Events > Details - Big Bang 2.0 in Switzerland

Events

Title:: Big Bang 2.0 in Switzerland
When:: March 25, 2010 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Where:: Carnegie Institution for Science - Washington

Description

News following the event:
Scientists at CERN have successfully collided proton beams at record-shattering energy levels of 7 TeV.

At a Seminal Moment in Physics: Swiss Embassy Event in Washington Highlights Breakthroughs Expected From CERN
On March 25, the cusp of what one participant called “a seminal moment in world particle physics,” the Embassy of Switzerland hosted an event at the Carnegie Institute in Washington, D.C. to explain to over 400 gathered guests the nature of the research going on underneath the ground near Geneva at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research.

The event, “Big Bang 2.0,” featured a panel of top scientists involved in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which has been called the largest science experiment ever and is designed to collide particles at energies that will give scientists insights into the origin of the universe. The event was held just before CERN successfully ramped up the LHC on March 30 to conduct particle collisions at the record-breaking energies of 7 TeV. This breakthrough marks the promise of new data and discoveries at a rate previously unknown.

“This is a seminal moment in world particle physics,” said Dr. Ian Shipsey, Distinguished Professor of Physics at Purdue University,” like the time Galileo pointed his telescope to the stars.” This sentiment was echoed by Dr. Felicitas Pauss, coordinator for External Relations at CERN, who said that the project “will illuminate a new landscape of physics and answer some of our most fundamental questions.” Discoveries could include the origin of mass, a new formula for matter, as well as the presence of extra dimensions. “Data is already being produce at an enormous rate,” reported Dr. Mark Trodden, Professor of Physics at the University of Pennylvania, referring to collisions at speeds of the 2.36 TeV which were conducted in preparation for the ramp up to 7.0 TeV

In addition to its scientific potential, the LHC project also provides, according to the participants, a unique collaborative opportunity. Urs Ziswiler, Ambassador of Switzerland and host of the event, noted that “science goes beyond individual countries’ borders. There are so many bright minds out there and it must be our goal to offer them a platform to work together successfully.” Dr. Pauss echoed this theme, saying that participating in CERN is like participating in a large symphony. “The research is truly collaborative and each part must be done to perfection by its player.” About 10,000 collaborators are involved in the CERN project.

The event also included Dr. Alan Leshner, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Executive Publisher of Science, Dr. William Brinkman, Director of the Office of Science in the U.S. Department of Energy, and Astronaut Captain Mark Edward Kelly. The discussion was followed by a reception and the a screening of the thriller movie "Angels and Demons". The event was sponsored by the Embassy of Switzerland as part of the U.S.-wide program "ThinkSwiss - Brainstorm the Future". As a leading country in science, research and technology, Switzerland is working with American counterparts to address key global issues to better understand trends and explore solutions. The ThinkSwiss program is produced under the auspices of the Swiss Confederation.

Iconologist Blog, Washington, D.C.

Dr. Meserve, Director, Carnegie Institution for Science (opening remarks)
Urs Ziswiler, Ambassador of Switzerland (opening remarks)
Dr. Felicitas Pauss, Head of External Relations at CERN
Dr. William Brinkman, Director of the Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy
Prof. Mark Trodden, Co-Director, Center for Particle Cosmology, University of Pennsylvania
Prof. Ian Shipsey, Co-Leader of the LHC Physics Center at Fermilab
Moderated by Dr. Alan Leshner, CEO of AAAS and Executive Publisher of Science

Ambassador Ziswiler arrived in Washington, D.C. as Swiss Ambassador to the United States in May 2006. Prior to his current posting, he served as Head of the Political Directorate in Bern, the second highest ranking diplomat in the Swiss Foreign Service. His career led him from the World Bank to the International Committee of the Red Cross, EFTA, and to head the Political Division for Human Rights. Previous postings include the European Union, the Balkans, Argentina, Israel and Nigeria. Ambassador Ziswiler is fluent in German, English, French, Spanish and Italian and speaks basic Arabic.

Dr. Richard A. Meserve became the ninth president of the Carnegie Institution for Science in 2003. Previously, Dr. Meserve served as Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) under both Presidents Clinton and Bush. Meserve has served on numerous legal and scientific committees over the years, including many established by the National Academies of Sciences and Engineering. He also currently serves as Chairman of the International Nuclear Safety Group, which is chartered by the International Atomic Energy Agency, and as a member of the National Commission on Energy Policy.

Dr. William F. Brinkman was confirmed by the Senate on June 19, 2009 and sworn in on June 30, 2009 as the Director of the Office of Science in the U.S. Department of Energy. The Office of Science is the Federal Government’s largest single funder of materials and chemical sciences, and it supports unique and vital parts of U.S. research in climate change, geophysics, genomics, life sciences, and science education. Dr. Brinkman brings decades of experience in managing scientific research in government, academia, and the private sector to the post. He previously held prominent positions at Bell Laboratories and serves as a senior research physicist in the Department of Physics at Princeton University.

Dr. Alan Leshner has been Chief Executive Officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Executive Publisher of the journal Science since December 2001. Before coming to AAAS, Dr. Leshner was Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) from 1994-2001. He had previously held positions at the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Science Foundation. The President recently appointed Dr. Leshner to the National Science Board, and he represents AAAS on the U.S. Commission for UNESCO.

Prof. Dr. Felicitas Pauss is the Coordinator for External Relations at CERN, Geneva, and Professor for Experimental Particle Physics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich) in Switzerland. Her research activities concentrate on two main fields: Particle Physics at the High-Energy Frontier and Astroparticle Physics, addressing fundamental open questions about the structure of the Universe and the underlying mechanisms that govern its evolution. From 1997 till 2007 she was Director of the Institute for Particle Physics of ETH Zurich. Since January 2009, she is in charge of coordinating CERN’s external relations.

Dr. Ian Shipsey is the Julian Schwinger Distinguished Professor of Physics at Purdue University. He received a B.Sc. from Queen Mary, London in 1982 and a Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh in 1986. He was a post doctoral fellow and research professor at Syracuse University before joining Purdue in 1990. For most of his career, Professor Shipsey has studied the fundamental particles known as quarks. He is the co-coordinator of the LHC Physics Center at Fermi National Laboratory near Chicago. He is also one of the nearly 3,000 members of the Compact Muon Solenoid Experiment (CMS) at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland.

Dr. Mark Trodden is the Fay R. and Eugene L. Langberg Professor of Physics and Co-Director of the Center for Particle Cosmology at the University of Pennsylvania. He works at the interface of cosmology and particle physics theory in constructing and investigating models that may shed light on the fundamental physics origins of dark matter, dark energy, the early cosmos and other physics beyond the Standard Model.

Captain Mark Edward Kelly is an American Astronaut. NASA has selected Kelly to command STS-134, the penultimate scheduled mission of the space shuttle program that is planned for July 2010. The mission will deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02) to the International Space Station. This will be his fourth mission in space and second as mission commander. Before joining NASA in 1996, Kelly was a pilot in the US Navy. His twin brother, Scott J. Kelly, is also a NASA astronaut. The Kelly brothers are the only twins who have both travelled in space.

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