David Toback Texas A&M University Pizza and Prof, Honors Talk February 2013

October 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M UniversityResearch Topics Seminar 1

David TobackTexas A&M University

Pizza and Prof, Honors TalkFebruary 2013

Scientists, the Big Bang and The Big

Bang TheoryThis could be

you

A little about me…• Grew up on the south side of

Chicago• Went to school at MIT and then

University of Chicago• Came to A&M in 2000• Professor of Physics and Astronomy• I specialize in Experimental Particle

physics (Fermilab, LHC, search for Supersymmetry, Dark Matter)

• I’ve been teaching ASTR/PHYS 109 (Big Bang, Black Holes, No Math) for a number of years nowFebruary 2013 David Toback, Texas A&M University

Pizza and Prof 2

Outline for Today• Answer questions you probably

wanted to ask, but were afraid to

• Answer other questions you might find interesting

• Tell you a little about ideas behind the Dark Matter research I do

• Tell you about my course “Big Bang and Black Holes”

February 2013 David Toback, Texas A&M UniversityPizza and Prof 3

Most of what people know about physicists comes from Big Bang Theory

Is that really what it’s like?


Is this really what physicists are like?


Start with some facts…


Lives with his mommyNeed to understand there are different TYPES of physicists

People like Sheldon really exist?


Simple answer

YesLuckily

not too many

Actually, they imitate us pretty well… My office-mate in grad school is the science advisor

The science is also very good


Senior Advisor for Chemical Engineering

Luckily, other parts are also true

Switch Topics• More about good things

physics has produced• What people with a Physics

degree do after school• Fun research in physics• Want to learn more without

getting a physics degree?


• Radar• Lasers• The Internet• Medical imaging (MRI)• Optical fibers• Power: Nuclear, Solar, Hydro,

Fusion(?)• Semiconductors (chips for

computers, DVD players, video games etc…)

• Superconductors• Lots more…


What are the cool things physics research have produced?

11People who say that don’t know what

they were talking about!

Most people assume that if you have a physics

degree you can only be

a high school

teacher or a Professor

Is the money any good compared to other majors I might choose?


http://physicsworld.com/blog/2009/07/big_bucks_for_physicists.html

A: Yup!!!

What are physicists researching these days?


• Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology –Relativity, Origin of the Universe,

Galaxy formation, Dark Energy• Condensed Matter & Materials Physics• Atomic/Laser Physics• Nuclear physics

–What’s inside the nucleus?• Particle physics

–What’s inside a proton? Dark Matter, Higgs, LHC

• String theory/Theory of Everything –What are particles made of?

Interested in Undergraduate Research?

• Physics department has a long history of award winning undergraduate research in many areas:–Applied Physics–Astronomy, Astrophysics and

Cosmology–Atomic Physics–Condensed Matter Physics–Materials Physics–Nuclear Physics–Particle Physics–Quantum Optics–String Theory…February 2013 David Toback, Texas A&M University

Pizza and Prof 14

My office

Switching again… • What are some of the things *I*

study for a living?• 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?


Dark Matter

September 2012

David Toback, Texas A&M UniversityResearch Topics Seminar 16

What is some of

the evidenc

e for Dark

matter?

David Toback, Texas A&M University 17

As the Solar System Turns

Simple predictions from gravity

http://faculty.physics.tamu.edu/toback/Talks/Video/Lab4_SS1_video.swf




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?

http://cmsdoc.cern.ch/cms/TRIDAS/html/CollisionSide.html


Lots of Dark Matter out there!

What’s the Matter in the

Universe?

No clue what this stuff is…


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!


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


Particle PhysicsHow might Giant Particle

Accelerators Help us Answer The Dark Matter

Question?

Tevatron at Fermilab

Large Hadron Collider (LHC)

at CERN


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


High Energy Collisions New particles

Tevatron ≈10 ps after the Big Bang

LHC ≈1 ps after the Big Bang

Dark Matter Partic

le

Dark M

atte

r Par

ticle

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


Example DetectorSurround 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 MetersTall!

30 Meters Long!


Where in the world is the LHC?

GenevaFrance

SwitzerlandJura Mountains

100 yardsUnderground!

The accelerator

Actually… It’s down here


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

pp

Collides high energy protons

Two huge detectors

Lake LemanGeneva Airport

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What does it DO?Accelerates protons to REALLY high energies, then bashes them together


High Energy CollisionsSo… 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!

David Toback, Texas A&M University

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? 30

Want to know more about the exciting physics without taking

the advanced courses?


• Physics department now offers a course entitled “Big Bang, Black Holes, No Math” – Covers Stephen Hawking’s “Brief

History of Time”– Cross listed as ASTR/PHYS 109/119

• Tier 2 Science Distribution Class• Associate lab class

– Answers many of the questions you want to know about• Origin and Evolution of the

Universe• How do stars form?• What is Dark Matter? Dark Energy?• What are Black Holes?• General Relativity & Quantum

Mechanics• Particle Physics• Etc….

http://faculty.physics.tamu.edu/toback/109/

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

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March 2011 David Toback, Texas A&M UniversityDavidson Scholars 34

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

Edwin Hubble Albert Einstein


The Big BangInquiring

Minds Want to Know

What is the scientific

evidence that a Big Bang

occurred 13.7 billion years

ago?


What did Hubble See?

Hubble observed lots of galaxies with the world’s

best telescopeHe noticed that All the

far away ones are moving away from us

VERY quickly


So What?

All the galaxies will come from a single point in

space ~13.7 billion years ago

Name this time The Big Bang

A moment of Creation

What happened in the past? Run the clock backward in time


The Big Bang occurred, then

what? How did we get

from the bang to the Universe we

have today?


A Brief History of Time• Zero

• One millionth of one second after the Bang

• A few minutes

• A few hundred thousand years

• 100 million to 1 billion years

• 9 billion years

• ~13.7 billion years

• The Big Bang produces lots of particles

• Quarks combine to form protons and neutrons

• Protons and Neutrons combine to form the nucleus of an atom

• Nuclei and electrons combine to form atoms

• Atoms combine to form Stars and Galaxies

• The Earth and our solar system forms

• You listen to me talk


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!


David Toback, Texas A&M University

As the Galaxy Turns

http://faculty.physics.tamu.edu/toback/Talks/Video/Lab4_GX1_video_slow.swf

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Documents

David Toback Texas A&M University Pizza and Prof, Honors Talk February 2013