Successful Theory of Physics

The Standard Model of elementary particle physics, which describes the fundamental building blocks of all matter, antimatter, and the interactions between them, is considered one of - if not the - most successful theory in physics. For over 60 years, it has been able to describe observations on the smallest scales in the proton and on the largest scales in the universe. Nevertheless, the search for physics beyond the Standard Model is at least as exciting as the Standard Model itself. Since the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012, new data are constantly being generated and analyzed; intensive work is also being done to improve measurement techniques. Thus, more and more properties of the 30th building block of the Standard Model can be measured with increasing precision.

Experiments in XLAB on various aspects of nuclear and particle physics characterized the 3-day teacher training course. Participants discovered how much particle physics is in the school curriculum or how close the school curriculum is to particle physics. Low-cost cloud chambers were built for the teachers to take them back to their schools along with their new knowledge and ideas.

Another highlight of the training was a lecture and institute tour with active particle physicists at the University of Göttingen: Professor Arnulf Quadt and Professor Stan Lai with their working groups are significantly involved in the research and development work at the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) at CERN. The technical lecture "10 years of the Higgs boson" was given by Steffen Korn MSc.