Image: A fascinating plot from the days where the first hints of the Higgs boson started to appear in early LHC data by CMS [Publication]. In addition to the actual Higgs boson peak, the plot shows “evidence” (at the 3σ level) for two other particles, with masses around 140 and 170 GeV). These turned outContinue reading “The Look Elsewhere Effect in the age of AI”
Tag Archives: philosophy
An ode to Moriond
Image: The conference photo for the 60th edition of the “Rencontres de Moriond: Electroweak Interactions and Unified Theories”. I’m somewhere on the left side of the zero. Credit: Moriond. This March, I had the pleasure of attending the “Rencontres de Moriond: Electroweak Interactions and Unified Theories” conference (“Moriond” for short). It is one of theContinue reading “An ode to Moriond”
High Energy Physics is a generational project
Image: The planned location of the Future Circular Collider at CERN. Credit: CERN. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that the entire field of particle physics is less than 130 years old. I pick as a starting point the date that we discovered our first fundamental particle: the electron (discovered in 1897 by J. J. Thompson).Continue reading “High Energy Physics is a generational project “
Five things we learned about fundamental particle physics in 2025
Image: Louie preaching to the converted (during a visit of his masters students to ALICE experiment at CERN in December 2025). Credit: Adrien Auriol. I would like to dedicate this post to the memory of Deepak Kar, who passed away tragically last week after a short illness. We co-organised the CHACAL school together, and IContinue reading “Five things we learned about fundamental particle physics in 2025”
Ooooh, we’re halfway there…!
NB: All opinions expressed below are my own, not necessarily those of the ATLAS collaboration! The LHC started physics-quality collisions in 2009. It is currently due to operate until 2041. The halfway point of its 32-year lifespan is right now: 2025. In other words, we are (already!) halfway through the LHC’s lifespan. So we haveContinue reading “Ooooh, we’re halfway there…!”
Winning 0.008% of the Breakthrough prize in fundamental physics
On Sunday, I woke to discover that I had won a major award: the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics. Well, not me personally, but the four main experimental collaborations of the Large Hadron Collider: ALICE, ATLAS, CMS, and LHCb. Together, that’s about 13,500 people, of which I represent about 0.008%. Still, my name is onContinue reading “Winning 0.008% of the Breakthrough prize in fundamental physics”