Quest for Connecting Quarks to Cosmos

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    Stephen   Lars   Olsen    <Professor>

    56-411
    High Energy Physics Group
    Dept. Physics and Astronomy
    Seoul National University  Seoul, Korea 151-747

    tel: 82-2-880-4229
    fax: 82-2-875-4719

    e-mail: solsen  (at)  hep1.snu.ac.kr

     

       Schedule

 


    Sept. 15 - 18  Hyp-X Tokai, Japan

    Oct. 15 - 16  Double beta-decay Workshop, Seoul

    Oct. 17      Double beta-decay Workshop, Yangyang

    Oct. 20 - 21  Gyeongsang Univ., Jinju


     

       Current Research Interest

    My research is concentrated mainly on studies of the properties of the charmed quark (c-quark) and the beauty quark (b-quark).

    Studies of the weak decays of particles that contain a b-quark have proven to be extremely useful for investigating the detailed properties of the Weak Interactions. These studies proved crucial to establishng the correct framework for incorporating matter-antimatter asymmetries, called CP violation, into the WEak Interatction theory. Our measurements of differences between the decays of mesons containing b-quarks and those containing anti-b-quarks proved the validity of the theory first proposed in 1973 by Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihide Makawa and led to their receipt of the 2008 Nobel physics prise.

    Studies of particles containing c-quarks have led to a better understanding of how quarks combine to form particles. When first proposed in 1964, quarks were considered to be mathematical constructs that were useful for classifying the various known sub-atomic particles. This changed abruptly in 1974, when the J/psi particle, which we now know to be comprised of a c- and anti-c-quark. Subsequently, related particles were found that could be nicely classified as different quantum states of the c anti-c bound state system, the so-called charmonium mesons. At this time it was realized that quarks are real physical objects. Studies of the charmonium meson system --sometimes called the hydrogen atom of the strong interactions-- have provided a wealth of information about how quarks and particles are interrelated. Recently, a number of charmonium-like particles have been discovered that do not fit the c-quark anti-c-quark classification scheme. These are indications of possible new types of particles, which, so far, seem to have theoretical physicists baffled.

    The best facility in the world for studying b-quarks is at the KEK laboratory in Japan; the world's best c-quark facility at the Institute of High Energy Physics in Beijing. Our group does experiments at both places.

     

         

             23-417 Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea 151-747
             tel: 070-7601-4610 fax: 82-2-875-4719

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