Physics Project

Particle
Physics

What is UNIVERSE made from??????

By:
Aditya ‘quark’ Tiwari
Tushant ‘vacuum’ Jha
Yusuf ‘string’ Jamal
 Preface
This topic is definitely less of Mathematics, and more of
definitions, not because Particle Physics doesn’t consider
mathematical aspects, but because our target audience may
not be able to comprehend that level of mathematics in just
half an hour. To some, initially it may sound chemistry
too, but then not our fault, it’s there in Physics Book too.

There is a video too, having basically some good ways to

explain the topic.

The project discusses The Standard Model of Particle

Physics, by Tushant.

Then Yusuf and Aditya will discuss about Dark Matter

and Dark Energy respectively.

We will also discuss about the ‘Theory of Everything’ and

how it is different from ‘42’ (obviously this is our Physics
Project and not a Hitchhiker’ Guide)

We end our project on a note of hope…

We thank Mrs. Vani Dutta ma’am to allow us take such

a topic.

(where at least a few students could sleep and ask no

questions…
…sorry, it was just a comic relief)
 The Standard Model
of Particle Physics

The Standard Model refers to the compiled formulation

of all the elementary particles which have been both
observed and mathematically formulated.

Fermions [matter particles]:

Fermions, or the so-called ‘matter particles’, are heavy
particles that make up our common matter. They are
called so because they follow Fermi-Dirac Statistics.

They have half-integral spin that is -1/2, 1/2, 3/2, etc.

Spin is actually the quantized representation of Angular
Momentum. Handedness of Spin refers to similarity of
direction between direction of spin (z-component) and
motion of particle.

They also have electric charge, which makes them

interact through Photons. Actually its important to know
that any large enough collection of fermions (like this
sheet or even ink itself) is visible not actually because it
bounces back the photons (c’mon, no one can bounce a
wave-particle so easily, at least I can’t bat a rope) , but
because electrons and protons first absorb and then emit
them.

The Fermi-Dirac Statistics include Pauli’s Exclusion

Principle, which state no two fermions can have same
quantum numbers at same time and place.
The Fermions are found in 3 generations, each generation
heavier and less stable than previous. It is important to
note that in Quantum Mechanics, stability is counted in
fractions of milliseconds.

All Fermions have their Anti-Matter Counterparts

which have exactly the opposite electric charge and
opposite handedness, and everything else same. When a
particle collides with its anti-particle (such as electron-
positron), energy is created equivalent to their masses
(E=mc2). As per Quantum Mechanics, at each and every
point of time, particle-antiparticle pairs are created and
destroyed (After all, it’s all uncertain[Heisenberg’s
Uncertainty Principle])

The Fermions can be further classified into:

Quarks:
These are the particles which make protons and neutrons.

They are of two types, ‘more charged’(±⅔) and ‘less

charged’(±⅓)

They also have another kind of ‘charge’ known as ‘color

charge’ (not to be confused with visible colors, it is just a
naming convention). The color charge is of six types:
1. Red
2. Blue
3. Green
4. Anti-Red
5. Anti-Blue
6. Anti-Green
These ‘color charges’ are named so because as mixing of
red, blue, and green lights give white lights, similarly all
stable Baryons (called hadrons) are made only if there
are 3 quarks of different color-charge.

Or, a ‘meson’ would be formed if two opposing colors

meet.

A Comic description by quarked.org

Leptons:
These are the light-weighted particles which include
electrons.
They also include neutrinos, which are so light that they
travel at relativistic speeds.
Leptons act as particles to balance the electric-charge of
a system which is already color-neutral.

Bosons [Interactions]:
Bosons, or the so-called ‘force carriers’, are particles
which follow Bose-Einstein Statistics, and have integral
spin. Bose-Einstein Statistics allow more than one
particle of same kind to be at same place and same time.

All force in universe is ultimately made by these

fundamental forces. Have you ever thought that even
though 98% of atom is vacuum, whenever we push
something why don’t we just get passed through it?? The
answer is E-M force.

At Planck’s Time (the smallest unit of time) after Big

Bang, all Forces were unified as X and Y Bosons, but as
the universe cooled, the three (as far we have known)
main bosons were developed.

Gluons:
The gluons are gauge bosons, which like
the photons, travel at ‘c’. It carries the
‘color charge’ and is called the
‘STRONG FORCE’.
Photons:
These are the particles which carry electromagnetic field.
It is also the force that makes things visible.

Its energy can be given by E=hν.

It is also subject to interference addition, that is:

Weak Force:
Two kinds of W bosons exist with +1 and −1 elementary
units of electric charge; the W+ is the antiparticle of
the W−. The Z boson (or Z) is electrically neutral and is
its own antiparticle. All three particles are very short-
lived with a mean life of about 3×10−25 s.
These bosons are heavyweights among the elementary
particles. With a mass of 80.4 GeV/c2 and 91.2 GeV/c2,
respectively, the W and Z particles are almost 100 times
as massive as the proton—heavier than
entire atoms of iron. The masses of these bosons are
significant because they act as force carriers; their
masses thus limit the range of the weak interaction.
The electromagnetic force, by contrast, has an infinite
range because its force carrier (the photon) is massless.
All three types have a spin of 1. The emission of
a W+ or W− boson either raises or lowers the electric
charge of the emitting particle by 1 unit, and alters the
spin by 1 unit. At the same time a W boson can change
the generation of the particle, for example changing
a strange quark to an up quark. The Z boson cannot
change either electric charge nor any other charges, only
spin and momentum, so it never changes the generation
or flavor of the particle emitting it

It is really important in Decays:

udd → uud + e− + νe

Comparative Strength:

As compared to E-M Force, we see that Strong Force is

stronger and Weak is weaker (wasn’t that obvious by
their names?), but what amazes is that Gravity is much
weaker than even the ‘Weak’ Force. But after all its E-M
which stops us going through floors.
More Particles:
There are still many questions left unanswered like why
things have mass, and to find the answers to these
questions, scientists are predicting new particles.

The Higgs Boson, as postulated by Peter Higgs, is a kind

of Boson which acts as a Higgs Field in the following
way:

Say a class is full of students (aka Higgs Bosons)

Now a boring guy (like me) enters, and then eventually

goes away.

But if a celebrity (say Orlando Bloom or Megan Fox)

enters, the whole class goes to take the autograph thus
making it difficult for heavy particle (celebrity) to move,
which it shows in form of Mass.
 Dark MATTER
In 1933, when Swiss Astrophysicist Fritz Zwicky, while
studying nearby Coma Cluster, suddenly found that the galaxies
were moving faster than expected, as if there was some ‘ghost’
making them do so. It was later hypothesized that there existed a
non-baryonic species of matter which was exerting this unseen
gravitational effect. They couldn’t be seen because they didn’t
interact with Electromagnetic Waves, nor do they interact
through Strong force.

The Reason:
The Virial Theorem states that for a closed system,
EK = -∑(F*r)/2
Where EK represents Kinetic Energy,
F represents Force,
r represents position
But Fritz observed 400 times more energy than calculated,
Since,
EK = ½mv2
And ‘v’ couldn’t had been 20 times more than what was
observed, it would mean that there was 400 time more mass in
the system.
For 40 years after Zwicky's initial observations, no other
corroborating observations indicated the presence of dark
matter. Then, in the late 1960s and early 1970s,Vera
Rubin, a young astronomer at the Department of
Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution of
Washington presented findings based on a new
sensitive spectrograph that could measure the velocity
curve of edge-on spiral galaxies to a greater degree of
accuracy than had ever before been achieved. Together
with fellow staff-member Kent Ford, Rubin announced at
a 1975 meeting of the American Astronomical
Society the astonishing discovery that most stars in spiral
galaxies orbit at roughly the same speed, which implied
that their mass densities were uniform well beyond the
locations with most of the stars (the galactic bulge).

This result suggests that either Newtonian gravity does

not apply universally or that, conservatively, upwards of
50% of the mass of galaxies was contained in the
relatively dark galactic halo. Subsequent to this,
numerous observations have been made that do indicate
the presence of dark matter in various parts of the
cosmos. Together with Rubin's findings for spiral
galaxies and Zwicky's work on galaxy clusters, the
observational evidence for dark matter has been
collecting over the decades to the point that today most
astrophysicists accept its existence. Recently,
cosmologists have mapped the presence of dark matter
with the help of gravitational lensing, or bending of light
due to gravity.

As a unifying concept, dark matter is one of the dominant

features considered in the analysis of structures on the
order of galactic scale and larger. Dark Matter Halos in a
 galaxy are comparable to a
Christmas Tree. We see the
light bulbs (a.k.a. stars)
from far off but are unable
to see the structure on
which it rests, the Tree
(a.k.a. Halo).

Answers:
The possible solutions to
this problem are :

1. WIMPS, or Weakly
Interacting Massive
Particles which are
particles which
interact only through ‘weak’ or lower.
2. MACHO, or Massive Astrophysical Compact Halo
Objects, which attributes this stuff to star-decays. It
is also referred as Hot Dark Matter, as they will
travel at relativistic speeds
3. RAMBO, or Robust Associations of Massive
Baryonic Objects, which postulates quark-seas.
4. Or to check our Gravitational Concepts again.

But everything is just postulated, and most theories

themselves predict such particles which would be
difficult to observe (they could be passing through us
every second). Still, what we do know is that there is
something which is beyond Baryonic Matter but provides
gravitational structure to it.
 Dark Energy

When Albert Einstein first formulated his General Theory of Relativity,

he found it contradictory without an extra energy, which he termed
‘Cosmological Constant’, to keep the universe static and counter the
effects of gravity. But as Edwin Hubble discovered that universe was
expanding, suddenly the utility of cosmological constant was put into
question. Einstein termed it as his biggest ‘blunder’.

But later when Dark Matter was studied, cosmologists discovered that the
net energy of universe was more than first thought. The total amount of
Baryonic Matter and Dark Matter put together was observed to be
insufficient to produce the amount of Space-Time curvature we observe.
Putting the newly found facts into Hubble’s Theory, it was postulated that
the expansion of universe should decelerate as matter shows Gravitational
effects.

In the 1998 and 1999 two teams of astronomers, the Supernova

Cosmology Project and the High-Z
Supernova Search were looking for
distant type ‘1a supernovae’ in order to
measure the expansion rate of the
universe with time. They expected that
the deceleration of expansion would be
indicated by the supernovae being
brighter than their red-shifts as
the Hubble’s Law would indicate.
Instead, they found the supernovae to
be fainter than expected. Hence, the
expansion of the universe was
accelerating!!!!!!
Observations using the Chandra X-Ray Observatory have shown that the
growth of clusters of galaxies by gravitational attraction has slowed over
time. Astronomers think that this stifled development of larger and larger
clusters of galaxies is likely caused by dark energy that is accelerating the
expansion of space between galaxies.

Also the Theory of Large Scale Structure, which governs the formation of
structure in the universe (stars, quasars, galaxies and galaxy), suggests
that the density of baryonic matter and dark matter in the universe is only
30% of the critical density. There should be something to account for the
remaining mass in and that something is dark energy. (Mass and Energy
are related. Remember E=mc2).

Thus Dark Energy was postulated, a

mysterious form of energy that physicists
believe is the single largest component of
the universe. Dark energy is spread
throughout the universe and appears to
make up about 74 percent of its content.
Dark energy is thought to be an ‘inherent
property of space’ itself. Dark energy is the
only way to explain recent observations that
the universe appears to be expanding at an
accelerating rate although the gravity produced by baryonic and dark
matter should have decelerated this expansion or even started
contracting the space. It is found to be ‘Vacuum Energy’ or the ‘Energy
of Nothing’ as no matter or energy particle explains it, but only some
property of space-time curvature.

Two Models of Dark Energy

1. Cosmological Constant:

A possible explanation of dark energy

that fits very simply within the
framework of Einstein’s General
Theory of Relativity is the existence of
a cosmological constant. Einstein
originally introduced the cosmological
constant into his equations in an
attempt to render the universe static
(neither expanding nor contracting).
Einstein’s equations for general relativity predicted that the universe
could not be static, but at the time Einstein formulated them, he and other
scientists believed that the universe was unchanging. So Einstein
introduced the cosmological constant to balance gravity in his modified
field equations.

But after the discovery of expansion of Universe by Edwin Hubble in

1929, Einstein left this concept.
The possibility that the equations of general relativity should include a
cosmological constant is now being seriously reconsidered because of the
discovery of dark energy. Instead of having the value needed to keep the
universe static, however, the cosmological constant would now have the
value required to make the expansion of the universe accelerate at the
observed rate.
However, when this concept is applied to Quantum Field Theory it gives
its value of order 10120 which if applied actually
would have accelerated the universe at unimaginable rate and never
allowed matter to form.

2. Quintessence:

To overcome the shortcomings of Cosmological constant, one such

theory proposed is that there may be a previously unknown type of force
in the universe that produces the observed acceleration. This would
constitute a fifth fundamental force. This class of theories is often
referred to as “quintessence”. These models predict that the nature of dark
energy changes over the lifetime of the universe, whereas the
cosmological constant is exactly that—constant for all time. Precise
measurements are now being planned to determine whether the properties
of dark energy do change with time.

Implications of Dark Energy on our Universe:

The concept that Einstein called his ‘blunder’ is today found to be the
determining factor behind the fate of universe. If cosmologists could
rightly study the mechanism of Dark Energy, they could tell if the
universe would die in ‘fire’ or ‘ice’.
Cosmologists estimate that the acceleration began roughly 5 billion years
ago. Before that, it is thought that the expansion was decelerating, due to
the attractive influence of dark matter and baryons.
If the acceleration continues indefinitely, the ultimate result will be
that velocity of the expansion of space will exceed the speed of
light. This does not violate the Special Theory of Relativity as it only
applies to flat space-time and not to curved space-time. Thus, local
clusters would soon be invisible to us.

Lambda-C.D.M. Model:
The Lambda-CDM Model is the simplest known model
that is in general agreement with observed phenomena. It
takes into account:
1. Λ (Lambda), or the cosmological constant, which is
a dark energy term that allows for the current
accelerating expansion of the universe. The
cosmological constant is often described in terms
of ΩΛ, the fraction of the energy density of a flat
Universe in the form of the cosmological constant.
Currently, 0.74, implying 74% of the energy
density of the present universe is in this form.
2. Cold dark matter is the model where the dark
matter is explained as being cold (i.e. its velocity is
non-relativistic or
much less than ‘c’ at
the epoch of radiation-
matter equality),
which is possibly non-
baryonic,
dissipationless (can
not cool by radiating
photons) and
collisionless (i.e., the
dark matter particles interact with each other and
other particles only through gravity). This
component makes up 22% of the energy density of
the present universe.
3. The remaining 4% is all of the matter (and energy)
that makes up the atoms (and photons) that are the
 building blocks of planets, stars, and gas clouds in
the universe. This fraction of universe (strangely
having more matter than anti-matter) is involved in
nucleosynthesis in stars.
4. It also assumes that universe has no
‘observable’ topology or space-time rips, so that the
universe is much larger than the observable particle
horizon. These are predictions of cosmic inflation.
5. It takes many parameters like:
a. Hubble’s Constant, which describes the speed
of recession between galaxies.
b. Baryon Density, the absolute density of
baryonic matter
c. Dark Matter Density, the density of dark
matter present in universe
d. Critical Density, the relation between gravity
and anti-gravity (dark energy), etc.

Lambda-CDM model as of 2006 is consistent with a

series of increasingly rigorous cosmological
observations, the latest being the 2005 Supernova Legacy
Survey.
 Theory of Everything
Strings, Superstrings, Fields, Extra Dimensions,
and Everything else…
Scientists have been working on to ‘GENERALISE’, that
is to define more than one concept in just one theory.

An intellect which at a certain moment would know all forces that

set nature in motion, and all positions of all items of which nature is
composed, if this intellect were also vast enough to submit these data
to analysis, it would embrace in a single formula the movements of
the greatest bodies of the universe and those of the tiniest atom; for
such an intellect nothing would be uncertain and the future just like
the past would be present before its eyes.
— Essai philosophique sur les probabilités, Introduction, Pierre-
Simon Laplace, 1814

The history of a quest for such a theory is long, but

recently the efforts of unification have seen many ups-
and-downs

1713: Newton unifies Galileo’s on terrestrial

gravity, Kepler's laws of planetary motion, and the
astronomical studies on Jupiter’s and others Moons into a
single law of universal gravitation

1873: Maxwell works on previous works of Oersted

and Faraday to unify Electricity and Magnetism into
mere 4 equations.

1915: After General Relativity, Einstein tries to unify

E-M with Gravity, but fails
1919: Theodor Kaluza adds a fifth dimension to
General Relativity to adjust it for differences between E-
M and Gravity.

1930’s: Uncertainty Principle hinders development of

Theory of Everything

1940’s: Heisenberg works on S-Matrix approach,

triggering work on Unified Field Theory.

1960’s: Strong and Weak discovered. But now Gravity

has no place in newly formed Standard Model

1964: Higgs Boson proposed to accommodate in

Unified Field Theory

1967: Abdus Salaam and Steven Weinberg unify E-

M and Weak, thus forming ElectroWeak Theory

1969: Few Scientists propose that everything is made

of strings

1974: Scientists propose Grand Unified Theory,

combining all forces

1980’s: Dark matter and dark energy discovered, pose

problems

1990’s: Scientists work on modified version of initial

String Theory, now called Superstring Theory, predicting
up to 26 dimensions.
 says that everything is made from
some kind of vibrating strings, obviously this could
account for Particle-Wave duality. According to it all
particles are made from different tones of vibration in
strings.

But the one of the few problems this has is that it predicts
many smaller dimensions, but first lets understand what
is a smaller dimension:

So in a similar way there more

dimensions which don’t really affect us,
but at quantum
levels, it can have
amazing impacts
being the medium
for vibration of strings.

But String Theory, to some extent, contradicts General

Relativity, as it asks for a particle to mediate gravity,
while relativity attributes gravity to space-time curvature.
The importance of extra dimensions, as many scientists
say, lies in making the universe ‘possible’. The universe
is possible only because there are about 20 constants
which have ‘fine tuned’. eg.- If the ratio of Dark Matter
and Hubble’s Constant would have had been changed,
the universe would have had crunched long before we
could evolve. The Multiple Dimensions allow parallel
universes, thus making our universe one of the
‘privileged’ universes.

But String Theory has a problem, its too difficult to test

it…

…due to the high-energy required to test its effects.

 Sources:
WIKIPEDIA (that’s obvious)

Elegant Universe, NOVA TV-

PBS, by Brian Greene

Particle Adventure, CPEP

Youtube, etc.

We shall hope that one day scientists are

successful in unifying Standard Model,
Lambda-CDM Model, General Relativity,
Superstring Theory, and Unified Field
Theory into one consistent ‘Theory of
Everything’ (definitely not ‘42’)……so that
the twenty years down the line students
don’t make group project but individual
ones on this topic.