Larry Sulak is one of our nation's gifts to science and a dear friend. He joined Boston University from MIT with the goal of building a world-class physics department—and he succeeded. But his groundbreaking work has been in the creation, together with collaborators, of extraordinary particle detection devices.
Larry is especially known for his contributions to neutrino detector technology, including the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, Super-K, and the CMS Forward Hadronic Calorimeter at CERN, which played a crucial role in the discovery of the Higgs boson.
Sulak and his collaborators also built the ANTARES Observatory, a deep-sea neutrino telescope located in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of France. The telescope is designed to search for point sources of high-energy neutrinos. Recently, scientists using the Cubic Kilometre Neutrino Telescope (KM3NeT) in the Mediterranean detected the highest energy neutrino yet observed.
This podcast is a fascinating learning experience, presented by one of the world’s most engaging and inspiring science educators.
Here’s a description, in Larry’s own words, of his contribution to the discovery of the Higgs boson:
My main focus is exploring the unification of particle physics using novel calorimetric detectors. With colleagues, I designed and built the first massive liquid scintillator calorimeter and large area drift chambers, and performed the analysis that discovered neutral weak currents using neutrino beams. This work was the first to demonstrate that two of the four fundamental forces—the weak and the electromagnetic—are unified.
I then designed and prototyped a Cherenkov detector to search for the predicted signal of Grand Unification (proton decay) and for neutrino oscillations, which we discovered. Applying the Cherenkov detection techniques to quartz fibers, my collaborators and I developed the forward calorimeter for the CMS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. This was instrumental in the discovery of the Higgs boson.
About Larry Sulak:
Larry is the David M. Myers Distinguished Professor at Boston University. His research spans Higgs detection, neutrino physics, astrophysics, and major contributions to cosmic ray and monopole observatories. He earned his undergraduate degree at Carnegie Mellon University and completed his graduate work at Princeton University, where his dissertation focused on precise measurements in particle physics. Larry’s early career contributions are noted in works by prominent science historians and authors, and his role in shaping experimental particle physics continues to be celebrated by peers around the world. He is the recipient of several prestigious awards, including recognition for his pioneering work in experimental particle physics.
Related: Around the Corner or Overblown? Breaking Down Recession Fears