Stanford physicist Lauren Tompkins is working to unravel the universe’s mysteries using subatomic particles. Her research involves global collaboration with thousands of scientists.
The “Research Matters” series explores labs across Stanford, providing insights into ongoing projects that could impact human health and well-being. These are the researchers’ own words, edited for clarity.
Tompkins explains that particle physics aims to describe everything in terms of indivisible particles and forces, yet current theories only account for 5% of the universe. Dark matter remains largely unexplained despite substantial evidence from cosmology and astrophysics. Tompkins is attempting to produce dark matter in laboratories using particle accelerators.
At CERN’s Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland, protons are collided at unprecedented energies to search for anomalies like missing collision products, which may indicate dark matter. Additionally, an experiment at SLAC involves electron beams hitting thin targets; if electrons emerge with minimal traces, it might suggest dark matter presence.
This year’s “Oscars of Science” honored early-career Stanford researchers contributing to fundamental understanding of the universe’s structure.
Collaboration is key in this field. The ATLAS experiment at CERN involves over 3,000 scientists globally united by a common goal: understanding our place in the universe. However, challenges exist as reliance on international cooperation is threatened by potential U.S. withdrawal from partnerships.
Funding for basic science is competitive and primarily comes from government sources like the National Science Foundation and Department of Energy. Tompkins acknowledges their support throughout her career but expresses concern about securing future funding for students’ timely graduation despite Stanford’s baseline support.
In recent history, significant advancements have been made in understanding matter and space-time through Einstein’s relativity theory and quantum mechanics development. Yet questions about dark matter and antimatter remain unanswered. Tompkins believes a paradigm-shifting discovery addressing these issues could occur within 50 years due to existing knowledge gaps.
