The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world’s biggest and most powerful particle accelerator. It was built by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), to push protons or ions to near the speed of light, with the help of a ring of superconducting magnets. This ring is a giant circular tunnel built underground. The tunnel is 17 miles (27 kilometers) long, and between 50 and 175 meters below the surface. It lies beneath the border of Switzerland and France. The LHC is the largest, and one of the most complex machines ever built.
Join us on Saturday, October 15, when our guest speaker Dr. Claude Pruneau, Wayne State University professor in the department of Physics and Astronomy, will provide us with an overview of research being conducted at the LHC, and the particles being produced and studied in the collisions of heavy ions there. This presentation is geared towards non physicists, so come and learn, without fear of frying your brain.
Dr. Pruneau is a French Canadian native born in Quebec City. He completed his studies at Universite Laval where he earned a Ph.D. in Physics in 1987. He worked as Research Fellow successively for the Atomic Energy of Canada Limited and McGill University in Montreal. He joined the Wayne State University Faculty in 1992, where he conducts an active research program in relativistic heavy ion physics and study of the Quark Gluon Plasma at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider located at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, and at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) located at CERN in Switzerland. Dr. Pruneau is a member of the American Physical Society, the Canadian Association of Physicists, and the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Please note that this program will be presented live and on Zoom. The live presentation will take place at:
Northwest Unitarian Universalist Church in Southfield
23925 Northwestern Hwy
Southfield, MI 48075
Doors open at 6:30pm. The program begins at 7:00pm. Admission: $4 for Mensa Members, $5 for non-Mensans.
Following the presentation, please join us for dinner at Buddy’s Pizza, located at 31646 Northwestern Highway, in Farmington Hills, just northeast of Middlebelt Road.
If you’d prefer to participate on Zoom, you’ll need to pre-register by clicking on the following link: https://tinyurl.com/SEMM-1022-Gathering ,The event’s Zoom URL and instructions for connecting will only be sent to those who are pre-registered. The Zoom room opens at 6:30pm for mingling. There is no charge for the Zoom presentation.