Talks and shows

Particle physics made easy: from past successes to remaining challenges

Event image by Girl with Red Hat on Unsplash

What are the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and its huge detectors used for and how do they work?

How do we know that dark matter exists?

Could we be at the dawn of a huge revolution in our conception of the material world that surrounds us?

Join Pauline Gagnon as she explores these questions and the current ongoing research at CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics.

The creativity, diversity and motivation of thousand scientists have gone into CERN, and ensured the success of one of the largest scientific projects ever undertaken. It has led to scientists being able to describe the smallest constituents of matter, and the role of the Higgs boson.

The talk will explore the world of particle physics, spanning the infinitesimally small to the infinitely large. 

Copies of Pauline's latest book 'Who Cares about Particle Physics?: Making Sense of the Higgs Boson, the Large Hadron Collider and CERN' will be available to purchase at the end of the talk.

Event type

This is a theatre only event where the speakers and audience are together in our Theatre.

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For any queries regarding this event please get in touch by phone 020 7409 2992 or email events@ri.ac.uk.

About the Speaker: Pauline Gagnon

Pauline Gagnon
Images by Richard Mitnick via Science Springs

Pauline Gagnon first studied at San Francisco State University then completed a PhD in particle physics at University of California in Santa Cruz. Pauline then started research activities at CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics located near Geneva, where Pauline worked as a Senior Research Scientist with Indiana University until retirement in 2016.

Timing

Doors to the theatre will open at 6.45pm and the talk will begin at 7.00pm.

Accessibility

The event will take place on the first floor and there is step-free access from the street via lift.

The closest underground station is Green Park, which is step-free.

There is space at floor level in the theatre for wheelchair users.

Seating is usually unreserved for our events. If you and your group require seating reservations, please do let us know by emailing us at events@ri.ac.uk, and we’ll be more than happy to help.

Carers can receive a free ticket to an event by emailing events@ri.ac.uk.

Our theatre is equipped with an Audio Induction Loop. 

Covid guidelines

Face masks are no longer mandatory and wearing one in our Theatre and at other Ri events is at your discretion, however please do not attend the Ri if you are displaying Covid symptoms or, if you have tested, the result remains positive. Thank you for respecting other people and their choices, and for helping us keep all of our visitors and staff safe and well.

Event terms and conditions