David Charlton facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
David Charlton
FRS FInstP
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David Charlton at the Royal Society admissions day in 2014
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David George Charlton
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| Thesis | A search for the top quark at the CERN proton-antiproton collider (1988) |
David George Charlton is a Professor of Particle Physics at the University of Birmingham in the UK. He is a very important scientist. From 2013 to 2017, he was the main scientific leader (called the Spokesperson) for the ATLAS experiment. This experiment is a huge project at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN.
Before becoming the Spokesperson, he was the Deputy Spokesperson for four years. He also helped get the ATLAS experiment ready for its first big data collection.
Learning About Physics
David Charlton studied at the University of Oxford. He earned his first degree in physics in 1985. After that, he went to the University of Birmingham. There, he got his PhD in Particle Physics in 1989.
His PhD work involved the UA1 experiment. He was looking for a tiny particle called the top quark.
His Work in Science
Professor Charlton's research focuses on how tiny particles get their mass. This involves something called the Higgs mechanism. He is known for his work on understanding how electroweak symmetry breaks. This research was very important for finding the Higgs boson particle. The Higgs boson was discovered at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). His research has received funding from the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC).
From 1989 to 2001, Professor Charlton worked on the OPAL experiment at CERN. This experiment used the Large Electron–Positron Collider (LEP). He helped analyze data and worked on systems that collect and process information. He also helped identify particles called muons. His work helped measure how often Z particles break down. Later, he showed how the electroweak part of the Standard Model works. The Standard Model is like a rulebook for tiny particles.
At the LHC, he helped prepare for the first particle collisions. He was the Deputy Spokesperson for the ATLAS experiment for three years. Then, he became the Spokesperson from 2013 to 2017. While the ATLAS experiment was being built, he worked on special circuits for detectors. He also worked on the system that helps detect particles very quickly.
As a professor at the University of Birmingham, he designed special projects for students. He also taught a class about new topics in particle physics. He stopped lecturing while he was the Spokesperson for ATLAS.
Awards and Special Recognitions
In 2014, David Charlton was chosen as a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS). This is a very high honor for scientists in the UK. In 2017, he won the Richard Glazebrook Medal and Prize. The Institute of Physics gave him this award for his leadership in particle physics experiments. He also became a Fellow of the Institute of Physics (FInstP) in 2018. In 1994, he received a special research award called the Royal Society University Research Fellowship.
