jeudi 23 février 2012

The non-LHC experiments in 2012












CERN - European Organization for Nuclear Research logo.

Feb. 23, 2012

There is more to CERN than the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). A thousand or so physicists on site research topics from antimatter to astronomy in the non-LHC experiments.

View inside the chamber used by CLOUD, one of the many non-LHC experiments at CERN. Image: CERN

This year the ALPHA, ASACUSA, and ATRAP experiments will compare the properties of antiatoms with their matter counterparts, and AEgIS will try to measure the gravitational constant g using antihydrogen. The CLOUD experiment seeks to understand the influence of cosmic rays on cloud formation, while ACE is researching the use of antiproton beams in cancer therapy.

ISOLDE continues to produce radioisotopes for over 50 experiments, and the nTOF facility provides neutron beams for research fields from astronomy to radioactivity. The CAST and OSQAR experiments are hot on the tail of "axions" and "chameleons", some of the many hypothetical and exotic particles proposed by theorists to explain the nature of dark matter.

These are just a few of the many non-LHC experiments looking forward to a productive 2012 at CERN.

Find out more:

    Non-LHC experiments: http://public.web.cern.ch/public/en/Research/OtherExp-en.html

    Quantum diaries: The hidden face of CERN: http://www.quantumdiaries.org/2012/02/15/the-hidden-face-of-cern/

Faster than light neutrinos

The results of the experiment Opera that had shaken the scientific world by measuring end of September of neutrinos at a speed faster than light would in fact due to a bad connection, ensures Wednesday the journal "Science" on its website.

"A bad connection between a computer and a GPS is probably the cause of the error," says the American magazine, citing authoritative sources.

Opera experiment

In late September, the Opera experience experts had said he saw neutrinos through the facilities of CERN in Geneva about 6 km / s faster than light.

Note:

CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is one of the world’s largest and most respected centres for scientific research. Its business is fundamental physics, finding out what the Universe is made of and how it works. At CERN, the world’s largest and most complex scientific instruments are used to study the basic constituents of matter — the fundamental particles. By studying what happens when these particles collide, physicists learn about the laws of Nature.

The instruments used at CERN are particle accelerators and detectors. Accelerators boost beams of particles to high energies before they are made to collide with each other or with stationary targets. Detectors observe and record the results of these collisions.

Founded in 1954, the CERN Laboratory sits astride the Franco–Swiss border near Geneva. It was one of Europe’s first joint ventures and now has 20 Member States.

More information about the CERN, visit: http://public.web.cern.ch/public/Welcome.html

Images, Text, Credit: CERN.

Greetings, Orbiter.ch