Natural Science & Mathematics Colloquium, Sept. 17

Join us for the second Natural Science and Mathematics Colloquium talk of the season!

Wednesday, September 17, 2025.

Schaefer Hall 106 @ 4:45 p.m.

Suyog Shrestha, Ph.D. is an assistant professor at Washington College and research scientist on the ATLAS experiment at CERN's Large Hadron Collider. He was part of the Nobel-prize winning discovery of the long-sought Higgs Boson in 2012. The discovery has completed the Standard Model of Particle Physics, which describes the basic building blocks of matter and how they interact with each other. But at the same time, the discovery also leaves many questions unanswered, and Shrestha's current research focuses on attempting to answer them. In addition to research, Shrestha enjoys teaching and mentoring students, forging interdisciplinary and international scientific partnerships, and increasing public awareness of the importance of basic science.

Seminar Title: A Voyage to the Heart of Matter, and Why You Should Get Onboard

Abstract: In the last 100 years or so, scientists have understood a great deal about the fundamental constituents of matter and their interactions. An active collaboration between theorists and experimentalists has consolidated this understanding into a framework that came to be called the Standard Model (SM) of  Particle Physics. The SM has been incredibly successful with all of its predictions validated by experimental observations. The discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012 by the ATLAS and the CMS experiments at CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was a triumph of the SM, leading to a Nobel prize for the theorists. However, the SM cannot be the final theory of nature because many experimentally observed phenomena, such as dark matter, matter-antimatter asymmetry, neutrino oscillation etc. are not explained by the SM. Several Beyond the SM theories have been proposed to address these shortcomings of the SM, but no evidence for any BSM theory has been found yet. In this context, the Higgs boson, being the most recently discovered particle, provides an unprecedented opportunity to test the SM, to see when and if its predictions break down, and to probe new laws of physics. This talk will provide an overview of the current state of particle physics research at the LHC and explore how today’s work may shape the discoveries of tomorrow. I will also highlight the growing involvement of undergraduates from liberal arts colleges in this global scientific enterprise, and discuss how students can contribute meaningfully to fundamental research, even at early stages of their careers.

This event is free and open to the public. It is meant for a general audience. If you are an instructor, please announce it to your students.