What is the Large Hadron Collider used for? How do we know that dark matter exists? Join Pauline Gagnon as she explores these questions and the current ongoing research at CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics. Watch the Q&A here: https://youtu.be/vQ8W6_uM0Pw

Could we be at the dawn of a huge revolution in our conception of the material world that surrounds us?

The creativity, diversity and motivation of thousands of scientists have gone into CERN, and ensured the success of one of the largest scientific projects ever undertaken. It has led to scientists being able to describe the smallest constituents of matter, and the role of the Higgs boson. This talk explores the world of particle physics, spanning the infinitesimally small to the infinitely large.

This talk was recorded at the Ri on 26 September 2022.

Pauline Gagnon first studied at San Francisco State University then completed a PhD in particle physics at University of California in Santa Cruz. Pauline then started research activities at CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics located near Geneva, where Pauline worked as a Senior Research Scientist with Indiana University until retirement in 2016.