lookKIT 04/2023

lookKIT 2023/4: Our Universe

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  • The universe has always fascinated people. How did it develop, what is it made of and what forces are at work in it? In the new issue of lookKIT, you can find out how KIT researchers get to the bottom of the elementary questions about the nature of our universe.

    In an interview, Humboldt Professor Markus Klute, head of the KIT Institute for Experimental Particle Physics (ETP)  and co-discoverer of the Higgs boson, explains why basic research is like running a marathon. You will also find out how KIT researchers search for ghost particles, so-called neutrinos, in the eternal ice of Antarctica and how the XENON experiment is intended to shed light on the properties of dark matter and dark energy. The interview with Professor Margarete Mühlleitner, Head of the KIT Institute for Theoretical Physics (ITP), is about the fascination of theoretical physics. However, KIT scientists are also involved in very application-oriented research projects: Among other things, they develop technologies to replicate the sun's "power plant" on earth - through nuclear fusion, which should one day contribute to the energy supply. With KITTEN, researchers at KIT have also established a test field with which they want to make large research infrastructures more energy-efficient and sustainable.