
Science Seminar: AntiMatter
January 20, 2017 Science Seminar at TRIUMF
The second stage of the experiment was launched on January 20, 2017 with a Science Seminar at TRIUMF. Designated artists attend a four hour event learning about the science topic from TRIUMF physicists, ask questions of the scientists and engage in conversation with other artists. Artistic production begins, continuing until September 2017, with feedback loops, transfers, relays, responses, rephrasing, and reiterations.
AntiMatter Seminar
Introduction of the project and topic: Ingrid Koenig and Randy Cutler, 1:30pm – 1:45pm
Talk on the discovery and perception of antimatter: Marcello Pavan, 1:35pm – 1:50pm
- Introduction of topic by showing off the Dirac Equation
- History of antimatter and its discovery
- Antimatter in culture (e.g. Star Trek)
- Lead-up to ALPHA
- Watch Marchello’s segment here: https://vimeo.com/209517087
Live Segment on ALPHA:Makoto Fujiwara, 1:50pm – 2:05pm
- Set up a Skype interview with Makoto (who will be at CERN)
- Provide an overview of the ALPHA experiment
- Will be showing an Outreach video about ALPHA from CERN
- Watch Makoto’s segment here: https://vimeo.com/211111558
Detailed talks about antimatter in current research: Matter and antimatter asymmetry: David Morrissey, 2:05pm – 2:20pm
Talk about matter and antimatter and relevance to start of the universe Interactive segment:
- Prepare ~ 48 green cards and ~ 45 red cards, where green will represent matter and red antimatter
- Each person in the audience will have one card below their seat and will disperse within the auditorium
- Through mingling, everyone will find out what card someone else has leading to two options: a. If they both have cards of the same colour, they “repel” and scatter to other people in the room b. If they have opposite cards, they “annihilate”, and head to a corner of the room
- After a few minutes, there should only be ~3 people left, who will represent the extra matter in the universe
Highlight after segment that if the entire world did this simulation, there will only be 1 person left to represent matter (reflects ratio of 1:1010 of matter remaining)
Antimatter Fun Facts: Carla Barquest, 2:20pm – 2:25pm
- Present relatable numerical facts about Antimatter
- Use fun analogies to intrigue the artist’s interpretation of antimatter
Antimatter and Ultra Cold Neutrons: Des Ramsay, 2:25pm – 2:35pm
- Simple introduction CPT conservation and relevance to antimatter
- Include a visual component of conservation through equations and diagrams
- Draw link to UCN experiment
Antimatter and Positron Emission Tomography: Nick Zacchia, 2:35pm – 2:45pm
- Talk of how antimatter is involved in PET scanning
- Discuss what we can learn from the detection of positrons
- End with mention of SPECT
Demonstration Segment: Various Scientists, 2:45pm – 3:05pm
- There will be 4 demos already set up around MOB, free for people to venture to
- To promote participation, each artist will need to pick up stickers from each station
a. SPECT scanning: MOB Auditorium
- Requires hiding a gamma source in a circular frame of cardboard
- Artists will need to move around a pancake meter to detect gammas from the source
b. Cloud chamber: Front Desk Lobby
- Gather people around the cloud chamber to show continuous stream of antimuons
- Discuss it’s origin from nuclear reactions in the sun
c. Camelia LHC simulator: MOB Conference Room
- Use Camelia software to illustrate antiproton beams operating at CERN
- Free for people to operate themselves and visualise particle collisions
d. Antimatter decays: MOB Auditorium
- Use ~25 green cubic die to illustrate decays, colouring one side red (for antimatter)
- Encourage people to input values onto a python code to show graphical decay
Schedule
12pm-1:00pm: TRIUMF Tour for ECUAD guests
1:30pm-3:30pm: Program in TRIUMF Auditorium
3:30pm-4:00pm: Q&A in TRIUMF Auditorium
4:00pm-5:00pm: Reception in TRIUMF cafeteria
Presentation Downloads
Watch the full seminar


