Media Advisory | For Immediate Release | July 3, 2012
Participating Canadian Scientists Ready to Comment
“Higgs Open House” at TRIUMF: Wed, July 4, 9-11am
(Vancouver, BC) --- A new chapter in the global hunt for the Higgs boson, a nearly legendary particle nicknamed the “God particle,” begins tonight. More than 150 Canadian scientists and students are involved in the ATLAS experiment based at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, Switzerland. The international teams of scientists will reveal their findings in a press conference simulcast around the world at midnight Pacific Daylight Time on Wednesday morning, July 4.
Several resources are being made available to share explain the breakthrough.
- Canadian experts at home and abroad at CERN are ready to provide commentary, interpretation, and guidance on the announcement. Media are invited and encouraged to direct questions and inquiries to the list of experts below.
- In addition, TRIUMF is hosting a “Higgs Open House” on Wednesday morning, July 4, from 9:00 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the main auditorium. Particle physics scientists and students from SFU, TRIUMF, UBC, and UVic will be on hand to discuss what the results mean and what’s next. Interactive displays will help visitors learn about the Higgs and understand the key role that Canadians have played in this important milestone. The general public including students and the media are all invited. Advance registration is not required and there will be professional support to assist with on-site interviews.
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TRIUMF
Dr. Tim Meyer
Head of Strategic Planning & Communication
TRIUMF
Phone: +1 604.222.7674
Cell: +1 650.464.8955
E-mail: tmeyer@triumf.ca
LHC and ATLAS CANADA
Professor Robert McPherson
ATLAS-Canada Spokesperson
University of Victoria / IPP
Phone: +1 604.222.7654
Cell: +1604.723.2294
E-mail: rmcphers@uvic.ca
Canadian(s) at CERN
Anadi Canepa
TRIUMF
Cell: +41 76.271.5106
E-mail: canepa@triumf.ca
Richard Teuscher
Univ of Toronto / IPP
Phone: +41 22.76.743.29
E-mail: richard.teuscher@cern.ch
Canadian Contacts
Deputy Spokesperson: Dugan O’Neil, SFU, doneil@sfu.ca, 778-782-5623
Physics Coordinator: Pierre Savard, TRIUMF/UofT, savard@physics.utoronto.ca, 416-978-0764
U of Alberta: Doug Gingrich, gingrich@ualberta.ca, 780-492-9501
UBC: Colin Gay, cgay@physics.ubc.ca, 604-822-2753
Carleton U: Gerald Oakham (& TRIUMF), oakham@physics.carleton.ca, 613-520-7539
McGill U: Brigitte Vachon (also able to interview in French), vachon@physics.mcgill.ca, 514-398-6478
U of Montreal: Claude Leroy (also able to interview in French), leroy@lps.uontreal.ca, 514-343-6722
Simon Fraser U: Mike Vetterli (& TRIUMF, also able to interview in French), vetm@triumf.ca, 778-782-5488
TRIUMF: Isabel Trigger (also able to interview in French), itrigger@triumf.ca, 604-222-7651
U of Toronto: Robert Orr, orr@physics.utoronto.ca, 416-978-6029
U of Victoria: Rob McPherson, rmcphers@triumf.ca, 604-222-7654
York U: Wendy Taylor, taylorw@yorku.ca, 416-736-2100 ext 77758
FOR EDITORS:
CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is the world's leading laboratory for particle physics. It has its headquarters in Geneva. At present, its Member States are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. India, Israel, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United States of America, Turkey, the European Commission and UNESCO have Observer status. Canada has made important contributions to CERN's flagship accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider, and one of its associated particle physics detectors, the ATLAS experiment. http://cern.ch.
The Large Hadron Collider or LHC is a particle accelerator which, at 27 kilometres in circumference, is the world’s largest and most complex scientific instrument. The LHC is the world’s most powerful particle accelerator, producing beams seven times more energetic than any previous machine, and around 30 times more intense when it reaches design performance, probably by 2013. It relies on technologies that would not have been possible 30 years ago. The LHC is, in a sense, its own prototype.
ATLAS is a worldwide collaboration comprising over 2,500 scientists and engineers from 178 institutions in 35 countries and regions. These are Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States of America.
ATLAS-Canada comprises about 150 faculty members, post-doctoral fellows and students from ten Canadian institutes: the University of Alberta, University of British Columbia, Carleton University, McGill University, Université de Montréal, Simon Fraser University, University of Toronto, TRIUMF, University of Victoria and York University. See http://www.atlas-canada.ca
TRIUMF is Canada’s national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics. The laboratory’s research focuses on advancing isotopes for science and medicine and probing the structure and origins of matter. Together with its partner AAPS, Inc., TRIUMF also seeks to commercialize its technologies for the benefit of all Canadians. Located on the south campus of the University of British Columbia, TRIUMF is owned and operated as a joint venture by a consortium of the following Canadian universities, via a contribution from the Government of Canada through the National Research Council: University of Alberta, University of British Columbia, University of Calgary, Carleton University, University of Guelph, University of Manitoba, McMaster University, Université de Montréal, University of Northern British Columbia, Queen’s University, University of Regina, Saint Mary’s University, Simon Fraser University, University of Toronto, University of Victoria, University of Winnipeg , and York University. See http://www.triumf.ca.