In the latest issue of the Dutch Journal of Physics, five Nikhef authors give their views on the magazine’s theme: Misunderstood Physics.
In its June issue, the Dutch monthly journal of the Dutch Physics Association (NNV) tackles the riddles in physics, both new and old. From particle physics, there are several big questions with a capital letter.
In her contribution, PhD student Marjolein Van Nuland-Troost of Nikhef’s Xenon project looks into dark matter, which has mass but appears invisible. The Xenon experiment is trying to capture particles of dark matter deep underground in Italy, but so far saw nothing.
But that could change tomorrow. “Maybe we will soon find the missing particle. Maybe that will force us to revise our theories. But whichever way it goes, dark matter confronts us with the limits of our knowledge – and with the uncomfortable realisation that we still do not understand most of the mass in the universe.”
VU researcher Niels Tuning from CERN and Nikhef discusses why we don’t see antimatter in the universe, but we do see a universe. With a perfect balance between the two, there could be no universe. But where the symmetry is broken is a question that drives, for example, Tuning’s own LHCb experiment at CERN.
Nikhef theorists Melissa van Beekveld and Keri Vos describe the missing and vague parts of the Standard Model of particle physics and how those strange puzzle pieces lead to the search for a better theory. Including a plea for a new particle accelerator that produces Higgs particles en masse.
Another plea for a new accelerator comes from VU and Nikhef theorist Juan Rojo, who researches the inner workings of the proton. In this, the misunderstood physics question is how the spin of the proton arises from the quarks and gluons that make it up.
The theme issue of the NTvN further includes numerous stories from other parts of physics, where deep questions also exist about, for example, the structure of spacetime, about the structure of glass, about gravity, about dead and living Schrödinger’s cat and other quantum riddles. Authors include astrophysicist Vincent Icke, historian Frans van Lunteren and theorist Klaas Landsman.
Parts of the journal can be viewed at www.ntvn.nl or at www.nnv.nl.
