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Durham scientists set to make a Big Bang

While the rest of the world waits anxiously for the results of one of the biggest scientific experiments ever conducted, representatives from the North East have travelled to Geneva to the epicentre of the potential Swiss-generated apocalypse.

Scientists from Durham University are to examine the very beginnings of our Universe as part of a worldwide team of scientists and engineers attending the switch-on of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The LHC is a gigantic particle accelerator built about 100m underground at CERN (the European Organisation for Nuclear Research) on the Swiss/French border at Geneva.

Durham University’s Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology (IPPP) is providing the theory and analysis behind a number of the experiments being carried out at CERN. Whether the LHC confirms or denies leading theories, its results will mark a new era in the understanding of physics and the entire Universe.

Professor Nigel Glover, Director of the IPPP at Durham University, said: “The LHC is an international collaboration rivalling the Olympics. CERN is the world laboratory for doing research into the origins of the Universe. “Our theoretical predictions will play a key part in interpreting the experimental data from the LHC.

“I have spent many years making predictions for the sorts of things I hope the LHC experiments will see. The LHC gives us a huge jump in energy compared to previous man-made experiments and will undoubtedly give us a fascinating new insight on how the Universe works.”

The UK is one of the biggest contributors to the LHC project. Through the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) which funds the UK particle physics programme, including the CERN subscription, the UK has contributed hardware, computing and scientific knowledge.

More information about CERN and the LHC can be found at public.web.cern.ch.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .