Now that the two articles I have worked on in the past two months are finalized, I think I can disclose where and when they will be published. In the March 2011 issue of Physics World you will find two back-to-back feature articles on the LHC in 2011. Author, yours truly.

The first article is a entry-level description of the Large Hadron Collider project. It is a bit of a catch-all, since both the experimental apparata and the physics of elementary particles are briefly introduced, to explain what physicists expect to get out of the study of the proton-proton collisions they will collect this year. An explanation of how a discovery is or is not made is also provided, attempting the not trivial feat of explaining what exactly is it that we call a "3-sigma" or a "5-sigma" effect in the test of a null and a alternate hypothesis.

The second article is an extension of the information provided in the first part. Here the reader who is interested in the details will find a discussion of the possible manifestations of the most common (and trusted) new physics scenarios. Supersymmetry, but also Large Extra Dimensions, Quark Compositeness, additional generations of matter fields, are all briefly explained, with some description of what we know about them so far, and what we might discover this year.

I do not believe I am infringing any copyright clause if I paste here a slightly modified, short clip from each of the two pieces, to explain the tone with which they are written.

In part one I thus explain the possible outcomes of a new physics search:

"Much to the disappointment of Nobel-hungry particle hunters, most of their searches result in no new signal: the data fit reasonably well to the standard model; significances remain close to zero; and the need does not arise to book a flight to Stockholm. Still, even a null result contains useful information: the consolation prize is then a publication in a journal. From the level of disagreement of the data with the signal-plus-background hypothesis one can in fact derive a “95% confidence-level upper limit” on the rate at which LHC collisions may produce the new signal."

In part two, I venture into an explanation of large extra dimensions:

"Generally speaking, additional space–time dimensions might provide an explanation of the weakness of gravity with respect to the other forces: just as a drop of paint dilutes in a glass of water and is barely detectable to the eye, while a drop of oil only spreads on the surface of the liquid and does not go unnoticed, gravity would appear weak to us living on a 3D “surface” of a higher-dimensional “glass-universe” because it would dilute into the unseen dimensions. The other forces, confined on the surface like the drop of oil, would instead feel stronger to our senses. "

As a sort of "bonus track", part one will also feature a four-panel cartoon describing the steps of an experimental search for new physics, which I sketched myself... I am almost more excited by being published as an art designer than as a science outreach writer!

I hope you will all buy a copy next month.