1. October 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M University Research Topics Seminar 1 David Toback Texas A&M University Research Topics Seminar September 2012 Cosmology and Particle Physics in Collider Experiments

2. Outline Cosmology and Particle Physics –Dark Matter –Evolution of the Universe –Particle Physics and the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) Can we discover Dark Matter with giant accelerators like the LHC as a way of learning about our Universe? September 2012 David Toback, Texas A&M University Research Topics Seminar 2

3. Dark Matter September 2012 David Toback, Texas A&M University Research Topics Seminar 3 What is some of the evidence for Dark matter?

4. September 2012 David Toback, Texas A&M University Research Topics Seminar 4 As the Solar System Turns Gravity and General Relativity http://faculty.physics.tamu.edu/toback/Talks/Video/Lab4_SS1_video.swf

5. September 2012 David Toback, Texas A&M University Research Topics Seminar 5 Is that what our galaxy, the Milky Way, looks like? Do the stars orbit like the planets in our solar system? Outer stars go around much more slowly?

6. As the Galaxy Turns http://faculty.physics.tamu.edu/toback/Talks/Video/Lab4_GX1_video_slow.swf September 2012 David Toback, Texas A&M University Research Topics Seminar 6

7. September 2012 David Toback, Texas A&M University Research Topics Seminar 7 Lots of Dark Matter out there! What’s the Matter in the Universe? No clue what this stuff is…

8. September 2012 David Toback, Texas A&M University Research Topics Seminar 8 The Known Particles –No known particles have the properties of Dark Matter –Other credible reasons to believe there are new fundamental particles to be discovered –Maybe Dark Matter is a New Particle!

9. October 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M University Research Topics Seminar 9 Hypothesis:The Dark Matter in the Universe is made up of LOTS of particles that we haven’t discovered yet! Best Guess: Got created in the Early Universe like everything else and is still here today! Big Bang! Then Universe gets bigger Dark Matter = New Particle? High energy collisions between particles in the early Universe If they created Dark Matter, maybe we can also in an experiment! Make a Hypothesis based on Astronomy, Cosmology and Particle Physics

10. October 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M University Research Topics Seminar 10 Particle Physics How might Giant Particle Accelerators Help us Answer The Dark Matter Question? Tevatron at Fermilab Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN

11. September 2012 David Toback, Texas A&M University Research Topics Seminar 11 Can we Make and Discover Dark Matter? High energy collisions between particles in the Early Universe Recreate the conditions like they were RIGHT AFTER the Big Bang If we can produce Dark Matter in a collision then we can STUDY it

12. October 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M University Research Topics Seminar 12 High Energy Collisions  New particles Tevatron  ≈10 ps after the Big Bang LHC  ≈1 ps after the Big Bang Dark Matter Particle Detector Proton Anti-Proton Ok… Its more complicated than this since Dark Matter Particles don’t easily interact with detectors… Nor do we usually produce them directly

13. September 2012 David Toback, Texas A&M University Research Topics Seminar 13 Example Detector Surround the collision point with a detector and look at the stuff pops out after a collision as it interacts with the various components Powerful multi-purpose detector Really Big with LOTS of cool electronics and other toys! 10 Meters Tall! 30 Meters Long!

14. October 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M University Research Topics Seminar 14 Where in the world is the LHC? Geneva France Switzerland Jura Mountains 100 yards Underground! The accelerator Actually… It’s down here

15. October 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M University Research Topics Seminar 15 Another view of the LHC CMS ATLAS 27 km in Circumference! One of the largest and the most complex scientific instrument ever conceived & built by humankind p p Collides high energy protons Two huge detectors Lake Leman Geneva Airport

16. September 2012 David Toback, Texas A&M University Research Topics Seminar 16 What does it DO? Accelerates protons to REALLY high energies, then bashes them together

17. September 2012 David Toback, Texas A&M University Research Topics Seminar 17 High Energy Collisions So… The LHC makes really high energy collisions that might produce Dark Matter so we can discover it LHC is creating the conditions like they were RIGHT AFTER the Big Bang Can study Cosmology, Particle Physics and Astronomy with one experiment!

18. Other Exciting Possibilities May be able to discover Supersymmetry Have we discovered the Higgs Boson? –One of the many Higgs bosons? Explain why there is more matter than anti-matter in the Universe Hint for Extra Dimensions or String Theory? September 2012 David Toback, Texas A&M University Research Topics Seminar 18

19. September 2012 David Toback, Texas A&M University Research Topics Seminar 19 Conclusions It’s an incredibly exciting time to be a scientist! Astronomy, Cosmology and Particle Physics are all coming together! Starting to understand the Big Bang and Dark Matter! If our understanding is correct, a major discovery may be just around the corner at the LHC! Wanna join us? We need your help!

20. September 2012 David Toback, Texas A&M University Research Topics Seminar 20 Abstract Physicists have entered a golden age of science. We are starting to be able to answer some of the most exciting questions ever asked, including questions that touch on the Big Bang, the fundamental building blocks of nature, and the Dark Matter that fills the Universe. There is good reason to believe that by using the world’s highest energy particle accelerators we can discover how the biggest things in the Universe (like the Universe itself) and the smallest things (like quarks and electrons) are inextricably linked at the most fundamental levels. Perhaps a new fundamental particle is just around the corner to be discovered.