Particle Fever

Particle Fever

Sloan Foundation Film

Release Date

2013

Director

  • Mark Levinson

Cast

  • Martin Aleksa
  • Nima Arkani-Hamed
  • Savas Dimopoulos

Awards

  • Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Grant, 2013

As the Large Hadron Collider is about to be launched for the first time, physicists are on the cusp of the greatest scientific discovery of all time—or perhaps their greatest failure.

Particle Fever follows six brilliant scientists during the launch of the Large Hadron Collider, marking the start of the biggest and most expensive experiment in the history of the planet, pushing the edge of human innovation. As they seek to unravel the mysteries of the universe, 10,000 scientists from over 100 countries joined forces in pursuit of a single goal: to recreate conditions that existed just moments after the Big Bang and find the Higgs boson, potentially explaining the origin of all matter. But our heroes confront an even bigger challenge: have we reached our limit in understanding why we exist?

Possible Topics

  • How the Large Hadron Collider works
  • The Higgs boson: What it is and what its discovery means for our understanding of the universe
  • After the Higgs boson: Supersymmetry and the search for dark matter

Past Programs

2014

All About the Higgs Boson

Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, NM

What do we know about elementary particle physics?

Belcourt Theatre, Nashville, TN

Why the Higgs Boson Matters

Michigan Theater, Ann Arbor, MI

The Science of the Smallest Particle

Athena Cinema, Athens, OH

The Significance of Higgs Boson and How it is Detected

The Dairy Arts Center, Boulder, CO

The Connections Between Particle Physics and Cosmology

Jacob Burns Film Center, Pleasantville, NY

The Science of Particle Fever

California Film Institute, San Rafael, CA

The Search for the Higgs Boson

SIFF Cinema Uptown, Seattle, WA

The People Behind the Large Hadron Collider

Maine Film Center / Railroad Square Cinema, Waterville, ME

2015

Humanity and the Hadron Collider

Indiana University Cinema, Bloomington, IN

The Origins of the Universe

Austin Film Society, Austin, TX

2016

The Large Hadron Collider

Gateway Film Center, Columbus, OH