Bulletin No. 2, 2012

Three antineutrino detectors submerged in pure water in the Daya Bay Far Hall, each 5 m in height and diameter. The Hong Kong team designed and built a subsystem in each of the detectors. After the Higgs, What’s Next? 27 among the lightest fundamental par ticles with high penetrating power. Neutrinos are also called ghost particles. Like the Higgs, they are elusive and difficult to detect. We know they have a tiny mass, which may have acquired through interacting with the Higgs particles. While the discovery of Higgs is a confirmation of the standard model, neutrino oscillation (what we study at Daya Bay) is beyond the standard model. So neutrinos provide a promising window for us to study where the standard model trails off.’ Nurturing Young Research Talent The physics world is vast as the universe, and the explorations of our predecessors need to be continued by the younger generations. In view of that, CUHK has strengthened its collaboration with CERN with the signing of an agreement with the Compact Muon Solenoid Experiment (CMS) at CERN for CUHK scientists and students to take part in the research programme. CMS is one of the two major experiments at CERN and was designed to detect a wide range of particles and phenomena produced in high-energy collisions in the LHC. It therefore plays a part in detecting and confirming the existence of fundamental particles including the Higgs. CUHK students will continue to benefit from research experiences gained in the yearly CERN Summer Student Programme. Upper: 2011 CERN summer interns Kwok Ka-hei Martin (right) and Leung Shing-chau John (centre) learned a lot from the exchange. Both are pursuing master’s studies while continuing to participate in CERN projects. Lower: 2012 CERN interns Li Tsun-yin (right) and Tam Chun Nam take part in analyzing CMS detector’s data.