Saturday 23 May 2009

Particle Physics Part 2 This article follows up from my previous introductory article on Particle Physics. In this, I will write about Fermions and Bosons, expand on the information that I gave in An introduction to Particle Physics about Quarks and Leptons and I will also touch upon how Albert Einstein made significant contributions to Physics. To begin with however, I will write about Fermions and Bosons. Physicists believe that all things are either a Fermion or a Boson. Fermions are particles that can't occupy the same space at one time which is why we can't walk through walls as we're made up of fermions. Bosons how ever, are forces (gravity, electromagnetism etc. etc.) which can occupy the same space at one time. For instance, gravity affects everything on Earth and electromagnetism is still present in on Earth as well. But now back to the fundamental particles. As far as we know, there are 12 fundamental particles (24 if you include anti-particles.)But it is at CERN where the Large Hadron Collider (the largest particle accelerator in the world) is trying to find some more particles. By smashing the quarks together, they may brake down into smaller particles. This is an example of an accelerator. However, there is no point in doing this if you can't see the particles which are created. Detectors do this. Although we can't actually see a particle, these detectors pick up on the tracks they leave behind after the collision and where they have travelled. Tiny details like these can piece together what happened during the collision. Finally, I will end with Albert Einstein - the greatest scientist in the history of mankind. To begin with, you must know that Einstein was very religious. He believed that God had created a universe where everything had an answer. With his General Theory of Relativity, Einstein had (accidentally) created a new field of Physics, Quantum Mechanics. However, Einstein hated the Quantum Theory as it was based on probability which Einstein didn't believe in. This led to a debate which lasted for years with Niels Bohr - another brilliant scientist who led Quantum Mechanics of that time. Einstein's achievements include: - Special Relativity (which states that the speed of light is always constant and that everything else depends on the speed that you are travelling.) - General Relativity (his theory on gravity which made him a celebrity) - The Theory of Everything (which he never completed. He was trying to discover an equation which would prove that everything was predictable (as goes with his religious belief that everything had an answer) and that Quantum Mechanics was wrong.) - His nobel prize for his contributions to Physics and for his photoelectric effect (the idea that photons(light) could also be particles as well as waves.)