PHYSICS SEMINAR
The discovery of the Higgs boson and the end of an era in particle physics
Patrick Labelle
Bishop's University
Friday, November 16, 2012
1:30 p.m.
Hamilton 301
Abstract
The discovery of the Higgs boson this summer represents the culmination of more than one century of discoveries in particle physics and a spectacular confirmation of the so-called ''standard model'' constructed during the sixties and seventies.
After an introduction to the standard model with emphasis on the role of the Higgs boson, the experiments and instruments that have permitted its detection will be described. This will include in particular a description of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the most complex instrument ever built for experimental science.
We will then see why the standard model is not considered a fundamental theory of nature and what this entails for future searches at the LHC and research in particle physics.
