How Will Discoveries at CERN Influence Religious Perspectives on Cosmology?

[Hioj]

This is a homework assignment, thus the category, although it may not look like many of the other posts in this part of the forum.

My assignment is to write a paper about Cern. I'd like to answer the following questions:

Main question:
How will Cern alter our understanding of the universe and how will the different religions in the world react to this?

Sub questions:
1. How is the Large Hadron Collider built? Provide an illustration of the apparatuses used and the physics involved.
2. How is Cern expected to alter our understanding of the universe? Will the present theories of the fundamental particles stick? What about the Higgs particle?
3. How does Christianity look at the universe and its creation (cosmology)?
4. Which consequences will a new scientific understanding of the universe have on Christianity?

Do you have any recommendations as to what literature I can read/watch/listen to to answer these questions?

So far these are the sites I've been able to find:
http://public.web.cern.ch/public/en/LHC/LHC-en.html"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Hadron_Collider"

Thanks for all your help!

-Hioj

 

[kuruman]

I will not provide you with guidance about what to "read/watch/listen" because I believe that there is plenty out there and undoubtedly you will apply your own filter to what you find. What I find troubling about this assignment is the plethora of speculation that it invites you to engage in. In other words, you can (mostly) make something up and nobody will be any wiser unless you say what people don't wish to hear.

The main question cannot be answered. We don't know what the LHC will (or will not) discover; that's why it was built, to see what it will (or will not) discover. Also, how "different religions in the world" will react to this is purely in the realm of speculation especially when we don't know what "this" is. I see that the subsections deal with Christianity alone and not "different religions". Do you have an understanding of religions other than Christianity so that you can answer this question even speculatively?

Now for the subquestions.
1. You can answer this without speculation because it is a matter of public record.
2. Again, you are asked to make conclusions on the basis of non-existent information.
3. The answer to this question relies on religious dogma. This is a physics forum.
4. Draw a parallel. What consequences did the new scientific understanding that the Earth is not the center of the Universe have on Christianity (never mind the "different" religions) back in Galileo's time? My bet is that the effect is going to be similar.

 

[vorcil]

^ I like this answer, I don't know why any science teacher would ever ask those questions for a student's homework anyway,

 

[kuruman]

^ I like this answer, I don't know why any science teacher would ever ask those questions for a student's homework anyway,

A teacher who understood science would not ask those questions.

 

[DeeNos]

Dear Hioj,

It is great to see that you are interested in writing a paper about Cern and its impact on our understanding of the universe. I can provide some insights and recommendations to help you answer your questions.

To start, let's address your main question. Cern, specifically the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), is expected to greatly alter our understanding of the universe. The LHC is the world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator, built to study the smallest building blocks of matter and the fundamental forces that govern them. By colliding particles at high energies, the LHC allows scientists to recreate the conditions of the early universe and study the behavior of particles at these extreme energies.

Now, let's move on to your sub-questions. Firstly, the LHC is built through a collaboration of thousands of scientists and engineers from around the world. It consists of a 27-kilometer underground tunnel, where two beams of protons are accelerated to nearly the speed of light and then collided at four different points along the ring. To achieve these high energies, the LHC uses powerful magnets and superconducting technology, which allows the particles to travel in a circular path without losing energy.

Secondly, Cern is expected to alter our understanding of the universe in many ways. The LHC has already helped confirm the existence of the Higgs boson, a fundamental particle that gives mass to other particles. This discovery has validated the Standard Model of particle physics, but there are still many unanswered questions that the LHC hopes to address. These include the search for dark matter, the nature of gravity, and the possibility of new particles and forces.

Moving on to your next question about religion, it is important to note that Cern and its research are not intended to contradict or challenge any religious beliefs. However, some religious groups may have differing views on the nature and origin of the universe, which may be impacted by new scientific discoveries. For example, Christianity believes in a creation story where God created the universe and all living beings. The implications of new scientific understanding on this belief can vary among different interpretations of religious texts.

Finally, to answer your last question about recommended literature, I suggest starting with the official Cern website and the Wikipedia page on the LHC, as you have already found. Additionally, you can explore articles from reputable scientific journals such as Nature and Science, which often cover updates and discoveries from Cern. For a more