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Physics: The Beauty of Acceleration

All the charm of a science devoted to unveiling, resolving and deciphering the phenomena of perceptible reality.

A discipline that constitutes a way of thinking.

galileo galilei
Galileo Galilei, considered the father of the scientific method.

Since Galileo the natural world has always been interpreted by a set of mathematical laws that could describe its behavior. The Standard Model (SM) is one of the most complete accomplishments of these interpretation efforts. It describes the interactions of the forces of nature, with the exception of gravity. The Higgs boson, a missing piece of this theory, gives mass to the particles of the SM and was finally discovered at CERN in 2012 after decades of research.

So why do we continue to research and invest in new and powerful accelerators?
Is particle physics really coming to an end?

No, it’s not finished yet!

 
We are crossing uncharted terrains. Many aspects of physics, such as the mass of neutrinos, dark matter, and dark energy, require new answers.

The strategy is clear: an accelerator, in which electrons and positrons will collide at an energy never reached before by humanity, will be used to extend our knowledge of the fundamental building blocks of the SM. We will investigate the Higgs Boson and its interactions to understand its real nature.
This will be followed by other accelerators that will allow us to explore new frontiers of energy, giving us the access to all those particles that, till now, have been undetectable.
To fully achieve this, both theoretical techniques and technology need a qualitative leap forward.
Superconducting magnets, compact detectors, handling huge amounts of data are some of the challenges for the future of science and society, akin to space missions.

INFN: Our "Wonderland"

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