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It has been called a 'Big Bang Machine', but what is the Large Hadron Collider and what do scientists hope it will discover? Presented by Robert Llewellyn, the three video tracks in this album address the science of collisions, the purpose of particle acceleration and the construction of the LHC at CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, in Geneva. This cutting edge machine may detect the elusive Higgs boson, and with it reveal the origin of mass, the missing piece in our understanding of matter. If it succeeds, it will begin the next era of research into the nature of the universe. This material forms part of The Open University course S207 The physical world.
Track 3: Particle collisions
Professors Frank Close and Tejinder Virdee explain why physicists smash particles together and what happens in a particle collision
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Tracks in this podcast:
| Track | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The physical world: collisions | An introduction to this album Play now The physical world: collisions |
| 2 | Accident investigation | At the scene of a vehicle collision, both the physical evidence and the laws of physics, help police establish precisely what happened Play now Accident investigation |
| 3 | Particle collisions | Professors Frank Close and Tejinder Virdee explain why physicists smash particles together and what happens in a particle collision Play now Particle collisions |
| 4 | The Large Hadron Collider | The biggest scientific experiment ever constructed. How will the machine work and what is the holy grail in particle physics today? Play now The Large Hadron Collider |
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