They are the Greeks who live and work in the “scientific centre of the world”, when it comes to research to find the “beginning of everything”. Scientists, physicists, theoreticians and experimentalists, engineers, technologists, programmers, students. A community of about 180 Greeks, of whom at least 20 are permanent. Every day for the last few years they have been passing through the gate of the CERN particle physics centre in Geneva – the guards know them by their first names and not by the identity card hanging on their chests. They are the Greeks, among the greatest minds in the science of physics, with the most modern experimental equipment at their disposal, who, along with 2,500 other colleagues, celebrated last Wednesday by confirming the existence of the Higgs particle. Let’s meet some of them
Michael Karatzinos: “I work in the biggest Greek laboratory in the world!”
With this phrase the experimental physicist, Michalis Karatzinos, conveyed in our telephone conversation the way he feels about the laboratory, which in the last 24 hours after the announcement of the discovery of the Higgs particle, has attracted the attention of the global scientific community. “I’ve lived and worked here for 20 years. For the last two, 80 hours a week to get the accelerator working as it should. Greece contributes 15 million euros a year to the research – an amount equivalent to 2% of the total, I’m Greek, so? I work in the largest Greek laboratory in the world,” he reiterates.
How does Michalis Karatzinos feel at the news of the great scientific discovery? “We knew it since December, some details were missing” he lands you abruptly but for a while “It’s impressive, considering that it’s not really a discovery, but a confirmation of a research team with Mr Higgs since 1964. Imagine, these people were thinking something then that we have not been able in any of the decades since to prove. Obviously I am pleased, I have seen people working on the subject for 20 years and finally their efforts have been rewarded.
But I also feel another feeling, a strange feeling, a sadness. I think it would be much more interesting if we didn’t find the particle, but something very close to it. Something that would make us rethink some of the data and continue the research from a different angle,” he adds. However, as he reveals, he has already submitted a proposal to create a Higgs particle production plant, “because that has to be the next step, there is no end to research”.
Paris Sfikas: “We have learned that everything comes into existence”
Paris Sfikas did not hide his joy at the developments. Professor of Particle Physics at the University of Athens, member of the CERN team – physics coordinator of the CMS experiment, having under his supervision 16 research teams and 1100 experimental physicists from all over the world – it is not easy to explain in simple words what “the Higgs boson” means, as he prefers to call it instead of the prevailing God particle. He, in his few statements, has been extremely careful. “The discovery answers the question of how everything comes into existence.” The before, does not exist, cannot be grasped by the human mind. What about the next? “Now we have found it. We know nothing beyond its existence. What are its properties? Does it do other things besides give mass? We keep running and will keep running for at least eight months,” he says.
Konstantinos Kordas: “The perpetual cycle of evolution”
The perfect cycle of research – technology was referred to the perfect cycle of research – technology by the lecturer at AUTH and coordinator of the CERN experiment of physics analysis in the ZZ production channel, Mr. Konstantinos Kordas. He points out that “with every discovery we make, we understand the world better – that is the job of man” and continues: “Everything that is achieved today is the result of the research work of previous generations. Cordas makes it clear that research and technology complement each other, creating a perfect circle. “To identify new particles and satisfy our curiosity, we need machines that are at the cutting edge of technology, such as the accelerator. By pushing technology to its limits, applications that improve our lives emerge. For example, understanding how nuclei work and how if you put a magnetic field on them, they orient themselves with it, led us to MRIs,” he concludes: “The discovery is used to create cutting-edge technology, which you need to make another discovery, and so on.”
Proud of their choices
The list of Greeks working at CERN does not end. Despina Hadjifotiadou, an experimental physicist, works as a first-level researcher at the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics, based in Bologna. She has been living on the French-Swiss border since 1987. When he started working at CERN, he was a Lecturer in Thessaloniki. Her absences from work led to her dismissal, but she does not regret it, as she managed to get to the top of research in her field
Maria Dimou is a computer engineer and elementary particle physicist. She is the woman who has been revolutionising computer science for over 15 years. Her children go to the Swiss school in the morning and the Greek school in the afternoon for language. At CERN she was hired to build an email portal. She modified the mail address from code to a full name so that we all use it in its current form. He is currently working on Grid computer networks.