By Dan Campbell
The mysterious particles that make up everyday matter, known as quarks and gluons, form the nucleus of every atom in nature, as well as many exotic states of matter that are observed at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLab) and other facilities across the globe.
They will be the subject of Old Dominion University's third Science Pub of the fall series. "Heart of the Matter: A Journey into the World of Quarks and Gluons" is scheduled for 7 p.m. Dec. 9. It will be conducted using the Zoom platform. Folks are asked to RSVP by Dec. 7, and they will be emailed a Zoom link.
The featured researcher will be Raúl Briceño, associate professor of physics and a member of the Theory Group at JLab. Briceño will discuss the world of subatomic particles, where quantum mechanics and special relativity reign.
"We will discuss where our energy and mass come from as well as how the particles we are made of were created," Briceno said. "Carl Sagan once said we are made of stardust; my research is largely driven in trying to understand how that stardust was made, which requires me to think about what lies deep inside it."
Briceño will also share his outreach efforts including the Remote Experience for Young Engineers and Scientists (REYES) program, which is the STEM-H enrichment program he co-founded this year.
Audience members will once again have to get creative for this Science Pub and supply their own beverages.
