Evento

Higgs Boson - The "God Particle" -- Mark Bonnard

The Higgs-boson (a.k.a. the "God" particle) is a subatomic particle long theorized to exist but which eluded physicists' best efforts to prove. Its discovery was the final proof of the validity of the Standard Model of Physics.

The importance of finding this missing link led to a 40 year search, and the construction of one of the world's most expensive and complex experimental facilities to date, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) near Geneva, Switzerland. This machine lies in a tunnel 17 miles in circumference and was built by an international consortium in collaboration with over 10,000 scientists and engineers from over 100 countries. It accelerates subatomic particles to nearly the speed of light in opposite directions and encourages them to collide. Their collisions re-create the conditions that existed at the creation of the universe, "The Big Bang"In this course, we will learn about subatomic particles and the inner workings of this amazing machine. We will also learn how the data obtained from the LHC was interpreted to show the existence of the Higgs boson particle, and why it was so important to provide this missing piece to the "Standard Model" of physics.

Before your eyes glaze over, consider that Mark Bonnard, our instructor, recently received rave reviews for his LLCC course, Discovering the Universe. "He makes complicated science come alive and understandable" said one of the class participants. This is a course for laypeople. No prior knowledge of the science of particle physics is necessary to understand and enjoy this course.

Mark Bonnard is a retired high school physics and astronomy teacher. He is an amateur astronomer and has been involved in educational programs in high energy physics sponsored by the National Science Foundation at the Fermi National Laboratory near Chicago, and The European Council for Nuclear Research ( CERN ) outside of Geneva, Switzerland, for over 15 years. He has given numerous talks on various aspects of astronomy and particle physics.

Thursday, December 10, 2015, 10am-12noon United Methodist Church in SLO

If you would like to have the password for the member price for this course, go to www.lifelearnerscc.org for information on how you can become a member.