I have a number of loose ends to tie off on this site, and one of them is my set of articles for novice readers about the structure of matter, which when complete will introduce the basic particles out of which we and all of ordinary matter are made. A while ago I wrote an article about molecules; today I finished the next article, on atoms [Note added: A revised version is now ready; thanks to readers for helpful criticisms of the original]. Future articles will explore how atoms work in more detail, and the subatomic particles out of which they are made. As always, comments (especially on the clarity of the writing, as well as typos) are welcome.
A Higgs particle is produced in a proton-proton collision at center, and decays to two photons (particles of light, indicated by green towers) in an LHC detector. Tracks emerging from center are from remnants of the two protons.
