On Tuesday, the department of physics and astronomy opened its doors to the community for its monthly public night and hosted “Finding Answers at the Large Hadron Collider,” a discussion concerning particle colliders and the universe.
The large hadron collider is a massive scientific instrument located near Geneva, where it spans the border between Switzerland and France. Located nearly 100 meters underground, physicists use this particle accelerator to study the smallest known particles. These particles are the fundamental building blocks of all things and hold the key to better understand the universe.
Louis Clavelli, UA professor of physics and astronomy, said the future of the universe is dim.
“The standard picture is pretty glum. The universe is just expanding, and it’s cooling down. Eventually, if nothing else happens, the universe will all be made up of black holes and cold, white dwarf stars,” Clavelli said.
Clavelli said that of all the energy in the universe, humans are only familiar with 5 percent. Only 1 percent of that energy is found in the liquids and solids humans are surrounded by every day. The remaining 95 percent of energy consists of dark matter and dark energy. Dark energy accounts for the vast majority of that remaining percentage.
In addition, Clavelli said physicists around the globe are studying particle mass because that particular mass is essential for human existence. The only unit of mass that can be formed from the fundamental constants of physics is the Planck Mass, which is extremely large when compared to the supposed particle mass.
Clavelli said there may be more dimensions in the universe so tightly curled up that they can only be seen at very close distances.
Following the lecture, the public was invited to the roof of Gallalee Hall to view Saturn through UA’s telescope, under the supervision of Dean Townsley, assistant professor in UA’s department of physics and astronomy.
The department’s previous public nights have included viewings of Mars, star clusters, nebulae and the moon.
