9 The Standard Model of Fundamental Particles
185
Since the time of Galileo, experiment and theory have each contributed
equally to our understanding of the physics of our world. Sometimes experimentalists have discovered new phenomena that have challenged theorists
to produce new theories to explain them, and sometimes theorists have
told experimenters which experiments are critical to distinguish between
competing theories. In the main, a happy partnership has existed between
two groups of physicists with very different skill sets.
In the field of Fundamental Particle Physics, however, the cost of the accelerators needed to reach the energy regions now of interest to theorists has
become so high that these machines strain the budgets of even the wealthiest
of nations. There are so many other competing priorities for scarce resources
that it is possible that the current generation of particle colliders is the last
we shall see for the foreseeable future. If that is the case, it falls to theorists
to find alternative ways to test their theories. This in itself represents a new
challenge for the next generation of particle physicists.
References
1. Gardner M (1964) The ambidextrous universe: left, right and the fall of parity.
Penguin Books
2. SLAC News, vol 1, no 1, Feb 26, 1970
3. Carroll L (1896) Through the looking glass
4. Eberhardt O et al (2012) Impact of a Higgs Boson at a mass of 126 GeV on
the standard model with three and four Fermion generations. Phys Rev Lett
109(24):1802
5. McCusker CBA (1983) An estimate of the flux of free quarks in high energy
cosmic radiation. Aust J Phys 36:717–23. https://www.publish.csiro.au/PH/pdf/
PH830717. Accessed 5 June 2020
6. Autumn K et al (2002) Evidence for van der Waals adhesion in gecko setae. Proc
Natl Acad Sci 99(19):12252–6
7. Walker-Loud A, https://physics.aps.org/articles/v11/118#c1. Accessed 31 July
2020
8. Patrignani C et al (2016) Particle data group. Rev Particle Phys (Chin Phys)
C40, p 32
9. https://theconversation.com/cern-physicists-report-the-discovery-of-unique-newparticle-142315. Accessed 31 July 2020
185
Since the time of Galileo, experiment and theory have each contributed
equally to our understanding of the physics of our world. Sometimes experimentalists have discovered new phenomena that have challenged theorists
to produce new theories to explain them, and sometimes theorists have
told experimenters which experiments are critical to distinguish between
competing theories. In the main, a happy partnership has existed between
two groups of physicists with very different skill sets.
In the field of Fundamental Particle Physics, however, the cost of the accelerators needed to reach the energy regions now of interest to theorists has
become so high that these machines strain the budgets of even the wealthiest
of nations. There are so many other competing priorities for scarce resources
that it is possible that the current generation of particle colliders is the last
we shall see for the foreseeable future. If that is the case, it falls to theorists
to find alternative ways to test their theories. This in itself represents a new
challenge for the next generation of particle physicists.
References
1. Gardner M (1964) The ambidextrous universe: left, right and the fall of parity.
Penguin Books
2. SLAC News, vol 1, no 1, Feb 26, 1970
3. Carroll L (1896) Through the looking glass
4. Eberhardt O et al (2012) Impact of a Higgs Boson at a mass of 126 GeV on
the standard model with three and four Fermion generations. Phys Rev Lett
109(24):1802
5. McCusker CBA (1983) An estimate of the flux of free quarks in high energy
cosmic radiation. Aust J Phys 36:717–23. https://www.publish.csiro.au/PH/pdf/
PH830717. Accessed 5 June 2020
6. Autumn K et al (2002) Evidence for van der Waals adhesion in gecko setae. Proc
Natl Acad Sci 99(19):12252–6
7. Walker-Loud A, https://physics.aps.org/articles/v11/118#c1. Accessed 31 July
2020
8. Patrignani C et al (2016) Particle data group. Rev Particle Phys (Chin Phys)
C40, p 32
9. https://theconversation.com/cern-physicists-report-the-discovery-of-unique-newparticle-142315. Accessed 31 July 2020