Particle fever

Particle Fever What if Thomas Edison had tried to invent the light bulb with 100 camera crews in his lab? That’s how experimental physicist Monica Dunford describes the search for the Higgs boson (a.k.a. the God particle) at the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva. Mark Levinson (a filmmaker with a doctorate in theoretical particle physics; what are the odds?) was one such onlooker, but he didn’t just show up to see the switch being thrown. His documentary gets behind the scenes at the LHC over several years leading up to the big moment in 2012 when scientists revealed that, yes, the Higgs had been found. (Peter Higgs, who suggested the particle’s existence 50 years ago and is now 84, can be seen shedding quiet tears of joy at the announcement.) David Kaplan, a theoretical physicist working on the multi-billiondollar project, says the LHC has to find new particles. “If it doesn’t, not only have we missed something but we may not ever know how to proceed.” The film does an excellent job of explaining the underlying physics — basically, that the Higgs was a vital missing piece in the puzzle that is the universe. Levinson finds scientists with the right mix of charm and loquaciousness to make the whole thing understandable, including the good-natured rivalry between theoretical and experimental physicists. Particle Fever is a triumph in science journalism. The film opens March 7 at the Bloor cinema in Toronto for a two-week run. Q&As hosted by members of the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics will follow screenings on March 7, 12 and 20. ΩΔ∫½