Speaker
Description
What are the smallest building blocks of matter, and how can we study them with one of the largest scientific instruments ever built? This talk introduces selected physics activities pursued under the FORTE project within the ATLAS experiment at CERN. We will look at how ATLAS uses record-breaking LHC data to test our understanding of nature, search for signs of new particles, study the behaviour of the top and beauty quarks, explore the hot matter created in heavy-ion collisions, and use modern machine-learning methods to improve particle measurements. The examples range from precision studies of ordinary matter to searches for rare and unexpected phenomena, showing how giant detectors help us ask, and sometimes answer, tiny but fundamental questions.