For Christian Bernier, it started with videos he saw as a kid on popular YouTube channels like Minute Physics.
Bernier has always been interested in science, so he found topics surrounding the fundamental principles and building blocks of the world particularly fascinating. He quickly developed an “insatiable desire to learn more about the universe, physics and how the world works,” he says.
From time to time, the work done by the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, was mentioned in these videos. As a child, Bernier had no idea what CERN was, but he was intrigued.
“They mentioned CERN out of the blue, and I said, 'What do they keep mentioning?'”
So Bernier did some digging and fell in love with the research center's mission and work—so much so that when it came time to decide on a field of study at Northeastern, Bernier decided to pursue a combined major in computer science and physics.
Now the incoming Northeastern fourth-year student is helping CERN advance that mission as a particle physics research assistant as part of his collaboration at the Geneva-based organization.
“One of the main reasons I chose my combined degree is to see how computer science is used in physics research,” he says. “I actually had CERN in mind when I chose my degree, so it's nice to end up here and see what it's like.”
Bernier has been tasked with helping develop software to ensure that circuit boards installed in one of the detectors attached to the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world's largest particle accelerator, can operate over the long term without overheating.
The LHC is a 17-mile long underground tunnel made up of several parts. Bernier is specifically conducting work on one of the four main detectors around the accelerator called the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS). CMS is used for a number of different projects, including research into the fundamentals of how matter works and the exploration of extra dimensions, according to CERN.
“Right now they're working on upgrading the accelerator and so they need to update or upgrade all the detectors as well,” says Bernier. “So I'm working on upgrading the CMS, specifically a layer called the electromagnetic calorimeter, and what I'm specifically doing is writing software to test the physical circuit boards that are going to go into the detector.”
The CMS detector is about three stories tall, and the particular layer Bernier is working on consists of about 12,200 individual circuit boards, he says. Bernier is currently conducting tests on new circuit boards that are still in the design process.
“I'm working on a system for cards that don't exist yet, because once they exist, we need to have them up and running immediately so we can keep up with supply,” he says. “The goal is for them to be reliable. Once they're in the detector, it's a big pain to get out again.”
The cards used for testing are relatively small, about 7 inches by 4 inches, and are placed in simulated environments where they run at 70 degrees Celsius (158 degrees Fahrenheit). About 500 cards are tested each time.
“You can do calculations and simulations to determine that if you run them at a certain temperature for a certain amount of time and power cycle them a certain number of times, that's equivalent to one run time,” he says. “That's what we're trying to do with the system to get them past the point where they would fail early.”
Bernier is taking advantage of his computer science background to learn programming languages like Python to help develop these systems, he says.
“It's really a small part of CERN that I work at,” he says. “It's one part of a system from one part of a detector to an accelerator. It's really very focused, but I think it's a good level to be at because I really understand what I'm doing at this point.”
