10 years!After the "God particles" era, Chinese scientists want to sit forward

The following article comes from WeChat public account: China Science Journal, author Ni Sijie

Text ｜ "China Science News" reporter Ni Sijie

Throughout overnight, Huang Yanping was ranked in the long line.

On July 4, 2012, Geneva ushered in the first ray of the early morning. At this time, the winding long line was arranged outside the European Nuclear Center (CERN) main hall. Waiting here is a physicist from various countries.

As soon as the door opened, they restrained their inner impulses and "seized" their seats in the quieter, civilization, and orderly way.

As a member of the international cooperation group, Huang Yanping did not think that he would take a higher position. When he entered the door, he saw a seat in the back row and sat down.

At 9 am, a blockbuster news was sent to the world: ATLAS (superconducting ring detectors) and CMS (compact Miaozi coil) experimental group of large strong strong collisions and found that they were known as the "God particles "Higgs particles!

At that moment, in the intangible particle physics academic world, another door opened, and the competition was also quiet, civilized, and exciting. The difference is that Chinese physicists are trying to find a more advanced seat.

glory

Talking about his experience ten years ago, Huang Yanping was still very happy. At the beginning, the glory in the CERN auditorium belonged to her.

In May 2012, Huang Yanping went out of the post of doctoral post -doctoral stations from the Institute of High Energy Physics (hereinafter referred to as the high energy institute) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Essence

LHC is a collision lying in a 27 -kilometer ring tunnel. Huang Yanping participated in ATLAS experiments based on one of the four major LHC detectors. Atlas means "map book" in English.

This detector can measure the energy, life, charge and other parameters of the collision of various particles. Based on these parameters, particle physicists can judge which particles they collide. Because of this, it has become the "guide" and "map" looking for new particles.

There is also a larger "map" in the field of particle physics -particle physical standard model. There are 61 basic particles in the model. Among them, 60 basic particles were verified one by one, leaving only one kind of Higgs particles with quality for particles.

Huang Yanping did not expect that she had only worked for two months in ATLAS and became one of the earliest "luckyrs" to see the signs of Higgs particles.

Like many particle physicists, this incident has given Huang Yanping's confidence in continuing to study Higgs particles. Since then, she has moved around the University of Wisconsin, CERN, and Germany's Electronic Synchronous Accelerator Research Institute, and finally returned to the High Energy Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2016. Today, she has become a special -appointed young researcher.

Huang Yanping's photo interviewees during the work of the Institute of Electronic Synchronization Accelerator in Germany

undercurrent

Chen Mingshui, a researcher at High Energy Institute, participated in the CMS experiment.

Compared to ATLAS, CMS is much smaller. It can better measure the crickets generated after the mass of the proton impact through a stronger magnetic field coil.

In 2006, Chen Mingshui, who was a doctoral student, came to CMS for the first time, in order to assemble the Miaozi detector developed by High Energy CMS and complete the debugging.

Under the leadership of the team leader of the High Energy Institute, under the leadership of the team leader of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the high energy institute, in the first ten years, he made a substantial contribution to the construction, upgrade and grid computing of detectors.

For Chen Mingshui, 2012 is like a feast of particle physics. On March 8, 2012, my country's Dalo Bay neutral experiment discovered the third oscillation mode of neutrinos, which opened the door of the physical development of neutrinos; a few months later, LHC discovered the Higgs particles and opened it again. The door of Ges particle research.

After the feast was opened, Chen Mingshui could clearly feel that the dark tide of particle physics is surging, and everyone is considering how to go next.

Chen Mingshui's life also surged with the trend. His High Energy Institute condensed the long -term core scientific goals of ATLAS and CMS research into the research on the interaction of Higgs particles. He also grew up to the head of the CMS group of the High Energy Institute, leading the CMS group of the High Energy Institute to complete the latest joint analysis results related to Higgs's self -coupling.

In 2006, Chen Mingshui (first left in the front row) participated in the cathode bar Miaozi detector on -site installation photos of the cathode bar Miaozi detective developed by High Energy Institute

Knot

In addition to discovering two main detectors of Higgs particles, there are also many particle physicists from universities in Chinese colleges in China.

Over the years, as the dean of the School of Physics of Peking University, Academician Ning Ning has led the Chinese team to participate in another detector on the LHC -Datak Experiment (LHCB).

In ten years, he witnessed the overall development of the Chinese team in the LHC international cooperation group.

"By 2021, there are more than 500 members of the LHC China group." Plateau Ning told the China Science News.

Such development has made the plateau Ning be happy and worried. I am happy that the LHC China group is producing more and more good results, and the attention of international peers is worried. The Chinese team's team is expanding and the results are increasing, but the physical contribution to LHC has not changed much.

Since the discovery of Higgs particles, LHC has upgraded and transformed in the second round of operation, and has just started the third round of operation. In the past ten years, the Chinese group does not have no physical contribution. For example, the Chinese team led by High Energy has successfully developed a new collision area superconducting magnet for the LHC accelerator upgrade project, and dominated the new high -particle size and high time to distinguish the detector project project. Develop. However, compared with the total investment of LHC, these contributions still account for only 1%. 1%, almost the knot of Chinese scientists participating in LHC.

"It was 1%ten years ago and 1%later. From the perspective of international counterparts, we seemed to want to" pick peaches'. They built a installation. We go directly to the physical analysis and publishing results. "Chen Mingshui said Essence

Not only that, without investing, it is difficult for Chinese scientists to have the right to speak in a huge international cooperation system. "Our investment in the development of the detector is still scattered, not very influential." Plateau would confess.

Another way

In addition to participating in international cooperation, for ten years, Chinese particle physicists are still trying to take another way- "I am the main" to carry out international cooperation in Higgs particle research.

The discovery of the Higgs particles, although opened an invisible door, did not solve all confusion. New questions and curiosity have made global particle physicists have a common dream: building a "factory" that can produce Higgs particles, and in -depth research on the nature of Higgs particles.

In terms of the construction of the "Higgs Factory", Chinese particle physicists are in front of the world.

In September 2012, a Chinese particle physicist represented by Wang Yifang, the director of the Gao Energy Institute and the academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, officially proposed the CEPC-SPPC concept to plan to build a ring pair of 100 kilometers per week in China and more than 100 meters underground. Higgas factory.

Cepc-SPPC's proposal has changed the life of many Chinese particle physicists. Gao Jie, a researcher at High Energy Institute, is one of them.

Gao Jie used to be a lifelong researcher at the French State Scientific Research Center Straight Accelerator Research Institute. Since 1992, his research work has been focusing on the future positive and negative line collision design with the goal of discovering and studying Higgs particles. On key physical issues of crash accelerators. In 2005, Gao Jie joined Gao Energy.

Prior to the announcement of Higgs particles, physicists speculated that Higgs particles may have high energy, so everyone is more inclined to pay attention to the positive and negative electronic straight collision that can generate higher collision energy. In 2010, Gao Jie became the chairman of the Asian International Straight Campaign (ILC) Guidance Committee. ILC's goal was to find and study Higgs particles.

However, after the physicist confirmed that the energy of Higgs particles was not as high as expected, the advantages of the ring collision machine also appeared. The proposal of CEPC-SPPC's idea that Gao Jie almost turned all his energy to the research of the ring collision machine.

Gao Jie's office has a poster of an international seminar all year round, and the word "Higgs" (Higgs "on the poster is very eye -catching. Interviewee confidence

Seat

In 2016, CEPC-SPPC aroused social concerns because of the opposition of Nobel Prize winner Yang Zhenning and others.

When the domestic science and social field dispute over the "Should build a super collision machine in China", in 2020, the CERN Council passed the "European particle Physics 2020 Strategy", and proposed a similar plan to CEPC-SPPC, that is,, that is, The "Higgs Factory" based on the positive electronic collision is "the highest priority future collision project" and hopes to build a proton collision with as high as possible.

At this time, there are three international "Higgs Factory" programs in the international competitive state-China's CEPC-SPPC, ILC actively fighting for construction, and the future ring-shaped collision (FCCEE) planned by CERN planning.

Today, Gao Jie is one of the deputy chairman of the CEPC Institutional Committee and the head of the CEPC ring accelerator. He used "Bai Fei" and "Fighting" to describe the international competition trend of the "Higgs Factory" and Higgs particles in the past ten years.

He told the Journal of China that in 2018, CEPC completed the "Concept Design Report". At present, it has achieved a breakthrough in important key technical pre -research results and technical bottlenecks. The "Technical Design Report" will be completed by the end of this year. In the "report" stage, prepare for construction.

As the advocate of CEPC, Wang Yifang once publicly said: "If the particle physics of China has done CEPC, I will do my responsibility. This is from the perspective of planning. I may not see its major scientific achievements, There is no chance to do research on it. "

In the dispute, knowing that they may not have the opportunity to do research on CEPC, they still insist on promoting CEPC. They held a lot of energy in their hearts: When the door to the next academic hall opened, China would occupy a place in a more advanced position.

This article was reproduced from WeChat public account by authorization: Chinese Science Journal Author: Ni Sijie

Reprinted content only represents the author's point of view

---

It does not represent the high energy office of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

Edit: Li Chuang

---

- END -