Infinitely small

The term “infinitely small” is used to describe objects and phenomena on a subatomic scale. At this scale, matter is made up of particles such as the electron, quarks or neutrinos interacting with each other with the help of other particles called bosons. Some particles may bind together to give rise to larger particles (hadrons), then to atomic nuclei and finally to atoms.

IP2I has been a partner in the LHC adventure at CERN since the beginning, having participated in the design and construction of two detectors, CMS and ALICE. This led to a great success with the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012. CMS continues to study the standard model of particle physics, and seeks to discover unknown particles, the so-called ‘new physics’, and the ILC group is working on the future linear particle accelerator, which will one day take over from the LHC. ALICE focuses on the observation of quark and gluon plasma, a state of matter that existed at the beginning of the history of the universe.

The atomic nucleus is a complex object that has not yet revealed all its secrets. Its study is fundamental, and among other things provides information on the functioning of stars. This is the objective of the Nuclear Matter Group.

The neutrino is also a particle that opens up many perspectives. The Neutrino group, through the DUNE experiment, will be able to provide answers to the question of matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe. On the other hand, the MANOIR group is looking for new physics by examining neutrino collisions with the RICOCHET experiment, and by trying to find out if the neutrino and the antineutrino are the same particle.

Finally, the AEGIS group is conducting an exciting experiment to see if the gravitational behaviour of antimatter is identical to that of matter.