Events, News, Publications
“Strange animals” in the spotlight
When protons or ions collide with targets or each other, they produce lots of new particles. Some of these are wanted, some are unwanted, but whatever their desired status – they need to be well understood. Neutrons, which belong to these products, are a particular challenge. Their characteristics such as their energy, direction and number are a pain to measure, but knowing them well brings many advantages to various branches of science and its applications. A novel experimental approach based on a new neutron spectrometer recently tested by members of the Laboratory for High-Energy Physics at the University of Bern in collaboration with Politecnico di Milano and its spin-off company Raylab yields promising results that appear to be even more versatile than expected.
Image: U. Bern
No axion action
Beam EDM experiment searches for dark matter with precision measurements
Image: F. Piegsa
Looking for just that little bit of difference
Experiment at PSI examines the properties of the neutron using very special equipment
Image: G.Bison/PSI
In search of a global solution to a global problem
Researchers organize sustainability workshop to reduce the scientific carbon footprint
Image: CERN
Restarting the LHC: a new era of physics data
After three years of a scheduled break, the Large Hadron Collider LHC at CERN is back at full throttle, accelerating particle beams at record energies and since 5 July 2022 producing first collisions for physics analyses. Institutes from all over Switzerland have contributed to the upgrading of the enormous particle physics complex and scientists are keen to their hands on the new data it will produce in its new run.
Image: Brice, Maximilien CERN
Hopp Higgs!
Ten years ago, on 4 July 2012, the ATLAS and CMS collaborations cautiously announced the discovery of a particle “consistent with the Higgs boson” at CERN. In the end it turned out to *be* the Higgs boson, the particle that had been predicted by theorists nearly forty years earlier. What was it like to witness the announcement of one of the discoveries of the century? And what have we learned about the mysterious Higgs in the ten years since?
Image: FERMILAB
The symmetries of the very big and very small
EPFL graduate Guillaume Pietrzyk wins CHIPP PhD prize
Image: Gaëlle Khreich IJCLab
Making (gravitational) waves in Switzerland
In Switzerland, gravitational waves go a long way. Not only were they predicted by Albert Einstein in his famous general theory of relativity; Swiss researchers have been involved in attempts to detect gravitational waves from the very beginning and are keen to lend their expertise, including from particle physics, to future projects as well. Here’s an update about the current state of research…
Image: Bild: R. Williams (STScI), Hubble Deep Field Team und NASA
Isotope factory and experimental arena
For cancer patients, every day counts. Imagine one could skip one step in the cancer diagnosis and treatment process and do both at the same time: finding out where the tumor is and attacking it right away. A team at the University of Bern, which runs its own medical cyclotron laboratory, is currently working on exactly that. Their cyclotron is a proper workhorse for science. During the night, it produces medical isotopes for cancer diagnostics. During the day, it sidelines as a test facility for particle physics and multi-disciplinary scientific activities.
Image: Uni Bern.