A lot of information about accelerators, detectors, particles and the
Standard Model is found in Hands on CERN, but it is an advantage to
have a textbook in particle physics to consult.
A few hours with Hands on CERN
Examine how the massive Z particle decays with the help
of interactive particle collisions from the DELPHI experiment at
CERN. The Z particle decays so quickly (within around 10-24
s) that we only can observe the decay products.
- Have a look at particle detectors (Detectors)
- Have a look at accelerators (Accelerator)
- Have a look at animations of typical Z decays (Event Types)
- Look at some real events (particle collisions) where the Z0
has been produced and identify the different decays into
quarks and leptons
- Read about quarks, leptons and the Z particle (Standard Model)
- Visit CERN (where the Z and W particles were discovered) via
Internet
A day or two with Hands on CERN
Examine more in detail and more quantitatively how the
massive Z particles decay with the help of interactive particle
collisions from the DELPHI experiment at CERN.The Z particle decay so
quickly (within around 10-24 s) that we only can observe
the decay products. Determine how often the Z0 particle
decays into quarks and the different types of leptons (electron, muon
and taulepton). For a shool class the large number of events (use
several hundred) could be split among the students. The final result
could be based on the results of everybody. (What is the advantage of
adding everybody's results?)
- Have a look at particle detectors (Detectors)
- Have a look at accelerators (Accelerator)
- Have a look at animations of typical Z decays (Event Types)
- Look at some real events (particle collisions) with Z0
decays and identify the different decays into quarks and leptons
- Read about quarks, leptons and the Z particle (Standard Model)
- Visit CERN and Fermilab (where the top quark was discovered in
1995) via Internet
Another day or two with Hands on CERN
Examine how the massive Z and W particles decay with the
help of interactive particle collisions from the DELPHI experiment at
CERN. Both the W and the Z particle decay so quickly (within around
10-24 s) that we only can observe the decay products. Try
to identify how the Z0 and W particle decays into quarks
and the different types of leptons.
- Have a look at particle detectors (Detectors)
- Have a look at accelerators (Accelerator)
- Have a look at animations of typical Z and W decays (Event Types)
- Look at some real events (particle collisions) where the Z0
has been produced and identify the different decays into quarks
and leptons
- Read about quarks, leptons and the Z and W particle (Standard Model)
- Visit CERN and SLAC (where the tau lepton was discoverd) via Internet