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Essay 1: The LHC and the Higgs Boson

Note: the following description may look long at first, but please don't be afraid. I have deliberately designed it like a FAQ, so that it is straightforward for you to figure out what I expect. Just take a deep breath, read the instructions carefully all the way through to the bottom, and then ask me if you have any remaining questions. I am here to help you. 🙂

Due dates

Topic: the LHC and the Higgs

Answer the following questions, at a level suitable for the interested layperson:-

  1. (50%) Give an overview of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), both from the equipment perspective and the human perspective. Provide some vital statistics. Explain how electric and magnetic fields are used to accelerate and collide the particles. Discuss the four main detectors.
  2. (40%) What is the Higgs field, and what is the Higgs boson? What roles do they play in the Standard Model of Particle Physics? How and when was the Higgs boson discovered at the LHC?
  3. (10%) What sorts of new phenomena do theoretical subatomic physicists imagine we might see at the LHC in future?

Note: before you start, you may wish read my Essay Grading Rubric. In essence, I focus on two things: (1) physics accuracy, and (2) pedagogy: how well you explain things. As long as your meaning is clear and your essay is easily readable, I do not especially care about spelling, grammar, or punctuation errors.

Style

Stylistically, please write your essay conversationally - as if you are verbally explaining this physics stuff to your favourite artsy adult relative (cousin, uncle, grandma) who knows little or nothing about science. Use the first person and the active voice. Remember to use paragraphs properly.

Length, format, etc.

Please write about 1500 words of content for the essay (375 words for the outline), not counting references. List your references at the end, after your essay text. Pictures, diagrams, or sketches are permitted but should be used sparingly. Please submit your assignment on Quercus in .rtf, .pdf, .txt, or .docx format. For formatting, I prefer single spaced, US letter-size (8.5 x 11 inch) paper, 1-inch margins, plain font (e.g. Arial, Helvetica, Verdana), size 12pt, black colour. I do not mind which system of formatting references you use. Please do not bother with a separate title page; just write your student name and number in the top line of page 1 of your essay. Here is a sample essay template.

Useful Resources

Your primary source of information for our course is my Lecture Notes, which I make available here on this web site. One accessible book which you may find helpful is Elegant Universe by Brian Greene. Another accessible book discussing our course material is Universe on a T-shirt by Dan Falk, which is available in the Library.

Please note: in general, Wikipedia is not an acceptable academic reference. There are two excellent intellectual reasons for this, in our case. First, Wikipedia's accuracy is best on topics that are understood by many people in enough detail for the crowdsourced article to be authoritative, and modern physics often falls outside this category. Second, the level of technicality of Wikipedia articles is usually mismatched to our needs. For example, the article on black holes is pitched to a more expert audience than our class, so it would be frustrating to try to learn from. You may of course use Wikipedia as a mechanism of finding reputable pedagogical sources, such as books written for laypeople by physics or astronomy professors or by CERN or NASA scientists.

Reputable, understandable sources of online information about the LHC include:

Handing In

Essays must be handed in before the deadline electronically, with your name and student number included, via Quercus. Please include in your essay file your signed Academic Integrity declaration form as described below in the Academic Integrity section. If you do not own a printer and/or scanner, please include an electronic signature. If you cannot work out how to include this form in your essay file, please send it to me separately. (Note: a good tool for combining .pdf files is PDFSAM.)

Document Format

The electronic document formats I encourage you to use are: Rich Text Format (.rtf), Portable Document Format (.pdf), and plain text (.txt). I will also grudgingly accept Microsoft Word (.docx) files.

Academic Integrity

Compliance with all UofT academic integrity guidelines is, of course, compulsory. For clarification of what is expected of UofT students, please carefully study the handouts on Academic Integrity (the Writing handouts will also be useful). For example, do remember to properly cite, quote, and reference all sources you use, and don't cut-and-paste content from internet sources. Please read How Not To Plagiarize.

Essays will be run through the University's TurnItIn.com system for detecting cheating in essays. All this does is checks whether you have lifted paragraphs or phrases straight from common sources -- or past student essays -- without referencing properly. If you practise good academic citation hygiene, you have absolutely nothing to worry about. If you would prefer not to participate with Turnitin, you must provide alternative evidence that your essay is your own work -- please discuss details with me in person at least 24 hours before the Essay is due; in that case, I expect proof of at least two rough drafts along with the finished essay.

Along with each Essay, you are required to provide a signed Academic Integrity Checklist. This is compulsory.