Taking a collider to the dark energy problem

Every second, the universe grows a little bigger. Scientists are using the LHC to try to find out why. With the warmth of holiday cheer in the air, Nottingham University theoretical physicist Clare Burrage and her colleagues decided to hit the pub after a conference in December 2014 and do what many physicists tend to do after work: keep talking about physics. That evening's topic of conversation: dark energy particles. The chat would lead to a new line of investigation at the Large Hadron Colli...