Do You Give a Fig About the Higgs Boson?

Last week, two groups of physicists working at the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, Switzerland, banged the right material together at the right time and at the right speed and discovered a new, elementary particle that may explain creation of our universe as we know it.

After many billions of dollars, brain cells, and scientific egos were expended in the search for the so-called Higgs boson, many in the science world are hailing the discovery as Nobel worthy and the key to many elusive answers about who we are, how we got here and why footballs bounce as they do.

The discovery sent waves of excitement through the scientific community and the science minded the world over. Since our readership boasts many curious and far-thinking folk, we pass along an offer to join several local physicists at UC Berkeley this Friday for a free panel discussion of the importance of Higgs boson.

The free public lecture and panel discussion, “The Higgs Boson Explained: What is the Higgs and Why is Everyone So Excited About it?” centers on the search for the “God particle” and its importance. UC Berkeley physicists will explain what the Higgs is, why it was predicted and how a Higgs-like particle was proven to exist.

WHEN: Noon, Friday, July 13

WHERE: 2050 Valley Life Sciences Building (Chan Shun Auditorium), UC Berkeley campus (see map)

WHO:

•          Beate Heinemann, an experimental physicist, UC Berkeley associate professor of physics and member of the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider run by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN)
•          Lawrence Hall, a theoretical physicist, UC Berkeley professor of physics and former director of the Berkeley Center for Theoretical Physics
•          Marjorie Shapiro, UC Berkeley professor of physics and member of the ATLAS experiment
•          Josh Ruderman, a Miller Post-Doctoral Fellow in UC Berkeley’s Department of Physics
•          Louise Skinnari, UC Berkeley Ph.D. student and ATLAS experiment member

After short presentations by Heinemann and Hall, Mark Richards, executive dean of the College of Letters & Science, will moderate a discussion among all five physicists.

All members of the campus community and the public are invited to attend.