CERN's supercollider | Brian Cox

譯者: Jungyi Lin 審譯者: Sunshine Wang

This is the Large Hadron Collider.

這就是大強子對撞機

It's 27 kilometers in circumference.

周長27公里

It's the biggest scientific experiment ever attempted.

它是前所未有最大的科學實驗

Over 10,000 physicists and engineers

超過一萬名物理學家與工程師

from 85 countries around the world

來自全世界八十五個國家

have come together over several decades

費時數十年 齊聚一堂

to build this machine.

建造這個機器

What we do is we accelerate protons --

我們將質子的運動

so, hydrogen nuclei --

也就是氫的原子核

around 99.999999

加速到光速的

percent the speed of light.

99.999999%

Right? At that speed, they go around

每秒繞行27公里的

that 27 kilometers 11,000 times a second.

軌道一萬一千次

And we collide them with another beam of protons

然後用另一道反向行進的質子束

going in the opposite direction.

使他們對撞

We collide them inside giant detectors.

質子在巨大的偵測器內對撞

They're essentially digital cameras.

這些偵測器其實就是數位相機

And this is the one that I work on, ATLAS.

這是我負責的部份: 超導環場探測器

You get some sense of the size --

你可以感覺一下它有多大

you can just see these EU standard-size

看看站在底下的

people underneath.

標準尺寸的歐洲人

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

You get some sense of the size: 44 meters wide,

感覺一下超導環場探測器的大小 寬44公尺

22 meters in diameter, 7,000 tons.

直徑22公尺 七千噸重

And we re-create the conditions that were present

我們重現宇宙形成後

less than a billionth of a second after the universe began

一百萬分之一秒內的情形

up to 600 million times a second

也就是在偵測器內 一秒鐘發生

inside that detector -- immense numbers.

高達六億次 很可觀的數字

And if you see those metal bits there --

看看那些金屬片

those are huge magnets that bend

那是巨大的磁鐵

electrically charged particles,

用來彎曲帶電粒子

so it can measure how fast they're traveling.

探測器測量質子運動速率

This is a picture about a year ago.

這張照片是大約一年前拍的

Those magnets are in there.

磁鐵在那裡

And, again, a EU standard-size, real person,

底下站了一位標準尺寸的歐洲人

so you get some sense of the scale.

可以想像這對撞器有多大

And it's in there that those mini-Big Bangs will be created,

今年夏天迷你大爆炸實驗

sometime in the summer this year.

就是在這裡進行

And actually, this morning, I got an email

今天一早我收到一封電子郵件

saying that we've just finished, today,

通知我今天ATLAS

building the last piece of ATLAS.

最後一個零件已經完成安裝

So as of today, it's finished. I'd like to say

就像是為了今天的演講而完工的

that I planned that for TED,

我想說是特地為了TED安排的

but I didn't. So it's been completed as of today.

但其實不是 好,今天完工了

(Applause)

(眾人鼓掌)

Yeah, it's a wonderful achievement.

這是個了不起的的成就

So, you might be asking, "Why?

但你們也許會問：為什麼?

Why create the conditions that were present

為什麼要重現宇宙形成後

less than a billionth of a second after the universe began?"

十億分之一秒內的狀態?

Well, particle physicists are nothing if not ambitious.

少了雄心壯志, 粒子物理學家就什麼也不是

And the aim of particle physics is to understand

粒子物理學的目標是要了解

what everything's made of, and how everything sticks together.

萬物是怎麼產生的? 如何形成的?

And by everything I mean, of course,

當然, 所謂的萬物是指

me and you, the Earth, the Sun,

你, 我, 這個地球, 太陽

the 100 billion suns in our galaxy

我們身處的銀河系中數不盡的太陽

and the 100 billion galaxies

數不盡的銀河系

in the observable universe.

在我們能觀察到範圍

Absolutely everything.

這一切就是萬物

Now you might say, "Well, OK, but why not just look at it?

你可能會想, "好吧, 幹嘛不直接用看的就好?"

You know? If you want to know what I'm made of, let's look at me."

如果你想知道我是什麼東西做的, 直接看我就好了"

Well, we found that as you look back in time,

回顧過去, 我們發現

the universe gets hotter and hotter,

宇宙越來越熱

denser and denser, and simpler and simpler.

密度越來越高, 越來越單一

Now, there's no real reason I'm aware of for that,

我無法解釋為什麼

but that seems to be the case.

但是事實似乎就是如此

So, way back in the early times of the universe,

回到宇宙形成之初

we believe it was very simple and understandable.

我們認為宇宙是簡單易懂的

All this complexity, all the way to these wonderful things --

一切複雜, 美好的事物

human brains -- are a property of an old

例如人的大腦, 都是古老蒼涼的宇宙

and cold and complicated universe.

所演化出來的產物

Back at the start, in the first billionth of a second,

回到起點, 在那十億分之一秒的瞬間

we believe, or we've observed, it was very simple.

我們認為, 或說我們觀察到, 是非常簡單的狀態

It's almost like ...

就像是...

imagine a snowflake in your hand,

你手中有一片雪花

and you look at it, and it's an incredibly complicated,

看著它, 你覺得它既精緻

beautiful object. But as you heat it up,

又漂亮, 當你把它加熱

it'll melt into a pool of water,

雪花就融化成水

and you would be able to see that, actually, it was just made

你可以看到雪花實際上是由

of H20, water.

H2O, 水形成的

So it's in that same sense that we look back in time

我們用同樣的概念, 同樣的方法

to understand what the universe is made of.

來瞭解宇宙是由什麼所組成

And, as of today, it's made of these things.

現在我們知道是由這些物質組成

Just 12 particles of matter,

12種物質粒子

stuck together by four forces of nature.

四種自然力共同形成

The quarks, these pink things, are the things that make up protons and neutrons

夸克, 這些粉紅的東西, 構成質子與中子

that make up the atomic nuclei in your body.

也就是你身體裡的原子核

The electron -- the thing that goes around

電子, 環繞著

the atomic nucleus --

原子核

held around in orbit, by the way, by the electromagnetic force

靠著電磁力, 依循軌道繞行

that's carried by this thing, the photon.

電磁力是來自於光子

The quarks are stuck together by other things called gluons.

膠子把夸克聚合在一起

And these guys, here, they're the weak nuclear force,

這些粒子含有弱核力

probably the least familiar.

這也許是我們最不熟悉的

But, without it, the sun wouldn't shine.

但是沒有它就不會有陽光

And when the sun shines, you get copious quantities

當陽光出現時, 會放射出

of these things, called neutrinos, pouring out.

大量的微中子

Actually, if you just look at your thumbnail --

如果你看著你大姆指的指甲

about a square centimeter --

大概一平方公分 每秒有

there are something like 60 billion neutrinos per second

大約600億個來自太陽

from the sun, passing

的微中子穿過

through every square centimeter of your body.

你身上的每一平方公分

But you don't feel them, because the weak force

但你沒會有任何感覺,

is correctly named --

因為弱核力名副其實

very short range and very weak,

極為短暫且微弱

so they just fly through you.

直接穿透你

And these particles have been discovered

這些粒子在上個世紀就

over the last century, pretty much.

己經被發現了

The first one, the electron, was discovered in 1897,

首先是電子, 在1897年被發現

and the last one, this thing called the tau neutrino,

最後一個則是濤微中子(tau neutrino)

in the year 2000. Actually just --

在2000年被發現

I was going to say, just up the road in Chicago. I know it's a big country,

在芝加哥的馬路邊, 我突然想到美國超大的

America, isn't it?

對吧?

Just up the road.

就在馬路邊

Relative to the universe, it's just up the road.

相對於整個宇宙, 我們就在馬路邊

(Laughter)

笑

So, this thing was discovered in the year 2000,

好, 這些粒子在2000年被發現

so it's a relatively recent picture.

還不算太久

One of the wonderful things, actually, I find,

奇妙的是我們發現他們了

is that we've discovered any of them, when you realize how tiny they are.

想想它們有多麼微小

You know, they're a step in size

就尺寸而言, 相對於宇宙

from the entire observable universe.

它們只有一步的距離那麼大

So, 100 billion galaxies,

一千億個銀河系

13.7 billion light years away --

137億光年的距離

a step in size from that to Monterey, actually,

這些粒子只有一步的距離的大小

is about the same as from Monterey to these things.

就像拿蒙特雷和整個美國比

Absolutely, exquisitely minute,

的的確確小的不得了

and yet we've discovered pretty much the full set.

但是這些粒子幾乎全被我們發現了

So, one of my most illustrious forebears

我的一位很傑出的前輩

at Manchester University, Ernest Rutherford,

曼徹斯特大學的歐尼斯特‧拉瑟福

discoverer of the atomic nucleus,

原子核發現者

once said, "All science is either physics

他曾說 "科學不是物理

or stamp collecting."

就是收集郵票"

Now, I don't think he meant to insult

我並不認為他在羞辱

the rest of science,

物理之外的科學領域

although he was from New Zealand, so it's possible.

不過他是紐西蘭人, 所以蠻有有可能的喔

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

But what he meant was that what we've done, really,

他的意思是我們所做的一切

is stamp collect there.

就不過是收集郵票而己

OK, we've discovered the particles,

好, 我們己經發現粒子

but unless you understand the underlying

但除非了解這模式背後隱含的理由—

reason for that pattern -- you know, why it's built the way it is --

萬事萬物之所以形成的方式,

really you've done stamp collecting. You haven't done science.

那麼我們只不過是在集郵票, 並不是做科學研究

Fortunately, we have

很幸運的我們有或許是二十世紀

probably one of the greatest scientific achievements of the twentieth century

最偉大的科學成就之一

that underpins that pattern.

為這個模式奠定了基礎

It's the Newton's laws, if you want,

可以說這是粒子物理的

of particle physics.

牛頓定理

It's called the standard model -- beautifully simple mathematical equation.

這模式叫"標準模型" — 美妙又簡單的數學公式

You could stick it on the front of a T-shirt,

你可以把它印在T恤前面

which is always the sign of elegance.

看起來會很考究、好看

This is it.

沒錯

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

I've been a little disingenuous, because I've expanded it out

我有點不老實, 因為我揭露了

in all its gory detail.

血淋淋的細節

This equation, though, allows you to calculate everything --

這個方程式可以計算宇宙中

other than gravity -- that happens in the universe.

除了重力之外的任何東西

So, you want to know why the sky is blue, why atomic nuclei stick together --

想知道為天空什麼是藍的, 原子核為什麼能聚在一起

in principle, you've got a big enough computer --

你需要一台夠強力的電腦

why DNA is the shape it is.

DNA為什麼會是那種形狀

In principle, you should be able to calculate it from that equation.

你可以用這個方程式去計算

But there's a problem.

但是有個問題

Can anyone see what it is?

有人知道嗎?

A bottle of champagne for anyone that tells me.

我會送一瓶香檳給告訴我答案的人

I'll make it easier, actually, by blowing one of the lines up.

把這一行放大, 這樣會簡單一點

Basically, each of these terms

基本上, 公式裡每一項參數

refers to some of the particles.

代表一種粒子

So those Ws there refer to the Ws, and how they stick together.

這些W代表弱作用力, 還有粒子如何結合

These carriers of the weak force, the Zs, the same.

Z攜帶弱作用力, 也是如此

But there's an extra symbol in this equation: H.

但是這方程式多一個符號: H

Right, H.

對, H

H stands for Higgs particle.

H代表希格斯粒子

Higgs particles have not been discovered.

希格斯粒子現在還沒被發現

But they're necessary: they're necessary

但是這個方程式要成立

to make that mathematics work.

希格斯粒子是必要的

So all the exquisitely detailed calculations we can do

所有運用這個神奇的方程式

with that wonderful equation

做的精密計算

wouldn't be possible without an extra bit.

沒有H, 就沒戲唱了

So it's a prediction:

這是個預測

a prediction of a new particle.

對一種新粒子的預測

What does it do?

那H是用來幹嘛的?

Well, we had a long time to come up with good analogies.

嗯, 我們花了很長時間才想出絕佳的比喻

And back in the 1980s, when we wanted the money

1980年代, 當我們想從英國政府

for the LHC from the U.K. government,

那裡申請經費做大強子對撞機的研究

Margaret Thatcher, at the time, said,

佘契爾夫人說,

"If you guys can explain, in language

"如果你們能用政治家能夠

a politician can understand,

理解的語言來解釋

what the hell it is that you're doing, you can have the money.

你們到底在幹嘛, 我就撥錢給你們

I want to know what this Higgs particle does."

我想知道希格斯粒子是做什麼的"

And we came up with this analogy, and it seemed to work.

我們找到了比喻, 看來是成功了

Well, what the Higgs does is, it gives mass to the fundamental particles.

希格斯粒子的功能是讓基礎粒子具有質量

And the picture is that the whole universe --

整個宇宙—

and that doesn't mean just space, it means me as well, and inside you --

不只是外太空, 包含了我, 還有你—

the whole universe is full of something called a Higgs field.

整個宇宙就是一個希格斯場

Higgs particles, if you will.

也就是希格斯粒子

The analogy is that these people in a room

打個比方, 這個房間裡的人

are the Higgs particles.

是希格斯粒子

Now when a particle moves through the universe,

當某個粒子在宇宙中移動

it can interact with these Higgs particles.

它可以跟希格斯粒子互動

But imagine someone who's not very popular moves through the room.

想像一下, 房間裡有某個人不太受歡迎

Then everyone ignores them. They can just pass through the room very quickly,

其它人都忽略他, 他以光速很快的

essentially at the speed of light. They're massless.

穿越過房間, 因為沒有質量

And imagine someone incredibly important

好, 有某個非常重要的人

and popular and intelligent

很受歡迎又很聰明

walks into the room.

走進了房間

They're surrounded by people, and their passage through the room is impeded.

就被其他人團團包圍, 走起路來障礙重重

It's almost like they get heavy. They get massive.

感覺就像變重了, 因為有質量

And that's exactly the way the Higgs mechanism works.

這就是希格斯粒子運作機制

The picture is that the electrons and the quarks

這也說明你體內及我們周遭的世界

in your body and in the universe that we see around us

的電子與夸克這些粒子

are heavy, in a sense, and massive,

之所以有重量, 有質量

because they're surrounded by Higgs particles.

是因為它們被希格斯粒子包圍

They're interacting with the Higgs field.

與希格斯場互動

If that picture's true,

如果這個預測是正確的

then we have to discover those Higgs particles at the LHC.

那麼我們必須靠LHC來發現希格斯粒子

If it's not true -- because it's quite a convoluted mechanism,

如果這個預測是錯誤的, 因為這很錯綜複雜

although it's the simplest we've been able to think of --

雖然這是我們能想出來的最簡單的了—

then whatever does the job of the Higgs particles

不管H是希格斯粒子或是其他的東西

we know have to turn up

我們確信它會在

at the LHC.

LHC裡會出現

So, that's one of the prime reasons we built this giant machine.

這是我們建造這個龐然大物的主要原因之一

I'm glad you recognize Margaret Thatcher.

很高興你們認出了佘契爾夫人

Actually, I thought about making it more culturally relevant, but --

事實上, 我想要讓它看起來更有文化氣息, 但是

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

anyway.

總之

So that's one thing.

重點是

That's essentially a guarantee of what the LHC will find.

這是LHC保證一定會找到的

There are many other things. You've heard

還會有其它的東西, 你一定聽說過

many of the big problems in particle physics.

粒子物理學的中諸多難題

One of them you heard about: dark matter, dark energy.

其中一個是暗物質, 暗能源

There's another issue,

這是另一個課題—

which is that the forces in nature -- it's quite beautiful, actually --

就是自然力, 事實上是很奇妙的

seem, as you go back in time,

如果回溯過去

they seem to change in strength.

自然力在強度上似乎有改變

Well, they do change in strength.

真的有改變

So, the electromagnetic force, the force that holds us together,

把我們聚在一起的電磁力

gets stronger as you go to higher temperatures.

溫度越高變得越強

The strong force, the strong nuclear force, which sticks nuclei together,

而強作用力, 也就是強核力, 能把原子核聚在一起

gets weaker. And what you see is the standard model --

卻會變弱, 標準模型

you can calculate how these change -- is the forces,

可以計算這些的力變化

the three forces, other than gravity,

除了重力以外的三種力—

almost seem to come together at one point.

幾乎在同一點上交會

It's almost as if there was one beautiful

就像有一種美麗的

kind of super-force, back at the beginning of time.

超級力量, 從宇宙形成之際就存在

But they just miss.

但它們還是沒能交會在同一點

Now there's a theory called super-symmetry,

有個超對稱理論

which doubles the number of particles in the standard model,

把標準模型中的粒子數加倍

which, at first sight, doesn't sound like a simplification.

乍看不像是在簡化問題

But actually, with this theory,

但是事實上, 在這個理論中

we find that the forces of nature

我們發現自然力

do seem to unify together, back at the Big Bang --

在大爆炸發生時似乎真的融為一體

absolutely beautiful prophecy. The model wasn't built to do that,

完美的預言, 當初並不是為了這一點建構這個模型,

but it seems to do it.

但是卻無心插柳的辦到了

Also, those super-symmetric particles

還有, 這些超對稱粒子

are very strong candidates for the dark matter.

極有可能就是暗物質粒子

So a very compelling theory

有個非常引人注目的理論

that's really mainstream physics.

現在是主流物理學

And if I was to put money on it, I would put money on --

如果我用很不科學的方法砸錢

in a very unscientific way -- that

把錢砸在LHC

that these things would also crop up at the LHC.

這些東西在LHC實驗中會被發現

Many other things that the LHC could discover.

LHC可以發現許多東西

But in the last few minutes, I just want to give you

在最後幾分鐘, 我想給各位

a different perspective

一種不同的觀點

of what I think -- what particle physics

粒子物理學對我而言

really means to me -- particle physics and cosmology.

意義為何— 粒子物理學與宇宙學

And that's that I think it's given us a wonderful

為我們帶來一個美好的詮釋—

narrative -- almost a creation story,

一個關於宇宙源起

if you'd like -- about the universe,

創造的故事

from modern science over the last few decades.

從這幾十年的物理學來看

And I'd say that it deserves,

我認為可以這麼看待它

in the spirit of Wade Davis' talk,

以Wade Davis演講的精神

to be at least put up there with these wonderful creation stories

把這精彩的創造故事

of the peoples of the high Andes and the frozen north.

和安地斯山與北極人的拓荒故事相比

This is a creation story, I think, equally as wonderful.

這是個很美麗的創造的故事

The story goes like this: we know that

這個故事是這樣的: 這個宇宙

the universe began 13.7 billion years ago,

誕生於137億年前

in an immensely hot, dense state,

一個非常熱, 密度非常大

much smaller than a single atom.

比原子還要小很多的物質

It began to expand about

就在大爆炸之後

a million, billion, billion, billion billionth

的千百億萬分之一秒內

of a second -- I think I got that right -- after the Big Bang.

展開來, 我應該沒說錯

Gravity separated away from the other forces.

重力從其它的力中分離出來

The universe then underwent

之後宇宙經歷了

an exponential expansion called inflation.

呈指數擴張的階段, 稱為「暴脹」

In about the first billionth of a second or so,

在最初十億分之一秒內

the Higgs field kicked in, and the quarks

希格斯場開始作用, 夸克

and the gluons and the electrons

膠子與電子這些基礎粒子

that make us up got mass.

製造出質量

The universe continued to expand and cool.

宇宙繼續延伸, 然候冷卻

After about a few minutes,

幾分鐘後

there was hydrogen and helium in the universe. That's all.

氫氣與氦氣充滿了宇宙

The universe was about 75 percent hydrogen,

宇宙中75%是氫氣

25 percent helium. It still is today.

25%是氦氣, 現在依然如此

It continued to expand

宇宙持續延伸

about 300 million years.

約三億年之久

Then light began to travel through the universe.

隨後光開始在宇宙中穿梭

It was big enough to be transparent to light,

對光而言, 宇宙大到幾乎是看不見的

and that's what we see in the cosmic microwave background

這也就是我們看見的宇宙微波背景

that George Smoot described

喬治‧斯穆特說

as looking at the face of God.

那就像是上帝的臉

After about 400 million years, the first stars formed,

在四億年後, 第一個星球形成了

and that hydrogen, that helium, then began to cook

氫氣, 氦氣開始製造出

into the heavier elements.

更重的元素

So the elements of life --

生命的元素—

carbon, and oxygen and iron,

碳, 氧與鐵

all the elements that we need to make us up --

所有生命演化所需的元素

were cooked in those first generations of stars,

在第一代星球時期形成

which then ran out of fuel, exploded,

然後他們的燃料耗盡, 爆炸

threw those elements back into the universe.

把這些元素拋回宇宙中

They then re-collapsed into another generation

第二代的恆星和行星

of stars and planets.

由這些元素形成

And on some of those planets, the oxygen, which had been created

這些行星中, 第一代行星

in that first generation of stars, could fuse with hydrogen

製造出來的氧氣與氫氣結合

to form water, liquid water on the surface.

產生水, 覆蓋在這些行星上

On at least one, and maybe only one of those planets,

最後一個, 也許是唯一的一個行星

primitive life evolved,

發展出原始生命形態

which evolved over millions of years into

經過數百萬年演化成

things that walked upright and left footprints

可以直立行走的生物, 大約在

about three and a half million years ago in the mud flats of Tanzania,

350萬年前, 在坦尚尼亞的潮泥灘留下足跡

and eventually

最後

left a footprint on another world.

在月球上留下足跡

And built this civilization,

建立了人類文明

this wonderful picture,

這美麗的景象

that turned the darkness into light,

化黑暗為光明

and you can see the civilization from space.

從太空中可以看見人類文明

As one of my great heroes, Carl Sagan, said,

我的偶像之一, 卡爾·薩根說過

these are the things -- and actually, not only these,

這些東西是由..., 其實不只這些

but I was looking around -- these are the things,

看看四遭— 這些東西

like Saturn V rockets, and Sputnik,

釷星五號火箭, 史普尼克1號人造衛星

and DNA, and literature and science --

DNA, 文學與科學

these are the things that hydrogen atoms do

這一切都由是137億年前

when given 13.7 billion years.

產生的氫元素所構成的

Absolutely remarkable.

多麼令人驚奇啊！

And, the laws of physics. Right?

還有物理定律, 不是嗎?

So, the right laws of physics --

正確的物理定律

they're beautifully balanced.

呈現美精巧的平衡

If the weak force had been a little bit different,

這些弱作用力如果稍有閃失

then carbon and oxygen wouldn't be stable

星球核心裡的碳與氧

inside the hearts of stars,

就不會穩定

and there would be none of that in the universe.

這麼一來宇宙裡就不會有任何星球了

And I think that's

所以我想

a wonderful and significant story.

這是個美麗又意義非凡的故事

50 years ago, I couldn't have told that story,

五十年前我不能說這個故事

because we didn't know it.

因為當時還不知道這一切

It makes me really feel that

這讓我深信

that civilization --

我們的文明—

which, as I say, if you believe

如果你相信

the scientific creation story,

這個宇宙創造的科學故事

has emerged purely as a result of the laws of physics,

人類文明是物理定律加上氫原子

and a few hydrogen atoms --

產生的結果

then I think, to me anyway,

對我而言

it makes me feel incredibly valuable.

人類文明是無比珍貴的

So that's the LHC.

這就是LHC

The LHC is certainly, when it turns on in summer,

當LHC在夏季開始運轉時,一定會

going to write the next chapter of that book.

在我們的文明發展史上寫下嶄新的一頁®

And I'm certainly looking forward with

我以無比激動興奮的心情

immense excitement to it being turned on.

期待它啟動的那一刻到來

Thanks.

謝謝

(Applause)

(掌聲)