How the Universe Works

The questions explored by particle physicists and astrophysicists are almost philosophical in nature. At the same time, the researchers approach their work — carried out together with colleagues around the world — with remarkable enthusiasm and enjoyment. Prof. Julia Tjus, an astrophysicist at Ruhr University Bochum, and Prof. Johannes Albrecht, a particle physicist at TU Dortmund University, are guests of Sven-Daniel Gettys on the podcast “Think. Try. Transform.”, which highlights the Ruhr Innovation Lab’s application in the Excellence Strategy. They represent the focal area “Matter in Terrestrial and Cosmic Laboratories.”

Tiny Particles and Giant Detectors

Their research focuses on the smallest particles that make up matter. To study them, they need the largest experiments ever built: Johannes Albrecht, spokesperson for TU Dortmund University within the Cluster of Excellence Color meets Flavor, conducts experiments with his team at CERN in Geneva, among other places. “It is the largest machine humanity has ever built,” he says enthusiastically. There, researchers collide particles at high speeds in order to understand what energies they contain and how they interact.

Julia Tjus is interested in very similar processes — except that they take place in space, where particles are accelerated to even higher speeds. “We want to know where the particles that reach us in the form of cosmic radiation come from,” she explains. Physicists observe one particular type of particle, neutrinos, using a huge detector in the Antarctic ice, which records around 100 traces of such particles each year.

“We want to understand how the universe works,” says Albrecht. “When you understand things at a fundamental level, there is always a long-term benefit,” adds Julia Tjus. Both are certain that the Ruhr region can make a substantial contribution to the global physics community in the search for answers to these fundamental questions.

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