On November 20th, Cortada and Markowitz will participate in a reception at the US Capitol to apprise Congress of the leading role of the US particle physics community, particularly in the discovery of the Higgs boson at the LHC. Prior to the celebration, all members of Congress will have been presented with a signed print of one of the five banners that Cortada created to celebrate the discovery of the Higgs boson. The original banners hang permanently at the experiment site outside Geneva.

Washington, DC
November 20, 2013

The US particle physics community, under the sponsorship of the DPF, will host a reception in Washington, D.C. on October 23, to apprise Congress of the leading role of the US particle physics community, particularly in the discovery of the Higgs boson at the LHC. The reception with refreshments from 5:30 to 7:00 pm, will include a 10 minute outreach-style talk on the Higgs by CMS spokesperson Joe Incandela.

We have made remarkable advances in recent years. The discovery of the Higgs boson announced on July 4, 2012 was celebrated around the world, and elevated the public’s interest in our research. Other very significant recent advances have included the discovery of a large value for the neutrino mixing angle theta_13, as well as the awarding of the 2011 Nobel Prize for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe.

The remarkable discovery of the Higgs boson was made possible by global scientific collaborations including more than 1500 U.S. scientists from national laboratories and over eighty universities, who provided key ideas, talent, technology, and leadership, building on twenty five years of experience at the Fermilab Tevatron. At the October 23 event we will commemorate the Higgs discovery and the US role, to increase Congressional awareness of our success and our opportunities for outstanding new discoveries in the coming years. We will describe our intense planning study (Snowmass) that has engaged our community this past year, and the expectations that the P5 process will outline excellent priorities for our field.

“The collaboration between physicist Dr. Pete Markowitz and Artist-In Residence Xavier Cortada is an example of the kind of interdisciplinary work fostered at FIU–crossing traditional disciplines, colleges, and perceived boundaries.  By combining STEM disciplines with the Arts to generate STEAM–a solution-oriented approach focused on student learning, innovation, and collaboration–FIU demonstrates its commitment to being one of the nation’s leading urban public research universities.”

Dr. Douglas Wartzok,

Provost and Executive Vice President,

Florida International University