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The Strange Case Of The Monotonous Running Average

These days I am putting the finishing touches on a hybrid algorithm that optimizes a system (a...

Turning 60

Strange how time goes by. And strange I would say that, since I know time does not flow, it is...

On The Illusion Of Time And The Strange Economy Of Existence

I recently listened again to Richard Feynman explaining why the flowing of time is probably an...

RIP - Hans Jensen

Today I was saddened to hear of the passing of Hans Jensen, a physicist and former colleague in...

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Tommaso DorigoRSS Feed of this column.

Tommaso Dorigo is an experimental particle physicist, who works for the INFN at the University of Padova, and collaborates with the CMS and the SWGO experiments. He is the president of the Read More »

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Trekking in the Dolomites

Trekking in the Dolomites

Jul 29 2013 | comment(s)

The Dolomites are a mountain range in north-eastern Italy. They take their name from the mineral called dolomite, a carbonate rock which gives these mountains a characteristic pale pink colour, especially notable at sunset. Their composition is also responsible, at least in part, for their shape.

Most of the peaks are in the 2500-3000 meters of height above sea level, the tallest being mount "Marmolada", at 3342 meters. Despite being less tall than other mountain ridges in the Italian Alps, the Dolomites are reknowned for their breathtaking landscapes, as well as for the ski slopes they offer, especially -but not only- in the region around Cortina d'Ampezzo.
A Four-Sigma Evidence Of New Physics In Rare B Decays Found By LHCb, And Its Interpretation

A Four-Sigma Evidence Of New Physics In Rare B Decays Found By LHCb, And Its Interpretation

Jul 24 2013 | comment(s)

Today I received news of an interesting measurement of angular distributions of the decay products in the rare decay of the B meson to  a K* and a muon pair - one of the specialties of the LHCb collaboration, which has more horse-power in some of these low-energy measurements than ATLAS and CMS.
Do Measurements Of The B_d Decay To Muon Pairs Indicate Four Generations Of Matter ?

Do Measurements Of The B_d Decay To Muon Pairs Indicate Four Generations Of Matter ?

Jul 21 2013 | comment(s)

I reported two days ago on the new measurements by the CMS Collaboration of the decay of B hadrons into muon pairs, revealed at the opening of the EPS 2013 conference in Stockholm and in a preprint. Funnily, I wrote the piece oblivious of the LHCb result, which is basically equivalent (in importance, precision, and sensitivity) to the CMS one; when I found out that LHCb had also a comparable result, I made up for that by pointing out the LHCb result in a "UPDATE" at the end of the post - I did not want to rewrite half of the piece!
A 4.3σ Signal Of Dimuon Decays Of The Bs Meson !

A 4.3σ Signal Of Dimuon Decays Of The Bs Meson !

Jul 19 2013 | comment(s)

Today I am quite happy to report of a new groundbreaking result from the CMS collaboration at the CERN LHC - the experiment to which I devote 100% of my research time. We published overnight a report on the Cornell arxiv, and will present this week at the EPS conference in Stockholm, of the observation of B_s meson decays to muon pairs, an exceedingly rare process which is of extreme importance for the searches of new physics beyond the standard model. And in so doing, CMS now leads this race, with better results than LHCb and ATLAS. (UPDATE: but see below, at the bottom of the article).
More On Rossi's E-Cat: Ericsson And Pomp Rebut

More On Rossi's E-Cat: Ericsson And Pomp Rebut "Independent" Test

Jul 12 2013 | comment(s)

The querelle on the device patented by Andrea Rossi, the E-CAT, which allegedly produces heat from nuclear fusion processes inside a small cylindrical reactor fueled with Hydrogen and Nickel powder, continues to draw the attention of the gullible as well as that of the knowledgeable. It is just entertaining to both!
The Researcher, A Rare And Endangered Species

The Researcher, A Rare And Endangered Species

Jul 09 2013 | comment(s)

Thanks to a Facebook friend, I got to give a look today at a very interesting pair of graphs. The first one shows the number of researchers per million inhabitants divided by country, in a world map. The second shows the fraction of female researchers. The data comes from UNESCO, and is based on surveys dated 2011.