Speaker
Description
Since time immemorial people are wondering what the world is made of. An ancient idea dating back to the Greeks is the system of four elements: earth, water, fire and air. Our understanding of nature has come a long way since then. We have learned that much of our world is made of the various atoms compiled in the periodic table of elements. We have also learned that atoms themselves are built from more fundamental pieces, named protons, neutrons and electrons, and that protons and neutrons in turn are made of more fundamental particles named quarks hold together by gluons. Researchers at Jefferson Lab study quarks and gluons using continuous beams of high-energy, polarized electrons. Research on the building blocks of matter will be presented along with the challenges posed by the nature of Quantum Chromodynamics, the theory which describes the characteristics and behavior of quarks and the peculiar force that binds them together.
