Lancaster Experimental Particle Physics Consolidated Grant 2019-22

Physicists at Lancaster University will smash particles together at the Large Hadron Collider and study ghostly neutrinos from distant facilities to find out what the universe is made of. The research addresses a gaping hole in our understanding: the Standard Model of particle physics cannot explain why matter survived the Big Bang while antimatter vanished, what dark matter is, or whether extra dimensions of space exist. These are not abstract puzzles—they are fundamental questions about why the universe, and we, exist at all. This is curiosity-driven fundamental science with no immediate practical application. That is honest. But similar work at CERN gave us the World Wide Web, and particle detectors now underpin medical PET scanners and cargo security systems. If this research succeeds, it could reveal new particles or forces that reshape our understanding of reality. Any future technologies—from quantum computing to novel energy sources—would emerge only decades later, if at all. For now, the value is in knowing what the universe is actually doing.