O Bosão de Higgs

O Bosão de Higgs (Informação do CERN)

Prémios Nobel - (2) Peter Higgs e o belga François Englert

BósonPB ou BosãoPE de Higgs é uma partícula elementar bosônica prevista pelo Modelo Padrão de partículas, teoricamente surgida logo após ao Big Bang de escala maciça hipotética predita para validar o modelo padrão atual de partículas2 e provisoriamente confirmada em 14 de março de 2013.3 Representa a chave para explicar a origem da massa das outras partículas elementares. Todas as partículas conhecidas e previstas são divididas em duas classes: férmions (partículas com spin da metade de um número ímpar) e bósons (partículas com spin inteiro).

A compreensão dos fenômenos físicos que faz com que certas partículas elementares possuam massa e que haja diferença entre as forças eletromagnética (cuja interação é realizada pelos fótons) e a força fraca (cuja interação é feita pelos bósons W e Z) são críticas em muitos aspectos da estrutura da matéria microscópica e macroscópica; assim se existir, o bóson de Higgs terá um efeito enorme na compreensão do mundo em torno de nós.

O bóson de Higgs foi predito primeiramente em 1964 pelo físico britânico Peter Higgs, trabalhando as ideias de Philip Anderson. Entretanto, desde então não houve condições tecnológicas de buscar a possível existência do bóson até o funcionamento do Grande Colisor de Hádrons (LHC) meados de 2008. A faixa energética de procura do bóson foi se estreitando e, em dezembro de 2011, limites energéticos se encontram entre as faixas de 116-130 GeV, segundo a equipe ATLAS, e entre 115 e 127 GeV de acordo com o CMS.

Em 4 de julho de 2012, anunciou-se que uma partícula desconhecida e com massa entre 125 e 127 GeV/c2 foi detectada; físicos suspeitaram na época que se tratava do bóson de Higgs. Em março de 2013, provou-se que a partícula se comportava, interagia e decaía de acordo com as várias formas preditas pelo Modelo Padrão, além de provisoriamente provar-se que ela possuía paridade positiva e spin nulo, dois atributos fundamentais de um bóson de Higgs, indicando fortemente a existência da partícula.

Fora da comunidade científica, é mais conhecida como a partícula de Deus (do original God particle  ) devido ao fato desta partícula permitir que as demais possuam diferentes massas  - contudo, a tradução literária do inglês seria "a partícula-Deus". Segundo o físico brasileiro Marcelo Gleiser, o título surgiu com o livro do também físico Leon Lederman, que propôs à editora o título Goddamn particle (Partícula maldita), que não tem qualquer vinculação com Deus, e serviria para demonstrar sua frustração em não ter encontrado o bóson de Higgs. Porém Lederman foi convencido a aceitar a mudança por razões comerciais.9

Do CERN

Em julho de 2012, as colaborações ATLAS e CMS anunciaram que tinham descoberto uma nova partícula com uma massa de cerca de 125 GeV. Neste momento, utilizou-se o termo "Higgs tipo" para descrever a partícula cujas propriedades permanecem a ser estudado. Graças ao excelente desempenho do LHC, temos a máquina no segundo semestre de 2012, quatro vezes mais dados para 8 TeV que o volume utilizado na análise que levou à descoberta. Armado com estes dados, os experimentos foram presentes novos resulta em março de 2013, e as evidências disponíveis eram suficientes para nos dizer: Nós encontramos um "bóson de Higgs".

Novos resultados : A partícula é um boson de Higgs

No Moriond conferência , hoje e colaborações ATLAS CMSauprès Large Hadron Collider (LHC ) apresentaram novos resultados preliminares ainda identificar as propriedades da descoberta de partículas do ano passado. Após a análise de duas e meia vezes mais dados do que estava disponível no momento do anúncio da descoberta , em julho, os pesquisadores concluíram que a nova partícula parece mais e mais como um bóson de Higgs , a partícula ligada com o mecanismo que dá um peso de partículas elementares . No entanto, a questão permanece em aberto saber se este é realmente o bóson de Higgs do Modelo Padrão da física de partículas , ou melhor, um conjunto mais leve de bósons previstos em algumas teorias além do Modelo Padrão . Responder a esta pergunta vai levar tempo.

Que esta partícula pode ser considerado como um Higgs depende de como ele interage com outras partículas , e também as suas propriedades quânticas . Assim, o Higgs é assumida para ter de zero rotação, e no modelo padrão , de paridade, que é, como se comportar a sua imagem no espelho, deve ser positivo. CMS e ATLAS comparação várias hipóteses sobre as possíveis combinações de spin- paridade da partícula , e todos os itens estão disponíveis na direção da rotação de zero e paridade positiva. Se somarmos a isso as interações medidos entre a nova partícula e outras partículas , há um forte indício de que este é um bóson de Higgs .

"Os resultados preliminares sobre o conjunto de dados em 2012 são lindas, e para mim é claro que estamos lidando com um bóson de Higgs , mas ainda estamos longe de saber que tipo de bóson de Higgs é ", disse Joe Incandela , porta-voz do CMS.

"Estes resultados extraordinários são o resultado de um enorme esforço por muitas pessoas. Eles sugerem que a nova partícula teria as características de rotação e de paridade do bóson de Higgs esperado pelo Modelo Padrão. Nós já temos um bom começo para o programa de medidas no sector do Higgs " , diz Dave Charlton, porta-voz do ATLAS .

Para determinar se este é o bóson de Higgs do Modelo Padrão , a colaboração deve , por exemplo, medir com precisão a taxa de decaimento em outras partículas e comparar os resultados com as previsões . A detecção do bóson recém-descoberto é um evento muito raro - ele deve ter cerca de trilhões de colisões próton-próton para cada evento observado. Para caracterizar todos os modos de decadência, que terá um número muito maior de dados do LHC .

É tudo uma questão de spin

Por James Gillies

Os físicos e físicos presentes hoje na conferência Moriond , La Thuile (Itália), anunciou que a nova partícula descoberta no CERN no ano passado, parece cada vez mais como um bóson de Higgs . No entanto, analisa ainda são necessários antes que ele é categórico . Para identificar positivamente a partícula , é essencial analisar as suas propriedades minuciosamente e como ele interage com outras partículas . Desde o anúncio Julho passado , um volume muito maior de dados foi analisado , o que permite uma melhor compreensão das propriedades da descoberta de partícula .

A propriedade fundamental que vai dizer que é ou não é um spin Higgs. Se esta partícula tem zero de rotação, que é um Higgs. Caso contrário, é algo que pode ter uma influência sobre como é a gravidade. Todas as análises são conduzidas de modo muito forte na direcção de rotação de zero , mas não permitem eliminar definitivamente a possibilidade de que a partícula tem uma rotação igual a dois.

" Embora não tenhamos determinado com certeza o spin da partícula, diz Sergio Bertolucci , diretor de pesquisa do CERN , continuamos a falar de um tipo de partícula de Higgs . Podemos descrever o Higgs quando sabemos que tem zero de rotação. "

Mesmo quando partimos , ele permanecerá para ser feito. Se a nova partícula é um bóson , ele pode ser o Higgs previu na década de 1960 , o que completaria o Modelo Padrão da física de partículas , ou uma partícula mais exótico que nos levaria para além do Modelo Padrão . O desafio é imenso. O Modelo Padrão descreve toda a matéria visível no universo , incluindo o que somos feitos , mas não de 96% do universo que não vemos - o universo escuro. Para determinar o tipo de Higgs em questão , é necessário analisar cuidadosamente a interação da partícula com outras partículas , o que pode levar vários anos.

The Higgs Boson

All the known forces in the universe are manifestations of four fundamental forces, the strong, electromagnetic, weak, and gravitational forces. But why four? Why not just one master force? Those who joined the quest for a single unified master force declared that the first step toward unification had been achieved with the discovery of the discovery of the W and Z particles, the intermediate vector bosons, in 1983. 

This brought experimental verification of particles whose prediction had already contributed to the Nobel prize awarded to Weinberg, Salam, and Glashow in 1979. Combining the weak and electromagnetic forces into a unified "electroweak" force, these great advances in both theory and experiment provide encouragement for moving on to the next step, the "grand unification" necessary to include the strong interaction.

While electroweak unification was hailed as a great step forward, there remained a major conceptual problem. If the weak and electromagnetic forces are part of the same electroweak force, why is it that the exchange particle for the electromagnetic interaction, the photon, is massless while the W and Z have masses more than 80 times that of a proton! 

The electromagnetic and weak forces certainly do not look the same in the present low temperature universe, so there must have been some kind ofspontaneous symmetry breaking as the hot universe cooled enough that particle energies dropped below 100 GeV. The theories attribute the symmetry-breaking to a field called the Higgs field, and it requires a new boson, the Higgs boson, to mediate it.

Illustration courtesy Fermilab, D0 Experiment.

Early formulation of the theories estimated that the Higgs boson would have mass energy in excess of 1 TeV, making the energies for discovery almost unattainable on the earth.  Now, since the discovery of the top quark, there is tantalizing evidence that the Higgs boson may have energies in the range of a few hundred GeV and therefore within the range of present day accelerators.  At Fermilab, data from the D0 detector facility is used with the masses of the W and the T quark to estimate the mass of the Higgs boson. Suggestions that it may have a mass below 200 GeV have made it one of the high priorities for high energy physics.

Searching for the Higgs boson is one of the high priority objectives of theLarge Hadron Collider at CERN. At the end of 2011, the LHC results appear to limit the Higgs to between 114 and 145 GeV if it is to fit in the standard model of particle physics.

VIDEO - Scientists confirm 'God Particle' exists

VIDEO - The God Particle': The Higgs Boson

LHC - Acelerador de particulas

LHC - Acelerador de partículas

Os aceleradores de partículas LHC maiores e mais poderosas do mundo, é o último elo no complexo um "Localidade: Não embora tenhamos Determinado Certeza com o da rotação particula, Diz Sergio Bertolucci, o CERN fazer Diretor, Condições, continuamos Falar tem de hum Tipo de particula de Higgs. PODEMOS descrever when o Higgs sabemos que a temperatura zero Rotação 

LHC - Acelerador de particulas

Todos os sistemas do acelerador e sua infra-estrutura técnica de controle estão agrupados no Centro de Controle de CERN. É a partir deste centro que são desencadeadas as colisões de feixes no centro dos detectores de partículas .

Em 10 de março , os inspectores do CERN são reduzidos dentro do túnel do LHC. Sua missão ? Tome medidas de altura do LHC ímãs para observar a possível influência dos movimentos geológicos na máquina e ter uma posição de referência da máquina antes de as interconexões são abertos para conserto.

O túnel do LHC é conhecida por sua estabilidade : foi escavado entre as camadas de arenito e arenito e estabilidade geológica permitiu maiores aceleradores do mundo operar com precisão sub- milímetro. No entanto, até mesmo os túneis mais estáveis ​​pode ser afetada por eventos geológicos . Para garantir a precisão do alinhamento da equipe do LHC grande escala metrologia CERN realiza medições regulares da posição vertical ( uma operação chamada de " nivelamento " ) .

No mês passado, a equipe tomou medidas antes que a temperatura LHC ímãs superior a 100 K, sabendo que os movimentos mecânicos são possíveis acima deste limite. Uma vez que não foi possível obter dados durante a operação, estas medidas proporcionam a melhor indicação da posição da máquina durante o funcionamento que pode ter. A equipe aplicou a técnica chamada de "nivelamento rápido", que é a de medir um íman em dois tão rapidamente quanto possível, para evitar a influência das condições ambientais (gradientes de temperatura, as correntes de ar, etc). Perturbação o conjunto feito com o nível óptico. Isto engenheiros permitiu não só medir a altura de cada um desses imans, mas também para estabelecer imediato com a das comparações anteriores. Nenhuma realinhamento dos magnetes é feita nesta fase.

" Ao comparar essas medidas com as medidas de referência que tomamos durante o período de encerramento 2008-2009 , em breve será capaz de ter uma idéia clara de como os movimentos de solo pode afetar a máquina diz Dominique Missiaen , chefe da seção de BE para a metrologia em grande escala. Esta comparação permitem igualmente predizer qualquer desvio ou deterioração das posições relativas dos imanes . "

As seguintes medições de nivelamento da campanha será realizado no final do primeiro intervalo longo , uma vez que todo o trabalho sobre as interligações LHC são concluídos . Os técnicos vão realizar medições detalhadas da máquina, cada ímã LHC medir e ajustar a sua altura quando um desvio é detectado. "Este trabalho não é projetado principalmente para obter medidas perfeitas da máquina , mas para definir com precisão a posição de cada ímã em relação a seus vizinhos , diz Dominique Missiaen . Vamos garantir que os ímãs estão todos alinhados " caminho suave " para reiniciar a máquina , pois mesmo a menor diferença pode afetar a órbita do feixe.

LHC data to be made public via open access initiative
News from de CERN

LHC data are exotic, they are complicated and they are big. At peak performance, about one billion proton collisions take place every second inside the CMS detector at the LHC. CMS has collected around 64 petabytes (or over 64,000 terabytes) of analysable data from these collisions so far.

Along with the many published papers, these data constitute the scientific legacy of the CMS Collaboration, and preserving the data for future generations is of paramount importance. “We want to be able to re-analyse our data, even decades from now,” says Kati Lassila-Perini, head of the CMS Data Preservation and Open Access project at the Helsinki Institute of Physics. “We must make sure that we preserve not only the data but also the information on how to use them. To achieve this, we intend to make available through open access our data that are no longer under active analysis. This helps record the basic ingredients needed to guarantee that these data remain usable even when we are no longer working on them.”

CMS is now taking its first steps in making up to half of its data accessible to the public, in accordance with its policy for data preservation, re-use and open access. The first release will be made available in the second half of 2014, and will comprise of a portion of the data collected in 2010.

Although in principle providing open scientific data will allow potentially anyone to sift through them and perform analyses of their own, in practice doing so is very difficult: it takes CMS scientists working in groups and relying upon each others' expertise many months or even years to perform a single analysis that must then be scrutinised by the whole collaboration before a scientific paper can be published. A first-time analysis typically takes about a year from start of preparation to publication, not taking into account the six months it takes newcomers to learn the analysis software.

CMS therefore decided to study a concrete use-case for its open data by launching a pilot project aimed at education. This project, partially funded by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture, will share CMS data with Finnish high schools and integrate them into their physics curriculum. These data will be part of a general platform for open data provided by Finland’s IT Center for Science (the CSC).

CMS data are classified into four levels in increasing order of complexity of information. Level 1 encompasses any data included in CMS publications. In keeping with CERN’s commitment to open access publishing, all the data contained in these documents and any additional numerical data provided by CMS are open by definition. Level 2 data are small samples that are carefully selected for education programmes. They are limited in scope: while students get a feel for how physics analyses work, they cannot do any in-depth studies.

Level 3 is made of data that CMS scientists use for their analyses. They include meaningful representations of the data along with simulations, documentation needed to understand the data and software tools for analysis. CMS is making these analysable Level-3 data available publicly, in a first for high-energy physics. Level 4 consists of the so-called “raw” data –– all the original collision data without any physics objects such as electrons and particle jets being identified. CMS will not make these public.

Example of public CMS Level-2 data being used in an online event display. Image: Achintya Rao / Tom McCauley

One aim of the pilot project is to enable people outside CMS to build educational tools on top of CMS data that will let high-school students to do some simple but real particle-physics analysis, a bit like CMS scientists. “We want to create a chain where the CSC as an external institute can read our data with simplified analysis tools and convert them into a format adapted for high-school-level applications,” explains Lassila-Perini.

Such a chain is crucial for making the CMS data accessible to wider audiences. Within the collaboration, you need a lot of resources to perform analyses, including lots of digital storage and distributed computing facilities. “If someone wants to download and play with our data,” cautions Lassila-Perini, “you can’t tell them to first download the CMS virtual-machine running environment, ensure that it is working and so on. That’s where we need data centres like the CSC to act as intermediate providers for applications that mimic our research environment on a small scale.”

Finland is an ideal case to pilot a programme that formally introduces particle physics into school curricula. 75% of Finnish high schools have classes that have visited CERN as part of their courses, and thanks to CERN's teacher programmes many of their teachers are familiar with the basics of particle physics. An ongoing survey of the teachers will help understand their perspectives on teaching data analysis in their classrooms and take on board ideas for potential applications.

Lassila-Perini has big dreams. “Imagine a central repository of particle-physics data to which schools can sign in and retrieve data,” she says. “They collaborate with other high schools, develop code together and perform analyses, much like how we work. It is important to teach not just the science but also how science works: particle physics research isn’t done in isolation but by people contributing to a common goal.”

High-school students analysing CMS data. Image: Marzena Lapka

Ongoing success stories with open CMS data set the stage for the pilot project. For example, the Physics Masterclasses programme, conducted under the aegis of the International Particle Physics Outreach Group, introduces particle physics to thousands of high-school students around the world each year by teaching them to perform very simple analyses with Level-2 CMS data.

A second project with more academic goals is being undertaken by CMS members at RWTH Aachen University in Germany where third-year undergraduate physics students analyse Level-2 CMS data using web-based tools, as part of courses on particle and astroparticle physics. Among other things, they learn how to calculate the masses of particles produced at the LHC.

The VISPA analysis environment developed at RWTH Aachen for analysing public CMS data. Image: Robert Fischer

An independent use-case for public CMS data comes from the field of statistics. A group of statisticians from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) have found the Level-2 data sample to be a perfect testing ground for different statistical models. This excites Lassila-Perini. “When you provide data this way, you are not defining the end users –– open data are open data!” she exclaims.

There is no doubt that other fields of science will also benefit from the release of particle-physics data by CMS. The success of the pilot project will guide future open data policies, and CMS is well placed to lead the field

O desacelerador de anti-protões

A Fábrica de anti-matéria

A fábrica de anti-matéria

O Des-acelarador Anti-protão , máquina única de seu tipo, produz anti-protões de baixa energia para estudar a antimatéria e, em especial criar anti-átomos. No passado, no CERN e em outros lugares ", plantas anti-partículas " consistia de uma cadeia des-acelaradores , cada um executando uma das fases da criação de anti-partículas . Actualmente, o Decelerator realizado sozinho todas as tarefas associadas com a "produção" de antimatéria da produção de antiprótons para enviá-los a diferentes experiências.

Tudo começa com um feixe de prótons do PS ( Proton Synchrotron ) lançado contra um alvo metálico . A energia liberada é suficiente para obter uma vez em um milhão de colisões de um par próton- antipróton . Estes antiprotons que se deslocam a uma velocidade próxima da luz , são demasiado enérgicas para ser utilizado directamente na produção de anti- átomos. Eles também têm diferentes energias e movimentar de forma irregular. É graças aos rebeldes desacelerador de partículas são domados e transformado em vigas de baixa energia , usados ​​mais tarde na produção de antimatéria.

No primeiro, um anel ímã flexão e mantém foco antiprótons na mesma trajetória, como os fortes campos elétricos lentos. Em seguida, a dispersão de energias e desvios são reduzidos através da técnica de "cooling". Depois diminuiu para cerca de um décimo da velocidade da luz, pode ser ejectado antiprotons. Assim termina, depois de cerca de um minuto, um "ciclo de desaceleração."

Em 2002, a antimatéria acelerador foi o local de um grande primeiro científica: a ATHENA e colaborações ATRAP com o Decelerator foram capazes de produzir grandes quantidades de anti-átomos. Actualmente, a AD é usado em três experimentos que estudam a antimatéria: ALPHA e ATRAP ASACUSA. Os antipr'otons são também objecto do experimento ACE é avaliar o seu potencial para o tratamento de cancro.

Antimatter

In particle physics, antimatter is material composed of antiparticles, which have the same mass as particles of ordinary matter but have opposite charge and other particle properties such as lepton and baryon number. Encounters between particles and antiparticles lead to the annihilation of both, giving rise to varying proportions of high-energy photons (gamma rays), neutrinos, and lower-mass particle–antiparticle pairs. 

Setting aside the mass of any product neutrinos, which represent released energy which generally continues to be unavailable, the end result of annihilation is a release of energy available to do work, proportional to the total matter and antimatter mass, in accord with the mass-energy equivalence equation, E=mc2.

Antiparticles bind with each other to form antimatter just as ordinary particles bind to form normal matter. For example, a positron (the antiparticle of the electron) and an antiproton can form an an tihydrogen atom. Physical principles indicate that complex antimatter atomic nuclei are possible, as well as anti-atoms corresponding to the known chemical elements. To date, however, anti-atoms more complex than antihelium have neither been artificially produced nor observed in nature. Studies of cosmic rays have identified both positrons and antiprotons, presumably produced by high-energy collisions between particles of ordinary matter.

There is considerable speculation as to why the observable universe is apparently composed almost entirely of ordinary matter, as opposed to a more symmetric combination of matter and antimatter. This asymmetry of matter and antimatter in the visible universe is one of the greatest unsolved problems in physics.[2] The process by which this asymmetry between particles and antiparticles developed is called baryogenesis.

Antimatter in the form of anti-atoms is one of the most difficult materials to produce. Antimatter in the form of individual anti-particles, however, is commonly produced by particle accelerators and in some types of radioactive decay.

In 1995, CERN announced that it had successfully brought into existence nine antihydrogen atoms by implementing the SLAC/Fermilab concept during the PS210 experiment. The experiment was performed using the Low Energy Antiproton Ring (LEAR), and was led by Walter Oelert and Mario Macri. Fermilab soon confirmed the CERN findings by producing approximately 100 antihydrogen atoms at their facilities. 

The antihydrogen atoms created during PS210 and subsequent experiments (at both CERN and Fermilab) were extremely energetic ("hot") and were not well suited to study. To resolve this hurdle, and to gain a better understanding of antihydrogen, two collaborations were formed in the late 1990s, namely, ATHENA and ATRAP. In 2005, ATHENA disbanded and some of the former members (along with others) formed the ALPHA Collaboration, which is also based at CERN. The primary goal of these collaborations is the creation of less energetic ("cold") antihydrogen, better suited to study

In 1999, CERN activated the Antiproton Decelerator, a device capable of decelerating antiprotons from 3.5 GeV to 5.3 MeV — still too "hot" to produce study-effective antihydrogen, but a huge leap forward. In late 2002 the ATHENA project announced that they had created the world's first "cold" antihydrogen.[27] The ATRAP project released similar results very shortly thereafter. 

The antiprotons used in these experiments were cooled by decelerating them with the Antiproton Decelerator, passing them through a thin sheet of foil, and finally capturing them in a Penning-Malmberg trap. The overall cooling process is workable, but highly inefficient; approximately 25 million antiprotons leave the Antiproton Decelerator and roughly 25,000 make it to the Penning-Malmberg trap, which is about 1⁄1000or 0.1% of the original amount.

The antiprotons are still hot when initially trapped. To cool them further, they are mixed into an electron plasma. The electrons in this plasma cool via cyclotron radiation, and then sympathetically cool the antiprotons via Coulomb collisions. Eventually, the electrons are removed by the application of short-duration electric fields, leaving the antiprotons with energies less than 100 meV.[30] While the antiprotons are being cooled in the first trap, a small cloud of positrons is captured from radioactive sodium in a Surko-style positron accumulator. This cloud is then recaptured in a second trap near the antiprotons. 

Manipulations of the trap electrodes then tip the antiprotons into the positron plasma, where some combine with antiprotons to form antihydrogen. This neutral antihydrogen is unaffected by the electric and magnetic fields used to trap the charged positrons and antiprotons, and within a few microseconds the antihydrogen hits the trap walls, where it annihilates. Some hundreds of millions of antihydrogen atoms have been made in this fashion.

Most of the sought-after high-precision tests of the properties of antihydrogen could only be performed if the antihydrogen were trapped, that is, held in place for a relatively long time. While antihydrogen atoms are electrically neutral, the spins of their component particles produce a magnetic moment. These magnetic moments can interact with an inhomogeneous magnetic field; some of the antihydrogen atoms can be attracted to a magnetic minimum. Such a minimum can be created by a combination of mirror and multipole fields.Antihydrogen can be trapped in such a magnetic minimum (minimum-B) trap; in November 2010, the ALPHA collaboration announced that they had so trapped 38 antihydrogen atoms for about a sixth of a second. This was the first time that neutral antimatter had been trapped.

On 26 April 2011, ALPHA announced that they had trapped 309 antihydrogen atoms, some for as long as 1,000 seconds (about 17 minutes). This was longer than neutral antimatter had ever been trapped before. ALPHA has used these trapped atoms to initiate research into the spectral properties of the antihydrogen.

The biggest limiting factor in the large-scale production of antimatter is the availability of antiprotons. Recent data released by CERN states that, when fully operational, their facilities are capable of producing ten million antiprotons per minute. Assuming a 100% conversion of antiprotons to antihydrogen, it would take 100 billion years to produce 1 gram or 1 mole of antihydrogen (approximately6.02×1023 atoms of antihydrogen).

Procurar a anti-matéria

À procura da anti-matéria

The Big Bang deve ter criado a matéria ea antimatéria em quantidades iguais no universo. Então, por que não vemos mais a antimatéria ?

A assimetria entre matéria e antimatéria

The Big Bang deve ter criado a matéria ea antimatéria em quantidades iguais no início do Universo . No entanto , hoje , o que percebemos , a partir da menor forma de vida na Terra para as estrelas mais massivas , é composto quase inteiramente de matéria. Comparativamente, não há muito para ver antimatéria. Alguma coisa tinha que fazer pender a balança . Um dos maiores desafios da física é determinar o que aconteceu com a antimatéria , ou, em outras palavras, por que há uma assimetria entre matéria e antimatéria .

Partículas de antimatéria tem a mesma massa que os seus homólogos da matéria , mas carregam uma carga oposta . Assim, o pósitron, antipartícula de carga positiva é o elétron de carga negativa . As partículas de matéria e antimatéria são sempre produzidas como um par, e quando eles entram em contato, elas se aniquilam mutuamente , deixando para trás apenas pura energia. Durante as primeiras frações de segundo após o Big Bang, o Universo e quente e denso estava agitada : os pares partícula - antipartícula eram constantemente aparecem e desaparecem .

Se a matéria e antimatéria foram criadas e destruídas em conjunto , parece que o universo deve conter nada mais que a energia residual. No entanto, uma pequena parte do material - cerca de uma partícula em um bilhão - conseguiu sobreviver . É esse material que nós vemos hoje . Nas últimas décadas, os físicos aprenderam com as experiências de física de partículas , as leis da natureza não se aplicam igualmente a matéria e antimatéria . Eles gostariam de saber o porquê.

Os pesquisadores descobriram que as partículas espontaneamente se transformam em suas antipartículas ( disse que estão a oscilar ) vários milhões de vezes por segundo antes de decair . Um elemento desconhecido envolvidos neste processo no início do universo poderia ter feito essas partículas se desintegram oscilação geralmente sob a forma de matéria na forma de antimatéria.

Vamos correr como um top de uma moeda sobre uma mesa. A sala tem a capacidade de cair face lateral ou caudas , mas você não pode determinar quem enfrentará semelhante ao fim até que seja realmente resolvido. A probabilidade de que a moeda cai caudas , ou da face lateral , é de 50 %. Então, se nós viramos peças suficientes exatamente da mesma maneira , metade vai cair no próximo pilha e caudas meia . Do mesmo modo , a metade das partículas oscilam no universo precoce deve ter desintegrado na forma de matéria, e a outra metade na forma de anti-matéria.

Mas o que se fazer rolo em cima da mesa uma bola especial capaz de cair todo o lado voltado para os quartos, o sistema será interrompido. Haverá mais de que o lado voltado para o lado da bateria. Do mesmo modo, os cientistas acreditam que um mecanismo desconhecido interferiu com a oscilação de partículas para provocar uma ligeira maioria deles a desintegrar-se como material.

Para encontrar informações sobre o que poderia ter sido esse processo, os físicos para estudar as sutis diferenças de comportamento entre as partículas de matéria e antimatéria criadas nas colisões próton-próton no LHC alta energia. Este estudo irá ajudá-los a entender melhor por que o nosso universo é preenchido com a matéria.

ALICE estuda o plasma de quarks e glúons, um estado da matéria que existia logo após o Big Bang

A colaboração LHCb no CERN apresentou hoje a revista Physical Review Letters um artigo relatando a primeira observação de uma assimetria entre matéria e antimatéria no decaimento de uma partícula chamada B0S. Esta propriedade foi para o tempo observado em apenas três partículas subatômicas.

Pensa-se que matéria e antimatéria teriam existido em quantidades iguais nos primeiros instantes do universo. Hoje, porém, o universo é composto, principalmente, de material parece. Ao estudar as sutis diferenças entre as partículas e antipartículas, os experimentos do LHC procuram explicar a preponderância da matéria sobre a anti-matéria.

A experiência LHCb tem agora observado assimetria entre matéria e antimatéria , conhecida como a violação de carga-paridade ( CP ) nas decai B0S uma partícula neutra . Estes resultados são baseados na análise de dados coletados pelo experimento em 2011. " A descoberta de assimetria no B0ss'accompagne partícula uma significância estatística de mais de 5 sigma - um resultado possível somente através de grandes quantidades de dados a partir das capacidades do detector LHCb LHC e identificação das partículas, diz Pierluigi Campana , porta-voz da colaboração LHCb . As experiências anteriores de outras instituições não tinha sido capaz de acumular uma grande quantidade suficiente de decai B0S . "

A violação da simetria CP foi observada pela primeira vez em 1960 , o Laboratório de Brookhaven (Estados Unidos) , em partículas neutras chamado kaons . Quarenta anos mais tarde sobre , as experiências no Japão e nos Estados Unidos observaram o mesmo fenômeno para uma outra partícula , o méson B0 . Mais recentemente , as experiências com as chamadas fábricas B e O experimento LHCb no CERN observaram que o méson B + teve também uma violação de CP .


Todos esses fenómenos são devidos a violação CP no Modelo Padrão, no entanto, algumas diferenças interessantes exigem estudos mais detalhados. "Sabemos também que a soma dos efeitos devido à violação de CP no Modelo Padrão é muito pequena para explicar a preponderância da matéria no Universo, diz Pierluigi Campana. Todas as vezes, que estudamos os efeitos da violação CP, nós procuramos as peças que faltam do quebra-cabeça que pode confirmar a teoria e colocar-nos no caminho da física além do Modelo Padrão. "

A sonata da anti-matéria

Por Cian O'Luanaigh

Em um artigo recente a colaboração LHCb no CERN descreve como ela observou duas partículas do estado da matéria do que antimatéria e vice- versa. Colaboração de dados foram transformados em som, o que lhe permite ouvir música del'antimatière .

Cada partícula fundamental tem uma antipartícula correspondente. Partículas de antimatéria tem a mesma massa que os seus homólogos no campo , mas tem a carga elétrica oposta. Embora a maior parte das partículas de existir quer como matéria ou antimatéria , alguns dos quais podem passar de um estado para outro.

B0 e B0S têm esta característica. Eles variam em seu efeito entre o estado de matéria e antimatéria que até 3 milhões de vezes por segundo. Se esta frequência foi directamente expresso como a frequência acústica de uma nota musical , o som seria demasiado agudo para o ouvido humano pode perceber . A colaboração LHCb , portanto, reduzida vários milhões de vezes , para que possamos ouvir a oscilação.

No vídeo abaixo , uma faixa azul acontecendo na tela da esquerda para a medida certa de ouvir , o que permite que você veja qual área do gráfico que você está ouvindo . No início , você vai ouvir um fundo indistinto som : é flutuações aleatórias das outras partículas no detector LHCb . Os dois picos mostrados no gráfico correspondem entretanto partículas B0 e B0S . Primeiro você ouve o som produzido pelas fortes oscilações B0 - B0 , então o fundo e, finalmente , o som produzido por oscilações B0S - B0S . As oscilações B0S - B0S , que têm uma frequência mais alta , são mais difíceis de observar experimentalmente , o que explica que os seus associados que é mais fraco .

LEC - O grande collider eletrão-positrão

LEP - Collider eletrão-positrão

Com os seus 27 km de circunferência, LEP era - e ainda é - o maior acelerador de elétrons - pósitrons já construído. A escavação do LEP foi o maior projecto europeu antes do Canal da Mancha . Três escavação do túnel começou em fevereiro de 1985 , eo anel foi concluída três anos depois.

Na sua primeira fase de operação, LEP 5176 incluiu ímãs e acelerando cavidades 128 . O complexo acelerador do CERN desde que a partícula e quatro enormes detectores de Aleph, DELPHI , L3 e OPAL , observando-se colisões.

LEP foi contratado em julho de 1989 eo primeiro feixe foi divulgado em 14 de julho . O colisor energia inicial era de cerca de 91 GeV , para permitir a produção de bósons Z. O bóson Z , e seu sócio responsável , o bóson W , ambos descobertos no CERN em 1983, são os portadores da força fraca , que é a fonte de energia a partir do sol , por exemplo. Observar a criação e desintegração do Z de Higgs, partícula efêmera , foi importante para a confirmação do Modelo Padrão. Durante os sete anos em que a LEP trabalhavam cerca de 100 GeV , ele produziu cerca de 17 milhões de partículas Z

Em 1995, a LEP foi melhorada para uma segunda fase de operação, 288 supercondutores cavidades de aceleração foram adicionados ao dobro da energia, de modo que as colisões podem produzir pares de W bosões A energia do colisor finalmente chegou a 209 GeV em 2000.

Em 11 anos de operação, os experimentos LEP têm permitido um estudo detalhado da interação eletrofraca. As medidas realizadas no LEP também mostraram que existem três - e apenas três - gerações de partículas de matéria. LEP foi preso no dia 02 de novembro de 2000 para a construção no mesmo túnel Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

O detetor CMS

CMS

Le détecteur CMS repose sur un aimant solénoïde géant pour incurver les trajectoires des particules produites lors des collisions dans le LHC

Le Solénoïde compact pour muons (CMS) est un détecteur polyvalent installé sur l’anneau du LHC. Il a été conçu pour explorer un large éventail de domaines de la physique, allant de la recherche du boson de Higgs à celle d’autres dimensions, en passant par la quête des particules qui pourraient constituer la matière noire. Bien que ses buts scientifiques soient les mêmes que ceux de l’expérience ATLAS, la collaboration CMS a opté pour d’autres solutions techniques et un système magnétique de conception différente.

Le détecteur CMS est construit autour d’un énorme aimant solénoïde, qui se présente sous la forme d’une bobine cylindrique supraconductrice générant un champ magnétique de 4 teslas, soit environ 100 000 fois le champ magnétique terrestre. Le champ magnétique créé est confiné par une « culasse » d’acier, qui constitue la pièce la plus lourde de ce détecteur de 12 500 tonnes.

Contrairement aux autres détecteurs géants du LHC, dont les éléments ont été construits sous terre, CMS a été construit à la surface, en 15 sections, qui ont ensuite été descendues dans une caverne souterraine située près de Cessy (France), où elles ont été assemblées. Le détecteur dans son ensemble mesure 21 mètres de long, 15 mètres de large et 15 mètres de haut.

L’expérience CMS est l’une des plus grandes collaborations scientifiques internationales qui ait jamais existé. Elle compte en effet 4300 physiciens des particules, ingénieurs, techniciens, étudiants et personnes chargées de l’appui représentant 179 universités et instituts de 41 pays (février 2012).

AWAKE e a exploração de plasmas

AWAKE - Wakefield Acceleration Experiment

AWAKE explores the use of plasma to accelerate particles to high energies over short distances

The Proton Driven Plasma Wakefield Acceleration Experiment (AWAKE) is an accelerator R&D project based at CERN. It is a proof-of-principle experiment investigating the use of plasma wakefields driven by a proton bunch to accelerate charged particles.

A plasma wakefield is a type of wave generated by particles travelling through a plasma. AWAKE will send proton beams through plasma cells to generate these fields. By harnessing wakefields, physicists may be able to produce accelerator gradients hundreds of times higher than those achieved in current radiofrequency cavities. This would allow future colliders to achieve higher energies over shorter distances than is possible today.

The AWAKE project is currently under consideration by CERN management. If approved, AWAKE will use proton beams from the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) in the CERN Neutrinos to Gran Sasso (CNGS) facility (see image above for proposed location). These protons will be injected into a 10-metre plasma cell to initiate strong wakefields. A second beam – the “witness” electron beam – would then be accelerated by the wakefields, gaining up to several gigavolts of energy. Assuming approval of AWAKE in mid 2013, the first proton beams could be sent to the plasma cell at the end of 2015.

AWAKE would be the world’s first proton-driven plasma wakefield acceleration experiment. Besides demonstrating how protons can be used to generate wakefields, AWAKE will also develop the necessary technologies for long-term, proton-driven plasma acceleration projects.

AWAKE is an international scientific collaboration made up of 13 institutes and involving over 50 engineers and physicists (April 2013).

CAST - Matéria e anti-matéria

CAST - CERN Axion Solar Telescope 

CAST

Nobel Prizes - (4) Max Planck, Sheldon Glashow,  Howard Georgi and Steven Weinberg

Hypothetical particles called axions could explain differences between matter and antimatter - and we may find them at the centre of the Sun.

The CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST) is an experiment to search for hypothetical particles called "axions". These have been proposed by some theoretical physicists to explain why there is a subtle difference between matter and antimatter in processes involving the weak force, but not the strong force. If axions exist, they could be found in the centre of the Sun and they could also make up invisible dark matter.

CAST is searching for these particles with a telescope designed to detect axions from the Sun. It uses an unexpected hybrid of equipment from particle physics and astronomy. The telescope is made from a prototype of a dipole magnet for the Large Hadron Collider, with its hollow beam pipes acting as viewing tubes. 

To allow the magnet to operate in a superconducting state, it is supplied with cryogenic infrastructure previously used by the Large Electron-Positron collider's DELPHI experiment. A focusing mirror system for X-rays (recovered from the German space programme), an X-ray detector at each end, and a moving platform add the final touches to turn the magnet into a telescope that tracks the Sun.

The idea is that the magnetic field acts as a catalyst to transform axions into X-rays, making them relatively easy to detect. The strength of the superconducting dipole magnet and its long length ensure the efficiency of the process. CAST brings together techniques from particle physics and astronomy, and benefits from CERN’s expertise in accelerators, X-ray detection, magnets and cryogenics.

Des particles hypothétiques pourraient expliquer la différence entre la matière et l'antimatière - et nous pourrions les trouver au centre du soleil

The CERN Axion Solar Telescope (CAST) is an experiment to search for hypothetical particles called "axions". These have been proposed by some theoretical physicists to explain why there is a subtle difference between matter and antimatter in processes involving the weak force, but not the strong force. If axions exist, they could be found in the centre of the Sun and they could also make up invisible dark matter.

CAST is searching for these particles with a telescope designed to detect axions from the Sun. It uses an unexpected hybrid of equipment from particle physics and astronomy. The telescope is made from a prototype of a dipole magnet for the Large Hadron Collider, with its hollow beam pipes acting as viewing tubes. To allow the magnet to operate in a superconducting state, it is supplied with cryogenic infrastructure previously used by the Large Electron-Positron collider's DELPHI experiment. A focusing mirror system for X-rays (recovered from the German space programme), an X-ray detector at each end, and a moving platform add the final touches to turn the magnet into a telescope that tracks the Sun.

The idea is that the magnetic field acts as a catalys

Expanding Universe

The galaxies we see in all directions are moving away from the Earth, as evidenced by their red shifts. Hubble's law describes this expansion.


The fact that we see all other galaxies moving away from us does not imply that we are the center of the universe! All galaxies will see all other stars moving away from them in an expanding universe. A rising loaf of raisin bread is a good visual model: each raisin will see all other raisins moving away from it as the loaf expands.

The fact that the universe is expanding then raises the question "Will it always expand?" Since the action of gravity works against the expansion, then if the density were large enough, the expansion would stop and the universe would collapse in a "big crunch".

This is called a closed universe. If the density were small enough, the expansion would continue forever (an open universe). At a certain precise critical density, the universe would asymtotically approach zero expansion rate, but never collapse. Remarkably, all evidence indicates that the universe is very close to that critical density. Discussions about the expansion of the universe often refer to adensity parameter Ω which is the density divided by the critical density, such that Ω = 1 represents the critical density condition.

Hubble's Law

Hubble's law is a statement of a direct correlation between the distance to a galaxy and its recessional velocity as determined by the red shift. It can be stated as

The reported value of the Hubble parameter has varied widely over the years, testament to the difficulty of astronomical distance measurement. But with high precision experiments after 1990 the range of the reported values has narrowed greatly to values in the range



An often mentioned problem for the Hubble law is Stefan's Quintet. Four of these five stars have similar red shifts but the fifth is quite different, and they appear to be interacting.


The Particle Data Group documents quote a "best modern value" of the Hubble parameter as 72 km/s per megaparsec (+/- 10%). This value comes from the use of type Ia supernovae (which give relative distances to about 5%) along with data from Cepheid variables gathered by the Hubble Space Telescope. The WMAP mission data leads to a Hubble constant of 71 +/- 5% km/s per megaparsec.

Hubble Parameter 

The proportionality between recession velocity and distance in the Hubble Law is called the Hubble constant, or more appropriately the Hubble parameter since it does depend upon time. In recent years the value of the Hubble parameter has been considerably refined, and the current value given by the WMAP mission is 71 km/s per megaparsec.

Edwin Powell Hubble

The recession velocities of distant galaxies are known from the red shift, but the distances are much more uncertain. Distance measurement to nearby galaxies uses Cepheid variables as the main standard candle, but more distant galaxies must be examined to determine the Hubble constant since the direct Cepheid distances are all within the range of the gravitational pull of the local cluster. Use of the Hubble Space Telescope has permitted the detection of Cepheid variables in the Virgo cluster which have contributed to refinement of the distance scale.

The Particle Data Group documents quote a "best modern value" of the Hubble constant as 72 km/s per megaparsec (+/- 10%). This value comes from the use of type Ia supernovae (which give relative distances to about 5%) along with data from Cepheid variables gathered by the Hubble Space Telescope. The value from the WMAP survey is 71 km/s per megaparsec.

Another approach to the Hubble parameter gives emphasis to the fact that space itself is expanding, and at any given time can be described by a dimensionless scale factor R(t). The Hubble parameter is the ratio of the rate of change of the scale factor to the current value of the scale factor R:



The scale factor R for a given observed object in the expanding universe relative to R₀ = 1 at the present time may be implied from the z parameter expression of the redshift. The Hubble parameter has the dimensions of inverse time, so a Hubble time t_H may be obtained by inverting the present value of the Hubble parameter.


One must use caution in interpreting this "Hubble time" since the relationship of the expansion time to the Hubble time is different for the radiation dominated era and the mass dominated era. Projections of the expansion time may be made from the expansion models.

Hubble Parameter and Red Shifts

The Hubble Law states that the distance to a given galaxy is proportional to the recessional velocity as measured by the Doppler red shift. The red shift of the spectral lines is commonly expressed in terms of the z-parameter, which is the fractional shift in the spectral wavelength. The Hubble distance is given by

and can be calculated from the wavelength shift of any spectral line. If a spectral line which is normally at  nm is redshifted to nm, then z =  and = v/c = .The Hubble distance is given by:

r = c/( km/s/Mpc) = Mpc = Mly

Note: Values may be entered in any of the boxes to perform calculations. If needed parameters have not been entered, then they will default to values for the hydrogen red line with a 10% redshift and a Hubble constant of 70.

Mpc = mega parsecs Mly = million light years

The Antimatter Problem 

Why such a predominance of matter over antimatter in the universe? From Trefil, pg 38. "after the beginning of the particle era. there is no known process which can change the net particle number of the universe" " ..by the time the universe is a millisecond old, the balance between matter and antimatter is fixed forever."

Clearly there is some asymmetry in the way nature treats matter and antimatter. One promising line of investigation is that of CP symmetry violations in the decay of particles by the weak interaction. The main expermental evidence comes from the decay of neutral kaons, which shows a small violation of CP symmetry. In the decay of the kaons to electrons, we have a clear distinction between matter and antimatter, and this could be at least one of the keys to the predominance of matter over antimatter in the universe.

A new discovery at the Large Hadron Collider is a 0.8% difference in the decay rate of the D-meson and its antiparticle, which could be another contribution to the solution of the antimatter problem.

The Galaxy Formation Problem 

Random nonuniformities in the expanding universe are not sufficient to allow the formation of galaxies. In the presence of the rapid expansion, the gravitational attraction is too slow for galaxies to form with any reasonable model of turbulence created by the expansion itself. "..the question of how the large-scale structure of the universe could have come into being has been a major unsolved problem in cosmology" Trefil p43 "we are forced to look to the period before 1 millisecond to explain the existence of galaxies.

The Horizon Problem 

The microwave background radiation from opposite directions in the sky is characterized by the same temperature within 0.01%, but the regions of space from which they were emitted at 500,000 years were more than light transit time apart and could not have "communicated" with each other to establish the apparent thermal equilibrium - they were beyond each other's "horizon". 

This situation is also referred to as the "isotropy problem", since the background radiation reaching us from all directions in space is so nearly isotropic. One way of expressing the problem is to say that the temperature of parts of space in opposite directions from us is almost exactly the same, but how could they be in thermal equilibrium with each other if they cannot communicate with each other?

If you considered the ultimate lookback time as 14 billion years (14 thousand million ) as obtained from a Hubble constant of 71 km/s per megaparsec as suggested by WMAP , then these remote parts of the universe are 28 billion light years apart, so why do they have exactly the same temperature?

Being twice the age of the universe apart is enough to make the point about the horizon problem, but as Schramm points out, if you look at this problem from earlier perspectives it is even more severe. At the time the photons were actually emitted, they would have been 100 times the age of the universe apart, or 100 times causally disconnected.

This problem is one of the lines of thought which led to the inflationary hypothesis put forth by Alan Guth in the early 1980's. The answer to the horizon problem from the inflationary point of view is that there was a period of incredibly rapid inflation very early in the big bang process which increased the size of the universe by 1020 or 1030, and that the present observable universe is "inside" that expansion.

The radiation we see is isotropic because all that space "inflated" from a tiny volume and had essentially identical initial conditions. This is a way to explain why parts of the universe so distant that they could never have communicated with each other look the same.

The Flatness Problem 

Observations indicate that the amount of matter in the universe is surely greater than one-tenth and surely less than ten times the critical amount needed to stop the expansion. It is either barely open or barely closed, or "very nearly flat". There is a good analogy here - a ball thrown up from the earth slows down. With the same velocity from a small asteroid, it might never stop (Trefil pp46-47).

Early in this theoretical toss from the asteroid, it might appear that you have thrown it with just the right velocity to go on forever, slowing toward zero velocity at infinite time and distance. But as time progressed, it would become more and more evident if you had missed the velocity window even a small amount. If after 20 billion years of travel, it still appeared that you had thrown it with the right velocity, then that original throw was precise indeed.

Any departures from "flatness" should become exaggerated with time, and at this stage of the universe, tiny irregularities should have been much amplified. If the density of the present universe appears to be very close to the critical density, then it must have been even closer to "flat" in earlier epochs. Alan Guth credits a lecture by Robert Dicke as one influence which put him on the "inflationary" path; Dicke pointed out that the flatness of todays universe would require that the universe be flat to one part in 10¹⁴ at one second after the big bang. Kaufmann suggests that right after the big bang, the density must have been equal to the critical density to 50 decimal places!

In the early 1980's, Alan Guth proposed that there was a brief period of extremely rapid expansion following the Planck time of 10^-43 seconds. This "inflationary model" was a way of dealing with both the flatness problem and the horizon problem. If the universe inflated by 20 to 30 orders of magnitude, then the properties of an extremely tiny volume which could have been considered to be intimately connected were spread over the whole of the known universe today, contributing both extreme flatness and the extremely isotropic nature of the cosmic background radiation.

Before 1 Planck Time 

Before a time classified as a Planck time, 10^-43 seconds, all of the four fundamental forces are presumed to have been unified into one force. All matter, energy, space and time are presumed to have exploded outward from the original singularity. Nothing is known of this period.

It is not that we know a great deal about later periods either, it is just that we have no real coherent models of what might happen under such conditions. The electroweak unification has been supported by the discovery of the W and Z particles, and can be used as a platform for discussion of the next step, the Grand Unification Theory (GUT). The final unification has been called a "supergrand unification theory", and becoming more popular is the designation "theory of everything" (TOE). But "theories of everything" are separated by two great leaps beyond the experiments we could ever hope to do on the Earth.

Era of 1 Planck Time 

In the era around one Planck time, 10^-43 seconds, it is projected by present modeling of the fundamental forces that the gravity force begins to differentiate from the other three forces. This is the first of the spontaneous symmetry breaks which lead to the four observed types of interactions in the present universe.

Looking backward, the general idea is that back beyond 1 Planck time we can make no meaningful observations within the framework of classical gravitation. One way to approach the formulation of the Planck time is presented by Hsu. One of the characteristics of a black hole is that there is an event horizon beyond which we can obtain no information - scales smaller than that are hidden from the outside world. For a given enclosed mass, this limit is on the order of

where G is the gravitational constant and c is the speed of light. But from the uncertainty principle and the DeBroglie wavelength, we can infer that the smallest scale at which we could locate the event horizon would be the Compton wavelength.

Equating L and λ, we obtain a characteristic mass called the Planck mass:

Substituting this mass back into one of the length expressions gives the Planck length

and the light travel time across this length is called the Planck time:


Keep in mind that this is a characteristic time, so its order of magnitude is what should be noted. Sometimes it is defined with the wavelength above divided by 2π, so don't worry about the number of significant digits.

Separation of the Strong Force 

At a time around 10^-36 seconds, present models project a separation of the strong force, one of the four fundamental forces. Before this time the forces other than gravity would be unified in what is called the grand unification. The spontaneous symmetry breaking which occurs in this era would distinguish as a separate interaction the force which would hold nuclei together in later eras.

In the 1970's. Sheldon Glashow and Howard Georgi proposed the grand unification of the strong, weak, and electromagnetic forces at energies above 1014 GeV. If the ordinary concept of thermal energy applied at such times, it would require a temperature of 1027 K for the average particle energy to be 1014 GeV.

Though the strong force is distinct from gravity and the electroweak force in this era, the energy level is still too high for the strong force to hold protons and neutrons together, so that the universe is still a "sizzling sea of quarks".

Inflationary Period

Triggered by the symmetry breaking that separates off the strong force, models suggest an extraordinary inflationary phase in the era 10-36 seconds to 10-32 seconds. More expansion is presumed to have occurred in this instant than in the entire period ( 14 billion years?) since. The inflationary epoch may have expanded the universe by 1020 or 1030 in this incredibly brief time. The inflationary hypothesis offers a way to deal with the horizon problem and the flatness problem of cosmological models.

Lemonick and Nash in a popular article for Time describe inflation as an "amendment to the original Big Bang" as follows: "when the universe was less than a billionth of a billionth of a billionth of a second old, it briefly went through a period of superchanged expansion, ballooning from the size of a proton to the size of a grapegruit (and thus expanding at many, many times the speed of light). Then the expansion slowed to a much more stately pace. Improbable as the theory sounds, it has held up in every observation astronomers have managed to make."

Quark-antiquark Period 

As the inflationary period ends, the universe consists mostly of energy in the form of photon , and those particles which exist cannot bind into larger stable particles because of the enormous energy density. They would exist as a collection of quarks and antiquarks along with their exchange particles, a state which has been described as a "sizzling sea of quarks". This time period is estimated at 10^-32 seconds to 10^-5 seconds. During this period the electromagnetic and weak forces undergo the final symmetry break, ending the electroweak unification at about 10^-12 seconds.

Quark Confinement 

When the expansion of the "primordial fireball" had cooled it to 10¹³ Kelvin, a time modeled to be about 10^-6 seconds, the collision energies had dropped to about 1 GeV and quarks could finally hang onto each other to form individual protons and neutrons (and presumably other baryons.) 

At this time, all the kinds of particles which are a part of the present universe were in existence, even though the temperature was still much too high for the formation of nuclei. 

As indicated by Steven Weinberg in The First Three Minutes.