More than a half-dozen Nobel Prize winners coming to 窪蹋勛圖厙 campus to mark 50 years since seminal theory began to emerge
Every October, the worlds largest and most prestigious group of physicists gathers in Stockholm, Sweden, to honor those among their ranks who will join a century-old pantheon of . This June, Cleveland could give Stockholm a run for its Nobel presence. As many as eight former winners of the Nobel Prize for Physics are expected on the 窪蹋勛圖厙 campus to mark the 50th anniversary of the Standard Model of Physics. That foundational theoretical model coalesced in 1967-68 and has gradually become accepted as the best explanation of all matter and how it holds together. An array of speakers at the June 1-4 symposium, The Standard Model at 50, will provide a broad retrospective and forward-looking view of the theory. A free public lecture by winner , titled The Standard Model and Beyond, will be held at 5 p.m. Sunday, June 3, in the Tinkham Veale University Center. Tickets are not required for this event, but attendees are requested to The list includes 1979 Nobel laureate , whose 1967 paper, A Model of Leptons, is considered a cornerstone of the Standard Model and in the last half-century. We know that the Standard Model is correctbut with limitations, said Weinberg, from his office at the University of Texas, where he still teaches physics and astronomy. Hell give the concluding talk at the symposium. In the years after I wrote my first paper, people thought it would fall into place and be resolved quickly, he said. But astronomers tell us that five-sixths of the universe is dark matter that doesnt interact with light, and thats left out of the Standard Model, so weve still got a ways to go.A whos who of physics
Several other contributors to the Standard Model in its present state are expected at the symposium, including:- 1984 Nobel Prize winner of Italy, one of the experimental particle researchers who proposed and proved the existence of "W" and "Z" particles by arranging for protons and antiprotons to collide at very high energies,
- , of Japan, won the prize in 2015 for for the discovery of neutrino oscillations, which shows that neutrinos have mass;
- And others, including: (1999 winner) and (1976), as well as more than a dozen other speakers and panelists, many of whom won other science accolades such as the .
What is the Standard Model?
The Standard Modela dull name for the most accurate scientific theory known to humans, as Starkman called it in a recent essayforms the underpinning for much of modern science. The theory essentially details the three basic forces of particle physicsthe electromagnetic force, the weak force and the strong force. That includes the 2012 discovery of the Higgs boson particle, sometimes called the God particle. That long-hoped-for event and became one of those moments when the complicated science of physics intersected with a mostly science-challenged public, Starkman said. But as Starkman points out, the Standard Model itself still has a bit of a branding problem. A lot of people dont realize how important the Standard Model is, he said, until something like Higgs boson grabs their attention. We hope to show just how vital it has been for half a century.For more information, contact Mike Scott at mike.scott@case.edu. This article was originally published May 15, 2018.
