ATLAS: Higgs and more...?

The ATLAS experiment has been designed to study collisions between protons that are produced in the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, Geneva. Each collision gives rise to a large number of particles, usually some several hundred. The ATLAS detector, which is as big as a five-storey building, can detect the tracks of these particles to a precision of 0.01 mm and determine their energy. This information is used to produce a detailed reconstruction of the collision.

The aim of ATLAS is to discover new particles not previously observed that arise during the collision. If the Higgs particle does exist thenit would certainly be found here. This particle is evidence for the correctness of the Standard Model as the Higgs mechanism is essential for describing the mass of elementary particles within the Model. If the Higgs particle does not exist then the analyses of the collisions will indicate how we will need to adjust our knowledge of the natural world at a fundamental level.

Want to know more? Go to:
·    website of the ATLAS experiment (CERN)
·    the latest measurements in ATLAS
·    Stan Bentvelsens weblog for de Volkskrant newspaper [in Dutch].

Go to website ATLAS