Today a brand new LHCb exhibition was inaugurated at a gathering of LHCb collaborators and members of the CERN Education, Communications and Outreach team. The exhibition, which is located in the surface experimental hall 100m above the detector, tells the story of LHCb, allowing visitors to see parts of the experiment up close and go on an immersive virtual tour of LHCb and its physics.
A highlight of the exhibition is an dramatic audio-visual experience that takes visitors on a virtual tour of LHCb. Wrap around floor-to-ceiling projection complemented by display screens, sound and transparent cross-sections of the detector, allow visitors to explore the questions that LHCb is trying to answer and how the experiment detects particles. The design of the room itself reflects the layout of LHCb, allowing visitors to step through a representation of the detector without going underground.
In the experimental hall itself, parts of newly upgraded LHCb detector are displayed alongside the large and visually arresting spare Vertex Locator from the first version of the experiment. Meanwhile, accompany text and graphics allow visitors to learn more about the cutting-edge engineering and technology behind LHCb.
Interactive touch screens provide additional information about the detector sub-systems, data acquisition, the basics of particle physics and the LHCb collaboration as seen in the image below.
Finally visitors can observe activities in the LHCb Control Room and learn about the operation of the LHCb experiment through interactive touch screens.
The exhibition was developed by the CERN exhibitions team, LHCb and the Barcelona-based exhibition design company, Indissoluble. It will now form a key stop for the CERN visit service network. Starting from the autumn, CERN visits will also profit from the new Science Gateway.
Read more in the CERN update in English and French.