Particle physics and the journey into the infinitely small
Istituto ricerche solari Aldo e Cele Daccò
Date: 25 February 2026 / 18:30 - 20:30
Biblioteca cantonale di Bellinzona
Viale S. Franscini 30a
6501 Bellinzona
The conference will be held in Italian.
Why study physics? What motivates someone to specialise in particle physics in particular? Marco Zaro talks about his work as a particle physicist, starting with what fascinated him during his academic career: the journey into the infinitely small, in an attempt to understand nature at its most intimate level and to understand what holds together the “building blocks” that constitute it.
These are elementary particles and are the subject of study for thousands of researchers around the world. Particle physics has so far followed the great insights of physicists who, observing data and looking for «something that doesn't add up», have pointed the way forward. This was the case with the Higgs boson, whose existence was hypothesised fifty years ago and which was discovered in 2012 at CERN in Geneva.
Speakers: Marco Zaro, associate professor in the Department of Physics at the University of Milan; Renzo Ramelli, astrophysicist, deputy director of the Aldo and Cele Daccò Solar Research Institute (IRSOL) and president of the Ticino Astronomical Society (SAT).
The evening will be introduced by Paola Piffaretti, Bellinzona Cantonal Library.
Down, at the bottom of the matter: interview with Marco Zaro