The XIX Physics in Collision conference reviewed experimental results in electroweak, quantum chromodynamics, neutrino, bottom and rare kaon physics, and updated recent developments in the area of gamma ray bursts as well as the issue of the cosmological constant and dark matter.
The conference opened with reports on electroweak physics. A decade of precision experiments in laboratories around the world failed to uncover any significant deviations from standard model predictions. Precise W boson and top quark mass measurements suggest a low mass Higgs boson in the standard model, possibly within the reach of the LEP II and the upgraded Tevatron colliders. These presentations were followed by a summary of the latest results on searches for Higgs and supersymmetry.
There were three reports on neutrino physics: atmospheric, solar and reactor/accelerator based neutrino experiments and results. Impressive Super-K results strongly suggest scillation, a scenario confirmed by less precise Soudan2 and MACRO data.
The latest results on strange and heavy quark physics were summarized. High statistics from CLEO, LEP I and Tevatron have enabled experimenters to study many rare charm and bottom quark decays for the first time. Among many other interesting results presented, the first measurements of sin 2 by CDF and by KTeV provide a preview of expected developments in the near future.