High-Energy Physics
A representation of a high momentum mono-jet event as recorded by the ATLAS detector at CERN.
The High-Energy Physics Group (HEP) at the University of Adelaide are experts in both experimental and theoretical research.
Our research focuses on studying physics at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and theories of Beyond the Standard Model physics. HEP is also home to the Adelaide node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Particle Physics at the Terascale (CoEPP).
The search for new physics
The fundamental (or elementary) particles plus the four known forces summarise our current understanding of the Universe. These are:
- gravity;
- electromagnetism;
- the weak interaction; and
- the strong interaction.
The last three forces have been combined into the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics.
The Standard Model successfully predicted the W and Z bosons, the top quark, the tau neutrino and, most recently, the Higgs boson (discovered in 2013). The Standard Model does not include dark matter, dark energy or gravity, so it is incomplete.
The search for additional evidence of new physics Beyond the Standard Model (BSM), and the development of new theories that extend the SM, such as supersymmetry (SUSY), are the core activities in modern high-energy physics.
What is high-energy physics?
High-energy physics (or particle physics) is the examination of the indivisible particles from which all matter is made, their interactions, and the forces which govern their behaviour.
Why is high-energy required?
In order to break apart the ever-smaller building blocks of matter, it is necessary to cause these constituents to collide with higher and higher energies, at speeds very close to the speed of light.
More information
For more information about the work we do, visit the Adelaide node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Particle Physics at the Terascale website.