Sarajevo School of High Energy Physics 2017 (SSHEP)

From left to right: Vanina Ruhlmann-Kleider, Claude Charlot, Ludwik Dobrzynsky, Daniel Denegri

Department of Physics at the Natural Sciences Faculty of Sarajevo University hosted the eight Sarajevo School of High energy Physics 2017 (SSHEP), gathering a number of eminent experts in particle physics who shared their knowledge with students from all around the region. This year, students from Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, Macedonia, Albania and U.S.A attended the SSHEP. The lecturers were Professors Vanina Ruhlmann-Kleider and Gabrijela Zacharias, Daniel Denegri, Ludwik Dobrzynsky, Krešimir Kumerički, Cristoph Schafer, Tadeusz Kurtyka, Ivica Puljak, Jernej F. Kamenik, Admir Greljo and Claude Charlot.

The topics of this year's SSHEP ranged from the Standard model of particle physics, through High energy physics symmetries, Higgs boson physics, cosmology, dark matter, to data analysis in this area, and especially data gathered from particle collision in accelerators like those in CERN. SSHEP is a unique opportunity for Sarajevo University to host people who work at CERN and is some kind of a link between this higher education institution with events related to particle physics and CERN, a top institute in this area.

It is very common to hear the opinion how this institute's research, as well as research in other similar laboratories – as Fermilab, is just a waste of resources and energies because there were no great discoveries since the Higgs boson. However, jumps in science are a rarity, and the periods in between the jumps seem “calm”, but that's far from truth since these periods are full of events which are just an overture to the next jump.

One of the most urgent issues of fundamental science is the dark matter issue and detection of particles which could be the carriers of this mysterious matter, and is one of the research goals at CERN. However, the LHC program is anything but unequivocal. It includes a number of segments, as the search for supersymmetry, consolidating the knowledge on the Higgs boson, understanding additional dimensions and examining the nature of anti-matter.

Supersymmetry is one of the newer characteristics of nature to us and CERN explains that the confirmation of the existence of supersymmetry could be even more significant that the Higgs boson discovery. Supersymmetry is a manifestation of the union of two types of particles, fermions and bosons and the concept of supersymmetry would be helpful in explaining the nature of dark matter. Discovery of a particle from this category would help in better understanding the history of the universe, especially the period just after the Big bang, which is important for the conceptual understanding of matter evolution. Also, one should keep in mind that the “holy grail” of modern physics is the conciliation of quantum physics and the theory of relativity, which should result in better comprehension of gravity.

However, as noted by Professor Denegri – one of the initiators of this school in 2009., SSHEP has a great significance for our region: it is a place where young physicists from different countries in the Balkans can learn and discuss issues of modern physics, unburdened with national politics and their countries' histories. “The attractiveness of particle physics lies within the fact that it is a universal discipline, and the biggest center in the world for this area is in Europe”, explained Denegri. “Cooperation with CERN”, Denegri notes, “means that you're with one foot already in Europe”, alluding to the fact that one of the important factors in Croatia's admission in the EU was exactly the connection of Croatian universities and institutes with CERN. These cooperations are crucial for countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania, and especially for their universities because the cooperation with big centers represents a measure in academic excellence and raises the pace on the ranking lists. Through our talk, Professor Denegri commented on the “brain drain” issue, characteristic for countries in transition, especially countries of this region. “The departure of youth is not always a loss for the country”, notes Denegri, “you can sometimes do more for your country from abroad than if you stayed in it – once when you accomplish something, you can help young people by including them in research, you can be a mentor through co-mentorship programs and university cooperations”.

Testimonials from students who attended SSHEP confirm Professor Denegri's words: Darius Faroughy, a student from Slovenia, said this is a good experience, that the lectures were on a high level and that he recommends SSHEP to other students. Sabina Džafić, a student from Zagreb noted that it was an honor to participate at SSHEP. Mitja Šadl from Slovenia agrees with them and adds how it was nice to see students from different countries sharing same interests and dreams and that all lectures' topics were very interesting. Let's hope that the politicians in the region will understand how important it is to support programs like this one. 

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