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Particles and interactions

Particles and interactions

Blog life: A Quantum Diaries Survivor

01 Mar 2007
Tomasso Dorigo

Blogger: Tommaso Dorigo
URL: dorigo.wordpress.com
First post: January 2005

Who is the blog written by?

Tommaso Dorigo is an experimental particle physicist at the University of Padova, Italy. He is a member of both the CDF collaboration at Fermilab in the US and the CMS experiment, which is due to begin studying particle collisions at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN next year.

What topics does it cover?

The blog began as part of the “Quantum Diaries” project, in which 33 physicists wrote about their life and work for a year to celebrate the International Year of Physics in 2005. As indicated in the blog’s name, Dorigo was one of the few participants who continued blogging after the project finished. As well as describing the research and the politics that go on in a large particle-physics collaboration, Dorigo often writes about his hobbies of chess and amateur astronomy.

Who is it aimed at?

In a series of posts entitled “Physics made easy”, Dorigo attempts to get non-physicist readers up to speed with the latest particle physics, building up to challenging posts about his current research. He has even asked readers for assistance in proof-reading his papers, offering an acknowledgement in the article in return.

Why should I read it?

The blog provides a rare insight into the sociology of a large physics collaboration. Dorigo has criticized the official procedure for having new results approved and published by the CDF collaboration, calling it “baroque, bordering on the grotesque”. His post describing a possible hint of the Higgs boson seen in the CDF data was recently picked up and discussed in many other physics blogs, and subsequently the media.

How often is it updated?

Once or twice a day.

Can you give me a sample quote?

“I am willing to bet a thousand dollars that no new elementary particles (exotic ones, beyond those included in the Standard Model and beyond the Standard Model Higgs) will be discovered before December 31st, 2010. That is enough time to allow CMS and Atlas to really dig deep with their data into the unknown. The first physicist who is publicly known, who earned less than $100,000 in 2006 (if you are too wealthy I cannot take you, sorry – the bet amount should be slightly uncomfortable to part with, otherwise there is no sense in betting!), and who takes my bet here, will win my $1000 if any experiment publishes a unquestionable discovery of a new massive elementary particle before the above date.”

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