Add to collection
  • + Create new collection
    • Rights: The University of Waikato
    Published 17 September 2009 Referencing Hub media
    Download

    The Large Hadron Collider1 can recreate the energy density2 thought to be present a few millionths of a second after the Big Bang3. Dr David Krofcheck explains how this can be used to study the nature of the matter4 that existed before being captured into protons and neutrons. He is excited by the prospect of being able to control5 the creation of Big Bang matter by using the LHC.

    Transcript

    DR DAVID KROFCHECK
    The Big Bang theory6 has an extra postulate that was a singularity7 where all matter and energy was confined to a point, and we can’t approach that with a human-made situation, but we can approach the situation maybe a few millionths of a second after the Big Bang. This is when the size of the universe8 was maybe the size of our solar system9 as it was expanding. And the temperature10 at that time of the universe was maybe a million million degrees centigrade. This is just the temperatures that we can reach and the energy density that we can reach at the Large Hadron Collider11.

    In that sense, we can recreate conditions12 that were presumed to exist just a few millionths of a second after the Big Bang, and by studying the particle13 patterns that get produced by colliding 2 lead nuclei14, we can study the nature of the matter that existed – the quarks and gluons that may not have been captured yet into protons and neutrons – we can study their collective behaviour as they existed in the early few millionths of a second after the Big Bang, and we can do it over and over again, because we can have collision after collision after collision. We can control the creation of Big Bang matter. It’s wonderful if you think about that.

    Acknowledgements:
    CERN
    Dana Berry, Skyworks, NASA
    Georges Boxaider, CERN

    1. Large Hadron Collider (LHC): A gigantic scientific instrument 27 km in diameter, constructed 100 m underground near Geneva, on the border between Switzerland and France. It is a particle accelerator used by physicists to study the smallest known particles – the fundamental building blocks of all things.
    2. density: How tightly a certain amount of matter (atoms or molecules) of a substance is compacted in a given volume. Density is commonly measured in grams per millilitre (g/ml) or cubic centimetre (g/cm3).
    3. Big Bang: This theory describes that the universe originated approximately 14 billion years ago from a violent explosion of a very small concentration of matter of extremely high density and temperature.
    4. matter: The basic structural component of all things that have mass and volume.
    5. control: 1. Part of a scientific experiment in which no treatment has been applied in order to see whether there are any detectable differences to the experiment that did receive a treatment. 2. To hold in check or to curb.
    6. theory: To scientists, a theory provides a coherent explanation that holds true for a large number of facts and observations about the natural world. It has to be internally consistent, based upon evidence, tested against a wide range of phenomena and demonstrate problem solving.
    7. singularity: In astronomy, the mathematical representation of a black hole. A point of infinite density.
    8. universe: All matter and energy, including the Earth, the galaxies and the contents of intergalactic space, regarded as a whole.
    9. Solar System: The Sun and objects in orbit around it, including the planets and their moons, asteroids and comets. The Sun is a star like many others in the galaxy.
    10. temperature: A measure of the degree of hotness or coldness of an object or substance. Temperature is measured with a thermometer calibrated in one or more temperature scales. Kelvin scale temperature is a measure of the average energy of the molecules of a body.
    11. Large Hadron Collider (LHC): A gigantic scientific instrument 27 km in diameter, constructed 100 m underground near Geneva, on the border between Switzerland and France. It is a particle accelerator used by physicists to study the smallest known particles – the fundamental building blocks of all things.
    12. condition: An existing state or situation; a mode or state of being.
    13. particle: A tiny piece of matter. A particle may refer to an atom, part of an atom, a molecule or an ion.
    14. nucleus: 1. The very small, very dense, positively charged centre of an atom containing protons and neutrons. 2. Part of the cell that contains the cell’s hereditary information (DNA) and controls the cell’s processes.
      Go to full glossary
      Download all

      Large Hadron Collider (LHC)

    1. + Create new collection

      2. A gigantic scientific instrument 27 km in diameter, constructed 100 m underground near Geneva, on the border between Switzerland and France. It is a particle accelerator used by physicists to study the smallest known particles – the fundamental building blocks of all things.

      matter

    2. + Create new collection

      3. The basic structural component of all things that have mass and volume.

      singularity

    3. + Create new collection

      4. In astronomy, the mathematical representation of a black hole. A point of infinite density.

      temperature

    4. + Create new collection

      5. A measure of the degree of hotness or coldness of an object or substance. Temperature is measured with a thermometer calibrated in one or more temperature scales. Kelvin scale temperature is a measure of the average energy of the molecules of a body.

      nucleus

    5. + Create new collection

      6. 1. The very small, very dense, positively charged centre of an atom containing protons and neutrons.

      2. Part of the cell that contains the cell’s hereditary information (DNA) and controls the cell’s processes.

      density

    6. + Create new collection

      7. How tightly a certain amount of matter (atoms or molecules) of a substance is compacted in a given volume. Density is commonly measured in grams per millilitre (g/ml) or cubic centimetre (g/cm3).

      control

    7. + Create new collection

      8. 1. Part of a scientific experiment in which no treatment has been applied in order to see whether there are any detectable differences to the experiment that did receive a treatment.

      2. To hold in check or to curb.

      universe

    8. + Create new collection

      9. All matter and energy, including the Earth, the galaxies and the contents of intergalactic space, regarded as a whole.

      condition

    9. + Create new collection

      10. An existing state or situation; a mode or state of being.

      Big Bang

    10. + Create new collection

      11. This theory describes that the universe originated approximately 14 billion years ago from a violent explosion of a very small concentration of matter of extremely high density and temperature.

      theory

    11. + Create new collection

      12. To scientists, a theory provides a coherent explanation that holds true for a large number of facts and observations about the natural world. It has to be internally consistent, based upon evidence, tested against a wide range of phenomena and demonstrate problem solving.

      Solar System

    12. + Create new collection

      13. The Sun and objects in orbit around it, including the planets and their moons, asteroids and comets. The Sun is a star like many others in the galaxy.

      particle

    13. + Create new collection

      14. A tiny piece of matter. A particle may refer to an atom, part of an atom, a molecule or an ion.

      Email Us

      See our newsletters here.