Large Hadron Collider

Large Hadron Collider how does it work?
A large multimedia and interactive
exhibition in Poland
Main organizers:
Jan Grabski, Jan Pluta, Faculty of Physics, Warsaw University of Technology
Marek Pawlowski, Andrzej Soltan Institute for Nuclear Studies
The large multimedia and interactive exhibition, “Large Hadron Collider – how does it
work?” has been prepared to demonstrate the mysteries of this extraordinary
scientific and technological achievement to the general public.
The exhibition was prepared and demonstrated for the first time at the Faculty of Physics,
Warsaw University of Technology, within the framework of the Festival of Science a “How
does it work?” event.
A lot of Polish scientific institutions cooperating with CERN and working in the field of nuclear methods and technologies participated in the preparation of the exhibition. Among
them:
Warsaw University of Technology, Faculty of Physics,
Andrzej Soltan Institute for Nuclear Studies,
Warsaw University, Faculty of Physics,
Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences,
Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology,
Wroclaw University of Technology,
Wroclaw Technology Park.
The exhibition was co-sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. Important support was granted by Plus, IBM, Sony, Studio64, LightShop, Pawlowicz@Partners,
National Atomic Energy Agency and the Warsaw Festival of Science.
Many exhibits, materials, promotional folders and computer programs have been obtained
directly from CERN and translated into Polish. A lot of experiments demonstrating the
physics responsible for the operation of different elements of the LHC have been designed,
prepared and carried out by students.
The opening ceremony was attended by the Dean of the Faculty of Physics, Prof. Rajmund
Bacewicz, the Rector of Warsaw University of Technology, Prof. Włodzimierz Kurnik and
the Minister of Science and Higher Education, Prof. Jerzy Duszyński.
The main element of the exhibition is the model of the LHC with the circulating “beams of
particles” simulated by the laser light.
The presentation of the four major experiments: CMS, LHCb, ATLAS and ALICE
were located in the four corners of the exhibition hall with the model of the LHC in
the centre.
Detector models were made on a 1:30 scale.
The LHC exhibition is much more than just typical exhibition. Rather it is an event consisting of various elements.
Let us list some of them.
• More than the hundred posters showing the LHC, experiments, the structure of matter,
the Standard Model, the evolution of the Universe, etc.
• The LHC elements and parts of the detectors were obtained directly from CERN.
• A number of small physics experiments showing phenomena of the emission, propagation and detection of radiation, e.g. cosmic radiation or radon decay, measured by differing kinds of detectors.
• Demonstrations of physics processes related to the work of the LHC: electricity, magnetism,
superconductivity, acceleration of particles, etc.
The acceleration of ping pong balls
Maglev, Superconductivity
• llustrations of the structure of matter for children using small balloons as hadrons with the
smaller ones inside – as quarks. The balloons are filled with helium and floating in the air.
• Semiconductor detectors in a very large scale.
drift
strip
• Two competitions with various awards: on the subject of the LHC and on the evolution
of the Universe.
• Workshops on the GRID – the global computer network, elaborated by CERN and many
institutions across the world.
• Lectures and guided presentations on Particle Physics and the LHC by experts in particular fields for organized groups from schools and for the general public.
Other:
• A large scale presence of LHC exhibition in the media (newsletters, radio, TV, thousands
of WWW pages devoted to the exhibition, forums, YouTube).
...To all townsmen and townswomen of Lublin! An extraordinary chance to you!
The large exhibition on the Large Hadron Collider has just arrived to your town!
announced dr Jan Kulka at Lublin’s main gate
• Local communities of physicists (not necessary particle physicists) were involved in the
organization and presentations.
• Hundreds of doctoral students, postgraduates students, students and schoolchildren
were involved in the demonstration and explanation of the experiments.
Warsaw
Siedlce
There were 23 experiments at the exhibition:
• Understanding the LHC
• Electricity and magnetism from the inside
• Home measurements of the speed of light
• A home accelerator
• A ping-pong balls accelerator
• Electron beam in a cathode lamp
• Electric and magnetic cathode rays bending
• Maglev: a superconducting levitating train
• Superconductivity, determination of resistivity vs. temperature
• The model of a quadrupole magnet
• The ferrofluid visualization of magnetic forces
• Check how irradiated you are by cosmic rays
• The construction of the cosmic ray detector (Maze)
• The muon wall
• The cloud chamber cooled by liquid nitrogen
• The cosmophone
• Cosmic rays vs. radiation from the source
• The penetration of radiation through materials
• A model of the strip detector
• A model showing the drift detector
• The measurement of radon in the environment
• Gamma rays measurements with the scintillation detector
• Build a Geiger counter yourself.
During 12 presentations in Poland the exhibition was visited by more
than 50 000 people, more than 30 000 in guided groups. About 5 000
young people participated in the competitions.
In total the exhibition was open for more than 600 hours. This is almost
three months, 8 hours per day.
The exhibition was presented in 11 major Polish cities (twice in Warsaw):
Gdańsk
pomorskie
zachodniopomorskie
podlaskie
kujawsko-pomorskie
Białystok
Toruń
Poznań
lubuskie
mazowieckie
Warszawa
Siedlce
wielkopolskie
Lublin
opolskie
Gliwice
lubelskie
Kielce
Katowice
Tarnów
Kraków
More information (in Polish): www.lhc.edu.pl
SPONSORS:
ANIMATORS:
podkarpackie