
Spotlight
Peter Wittich
Peter Wittich is an assistant professor in LEPP. He collaborates with assistant professor Julia Thom’s research group. They are part of an international collaboration preparing the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment that will operate at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) scheduled to begin operation in 2007 in Geneva, Switzerland. Professor Wittich explains that “We’re trying to understand fundamental questions such as ‘What is the nature of space-time?’ and ‘Where does mass come from?’ We do this by smashing protons together and looking at the very small particles that come out of their collisions.” Cornell has seven faculty members, many graduate and undergraduate students and many staff working on the CMS. “Because of the size and experience of our particle physics group we’re are able to attract great students,” he says.