Micro-cosmos - Researching the Building Blocks of Our World

Horvath, Zalan

It was not until the 20^th century that the structure of the atoms discovered, moreover, experiments led to the discovery of yet more particles. Atomic physics was followed by nuclear physics that in turn lead to elementary particle physics.
The substance of the Universe is built of atoms, which are made up of electrons and nuclei. The nuclei are made of protons and neutrons whose particles are made of three, so-called quarks. The picture is completed by a neutral particle with no structure: the neutrino. These four particles are needed to build the ordinary material world surrounding us.
Besides these, there are less ordinary forms of matter which exist, but cannot be seen: cosmic radiation coming from space, the high-energy matter which we create in our laboratories, and the 'reflection' of all of these, the anti-matter.
The lecture presents the characteristics of these particles, as well as those responsible for the interaction between them.

About the lecturer