30 years, and it is just thrilling that FSU is a part of this.”</p>

<p>Several members of FSU’s High Energy Physics group are conducting experiments in one of CERN’s large research facilities, called CMS, or “Compact Muon Spectrometer,” which will use the LHC to record data about these high-energy proton-proton collisions. CMS, which is known as a general-purpose detector, is one of two at CERN that are designed to detect the Higgs particle, dark matter and a host of new subatomic particles, such as supersymmetric partners of the standard family of elementary particles.</p>

<p>Permanent members of the CMS group from FSU include Prosper, Associate Professor Todd Adams, Staff Physicist Sharon Hagopian, Professor Emeritus Vasken Hagopian, Computer Research Specialist Kurtis Johnson and Professor Horst Wahl. Others from FSU taking part in the experiment are postdoctoral fellows Andrew Askew, Oleksiy Atramentov and Jie Chen; Technical/ Research Designer Maurizio M. Bertoldi and Assistant in Research Blake Sharin; and graduate students Brendan Diamond, Sergei Gleyzer, Jeff Haas and Venkatesh Veeraraghaven.</p>

<p>For the rest of the article see: FSU</a> Physicists Helping Make History at New Large Hadron Collider</p>

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<p>it will create black holes and we will all be sucked in :/</p>

<p>:p</p>

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<p>this was the lead story on TODAY show yesterday. I didn't realize FSU was involved. (Hey TK there was one scientist in Norway very concerned about ramification. Bit scary all the others said it was safe).Once agin I feel impressed and proud of FSU faculty.</p>

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<p>Son had Professor Todd Adams for Astronomy- he showed videos and told stories about the building of LHC & FSU's role.
Impressed my son, who is a big theoretical physics buff (as opposed to the physics buff who likes to prove theorems mathematically!).</p>

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<p>I had Professor Emeritus Vasken Hagopian for a class in the 1970s. I remember him well as he always pronounced "gas" as "gazz". It was amusing back then. He was a good prof.</p>

<p>The class was in the old Diffenbaugh Building (near Westcott) which has long since been completely renovated.</p>

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<p>I had Dr. Prosper for Physics I and II last year. During the last lecture of each semester he talked about a few "bonus" topics, namely his research interests. He showed pictures of his travels to Geneva and CERN and tried to convey how important this new collider would be both to his research and potential future discoveries. It's cool to see some of what he told us about (even if he was speaking way over most of our heads) now gaining international attention.</p>