ATLAS CERN

ATLAS CERN is a particle physics experiment at the Large Hadron Collider(LHC) at CERN. Starting in late 2009, early 2010, the ATLAS detector will search for new discoveries in the head-on collisions of protons of extraordinarily high energy. The program will learn about the basic forces that have shaped our universe since the beginning of time and that will determine its fate. Among the possible unknowns are the origin of mass, extra dimensions of space, unification of fundamental forces, and evidence for dark matter candidates in the Universe.

The LHC that the ATLAS program is using recreates some of the events that would have been seen at the ”big bang” that created our universe. The LHC allows ATLAS to explore new territory in physics. Most exciting is the unknown – a chance to find new processes and particles that would change our understanding of energy and matter. Among the possible unknowns are extra dimensions of space, microscopic black holes and string theory. The program is very interested in dark matter. Dark matter dominates our universe, but no one has ever seen or recorded it. The scientists want to find out if it is a whole new type of particle. If it is, then a collider on the scale of the LHC should be able to recreate them and record them.

ATLAS also seeks to discover other dimensions. We are limited to the three spatial dimensions that we can visualize, but scientist(and sci-fi writers) have long theorized that other dimensions exist. One of the simplest ways to think about is this: Gravity is very weak. A simple refrigerator magnet can overcome Earth’s gravity. Is that because gravity is actually spread out over many unknown dimensions?

There are many people who are interested in the findings of the ATLAS program. If new dimensions in space and time are found it could lead our scientists in so many new directions of research that there is would be no limit to the gains we could make. Perhaps we could expand our knowledge in the fields of interstellar travel or, at least, make our current methods more economical and practical.

Here is a link to the ATLAS website. Here on Universe Today we have a couple of great articles: one is about the ATLAS program and the other is about CERN. Astronomy Cast offers a good episode that answers many questions about dark matter.

Sources:
CERN
Atlas Experiment Page

Tagged as: ATLAS CERN, ATLAS program, CERN