Elementary-Particle Physics Revealing the Secrets of Energy and Matter (1998) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
Executive Summary
Executive Summary
Pages 1-15
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 1... ...
Elementary-particle physicists seek answers to these questions by studying subatomic particles and forces. Although these investigations require sophisticated instruments to reveal phenomena far smaller and more en 1
|
From page 2... ...
Eventually patterns emerged and theories were put together and tested; today, elementary-particle physics provides the basis for understanding an astonishing variety of phenomena including those in our daily lives in terms of just a few truly elementary particles and the forces between them. The remarkable state of our understanding of elementary particles, embodied in the present theory called the "Standard Model," has taken shape over the last 30 years.
|
From page 3... ...
Yet crucial questions remain unanswered by the Standard Model. For example, the masses of elementary particles can be established by measurement, but they appear to be arbitrary.
|
From page 4... ...
The intellectual significance of the field is reflected in the number of Nobel Prizes awarded to elementary-particle physicists, in the illumination that elementaryparticle physics has provided to other branches of science, and most important, in the new picture it is developing of the way in which fundamental particles and forces shape our world. National support of endeavors such as astronomy and elementary-particle physics is dedicated to the proposition that deepening our knowledge of the world we inhabit increases the pleasure, richness, and value of life.
|
From page 5... ...
String theory solves this problem by picturing particles as extremely tiny vibrating loops, with the details of their vibrations determining their properties and interactions. This simple idea, with the aid of recent theoretical developments, leads to a theory that is able to encompass all of the forces of nature in a unified and self-consistent manner, including for the first time gravity.
|
From page 6... ...
range, today's energy frontier. Research and Development Over the past half century, particle accelerators, particularly machines that bring two beams of particles into head-on collision (colliders)
|
From page 7... ...
Members of this community, traditionally some 2,000 strong, have played important and leading roles in obtaining incisive experimental results, coaxing innovative technologies into existence, and developing important breakthroughs in theory. One measure of excellence is the fact that many of the best students in the world choose to come to the United States for their graduate training.
|
From page 8... ...
Over the next two decades, questions of the greatest importance to understanding the universe at its most fundamental level will at last come within reach of experiment. How elementary particles acquire their mass and whether the known forces are simply manifestations of a single underlying force are two of the most significant issues that must be addressed in comprehending the world around us.
|
From page 9... ...
First, the remarkable success of the Standard Model ensures that the secret of electroweak symmetry breaking will be revealed at this scale. Second, the exciting idea of supersymmetry, which offers the hope of great insights into unification of all the forces of nature, predicts that a rich array of new particles can be produced.
|
From page 10... ...
The LHC will dramatically extend the energy reach, pushing beyond the TeV scale, where we know that the physics of electroweak symmetry breaking must appear. However, this report concludes that in the future, another collider will be required to complement or extend the range of the LHC and to explore fully the physics of the TeV scale.
|
From page 11... ...
The LHC will systematically explore a new energy regime, the TeV mass scale. LHC experiments will elucidate the mechanism of electroweak symmetry breaking, the central question of elementary-particle physics.
|
From page 12... ...
An electron linear collider would contribute important measurements complementary to those from the LHC toward understanding the fundamental physics of the TeV mass scale. In the past, lepton colliders have been essential complements to hadron colliders.
|
From page 13... ...
2. Recommendation for Addressing Important Fundamental Physics Problems Below the TeV Mass Scale The committee recommends strong support for a well-targeted program to study the fundamental particle physics that can best be explored with experiments below the TeV scale.
|
From page 14... ...
Although CP violation was discovered in the decays of K mesons containing the strange quark, there are still outstanding issues in the CP-violating decays of strange particles. Experiments using extremely intense kaon beams give unique information about CP violation.
|
From page 15... ...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 15 CONCLUSION The recommendations above, if adopted, should maintain U.S. leadership in the field of elementary-particle physics well into the next century.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.