A Quantum Diaries Survivor

So, by now we all know it - there is no 750 GeV resonance in LHC data. But will we ever learn the lesson ?The factsLet me start this post by recalling the bare facts, and a quick-and-dirty introduction for anybody who has been on the Moon in the last eight months or so. Last December, the CMS and ATLAS experiments at the CERN LHC collider presented in two back-to-back seminars their first results on data collected at unprecedented proton-proton collision energy of 13 TeV. The 60% higher center-of-mass energy with respect to collisions analized in the previous years left hopes alive for the discovery of some new physics process, which could have been hiding until then thanks to the large required energy to turn on the reactions. 

As explained in the first installment of this series, these questions are a warm-up for my younger colleagues, who will in two months have to pass a tough exam to become INFN researchers.A disclaimer follows:

As explained in the first installment of this series, these questions are a warm-up for my younger colleagues, who will in two months have to pass a tough exam to become INFN researchers.A disclaimer follows:

As explained in the previous installment of this series, these questions are a warm-up for my younger colleagues, who will in two months have to pass a tough exam to become INFN researchers.A disclaimer follows:

As explained in the previous installment of this series, these questions are a warm-up for my younger colleagues, who will in two months have to pass a tough exam to become INFN researchers.A disclaimer is useful here. Here it is:

As explained in the previous installment of this series, these questions are a warm-up for my younger colleagues, who will in two months have to pass a tough exam to become INFN researchers.By the way, when I wrote the first question yesterday I thought I would not need to explain it in detail, but it just occurred to me that a disclaimer would be useful. Here it is:

Today I wish to start a series of posts that are supposed to help my younger colleagues who will, in two months from now, compete for a position as INFN research scientists. The INFN has opened 73 new positions and the selection includes two written exams besides an evaluation of titles and an oral colloquium. The rules also say that the candidates will have to pass the written exams with a score of at least 140/200 on each, in order to access the oral colloquium. Of course, no information is given on how the tests will be graded, so 140 over 200 does not really mean much at this point.

My book "Anomaly! - Collider Physics and the Quest for New Phenomena at Fermilab" is slowly getting its finishing touches, as the second round of proofreading draws to a close. The book is scheduled to appear in bookstores on November 5th, and it makes sense to start planning some events for its presentation.One such event will take place at the CERN library on November 29th, at 4PM. I am told that CERN already ordered the book to sell it in its bookshop, so it will be good to present the work to the community there - after all, the book is for everybody but I expect that it can be of higher interest to scientists and people in some way connected to research in High-Energy physics.

Gavin Salam's talk at the "Altarelli Memorial" session of the ICNFP 2016 conference, which is presently taking place in Kolimbari (Crete), was very interesting and I wish to report here about it. 

I am spending a week in Kolimbari, a nice seaside place in western Crete. Here the fifth International Conference on New Frontiers in Physics is being held in the Orthodox Academy of Crete. The conference gathers together high-energy experimentalists and theorists, nuclear physicists, neutrino physicists, and also other specialists. As I am not talking this year (I am here because I am co-organizing a mini-workshop on Higgs physics), I thought it was a good idea to ask the organizers if they needed help, and I got the task of organizing the poster selection committee. 26 posters have been presented, and will be on display tomorrow evening. We will have to select the best ones, whose authors will win a prize.

Final results of searches for particles decaying to photon pairs in 2015 data keep hopes alive for imminent ground-breaking discovery On December 15th last year, as the physics coordinators of the ATLAS and CMS collaborations showcased the results of their new searches, particle physicists around the world held their breath. Both experiments showed preliminary results from the analysis of LHC data acquired during 2015 at 13 TeV. That unprecedented energy made the potential for new discoveries high.

Today, while Americans set up their barbecues and prepare to celebrate their Independence, particle physicists around the world have a different reason to celebrate. Four years ago today is when the Higgs boson got officially declared a confirmed new particle in the subatomic zoo.