Guest: Elisabeth Petit, CNRS researcher at the Centre de Physique des Particules de Marseille (Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS/IN2P3), CNRS 2022 bronze medallist, member of the ATLAS collaboration at CERN
How do we exist? What is this matter that constitutes us and everything that 'is' in the universe? How far can it be broken down? Where does mass come from? Why do we have to build gigantic machines to see the infinitely small?
For just over a century, particle physics has been attempting to understand the most elementary constituents of matter, measure their properties and understand their interactions.
To achieve this, teams in the research laboratories design and build state-of-the-art detection systems, often operating in extreme conditions: under the sea, in space or underground. Most of this research is carried out as part of international collaborations involving several thousand people.
Come and discuss this invisible zoo: quarks, electrons, Higgs bosons, neutrinos, etc.
Whether you're a specialist or a novice, the Cafés des Sciences are for everyone who's curious about science.
Restaurant Françoise, 6 - rue du Gal Leclerc - Avignon
8.30pm - 10.30pm
Free admission