Large Hadron Collider sets record

FliggenMan · Mar 20, 2010

Exciting! I love theoretical physics and all quantum stuff.

(From aolnews.com)

(March 19) -- From broken down to record breaking, the Large Hadron Collider -- the world's largest, most expensive particle accelerator -- just achieved yet another milestone on the quest to discover the secrets of the physical universe.

Today, scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN, proudly announced they had circulated the highest energy particle beams ever produced by humans around the LHC, and on their first attempt, no less.

"It was incredible. I really didn't expect it to go," said Mike Lamont, the head of LHC machine operations, in a video posted on the CERN Web site. "Astounding. I mean, I don't think anyone in their wildest dreams expected us to go to 3.5 TeV. I think to do that on the first try just shows us what a beautiful machine we've got here."

The Large Hadron Collider, also known as the "big bang machine," set a new energy record on Friday, packing a 3.5-trillion electron-volt punch, according to scientists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research.

The measurement Lamont refers to, "TeV," stands for "tera-electron volts," a physics term that describes the extremely small amount of kinetic energy one particle gains when it is accelerated. In reaching the new level of 3.5 TeV early this morning, the LHC bested its own previous world record of 0.18 TeV, achieved in November. By contrast, 1 TeV is equal to the energy produced by a flying mosquito.

In two years, CERN scientists aim to accelerate beams of protons at twice as much energy around the LHC, a 17-mile-long underground ring located beneath the Swiss-French border near the city of Geneva.

"A full 7 TeV beam contains as much energy as a Royal Navy aircraft carrier steaming at 12 knots," says Lewis Page at The Register. "Once the beams are up, that energy has to go somewhere in the end: If a single magnet were to fail, for instance, a terrific blast of energy would leave the Collider's ring at that point with consequences much the same as if HMS Invincible had suddenly popped out of nowhere and rammed the tunnel."

Acceleration is only the first part of the much grander experimental process, however, as CERN scientists then point the beams toward one another inside the ring to create a collision, which in turn will produce double the amount of energy of each individual beam. The first collisions of the two 3.5 TeV beams (a 7 TeV total) are set to take place in the coming weeks, according to CERN via ZDNet.

When CERN scientists finally achieve their goal of colliding two 7 TeV beams together next year, they hope to observe in microcosm the same conditions that existed immediately following the "big bang," the widely held theory that the universe emerged from a single, unimaginably violent expansion of particles from one superdense, superhot state some 12 billion to 15 billion years ago.

"As the universe cooled and the temperature fell below a critical value, an invisible force field called the 'Higgs field' was formed together with the associated 'Higgs boson' [particle]," notes CERN's Web site. "The problem is that no one has ever observed the Higgs boson in an experiment to confirm the theory."

One of CERN's ultimate objectives for the LHC is to use it to definitively answer whether such a particle exists or not, which would result in either the confirmation or refutation of the theoretical building blocks of all modern physics. However, the implications of locating the so-called "God particle" have proven to be highly unsettling to some in both the public and scientific spheres.

A widely disseminated and erroneous fear is that the LHC could produce a black hole capable of destroying the Earth. Several individuals have even filed lawsuits against CERN in a bid to stop work on the Large Hadron Collider for this very reason.

In addition, since its construction began in 1995, the LHC has been beset by numerous unforeseen technical obstacles, glitches and bizarre moments of misfortune that have added at least $40 million to its total cost of $4.3 billion, reports the Telegraph.

The list of errors is as long as it is strange: In 2005, a technician was killed by a falling crane. In 2007, "there was a serious failure in a high-pressure test" of three focusing magnets inside the LHC. Finally booted up in October 2008, the LHC was quickly shut down again just a few weeks later after an underground tunnel ruptured, flooding the area with a ton of liquid helium and causing crucial magnets to overheat and fail. In 2009, more leaks were found, further delaying the project's timeline.

That same year, one CERN scientist made headlines after being arrested and charged with "criminal association with a terrorist enterprise," in connection with al-Qaida. Finally, less than a month later, a random bird somehow managed to drop a "bit of baguette" into the machine, causing it to overheat and shut down.

The sheer number and variety of problems eventually led some in the scientific press to speculate that a force from the future or God himself was deliberately sabotaging the Large Hadron Collider to prevent it from unleashing a great catastrophe via its experiments.

However, since being turned back on in November, the LHC has performed "almost flawlessly," according to The Associated Press.

The latest energy achievement also kicks off what is to be the LHC's longest period of continual operation. CERN says it will remain on and accelerating for the next 18 to 24 months. By the end of 2010, however, it will be shut down for a short period of maintenance. And then again, in 2011, it will be turned off for a whole year to undergo more extensive repairs.
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Rubius · Mar 20, 2010

Well it is the largest, most advanced particle accelerator ever built so this doesn't come as a surprise, but the fact that it actually works is the real achievement here imo.

FliggenMan · Mar 20, 2010

i just REALLY wanna see what happens when they collide them. They say that string theory, which is still purely theoretical, could possibly be put into an experimental form by monitoring the amount of energy produced by a collision of particles at a certain speed (i forget what the speed is but i think its significantly higher than 7 TeV). If energy is lost when particles at such intense speeds collide then it may be proof of certain extra-dimensional theories that coincide with superstring theory. One of the more inclusive ones, called M-theory, posits the universe as having 11 dimensions...freaky.

Of course maybe its all conjecture and were all just cartoons in a cosmic funny strip =D.

Yizelin · Mar 21, 2010

FliggenMan said: ↑

i just REALLY wanna see what happens when they collide them. They say that string theory, which is still purely theoretical, could possibly be put into an experimental form by monitoring the amount of energy produced by a collision of particles at a certain speed (i forget what the speed is but i think its significantly higher than 7 TeV).
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88mph, imo

FliggenMan said: ↑

Of course maybe its all conjecture and were all just cartoons in a cosmic funny strip =D.
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and goddamn, that artist does not miss an update.

in all seriousness, woot CERN!

EF2 · Mar 22, 2010

Gordon Freeman on standby?

Saffaya · Mar 22, 2010

The crowbar is polished and ready

doctorie · Mar 30, 2010

They run low on pizza!!!! oh noes!!!!

Earlier that night, two previous attempts to ramp up the accelerator had been cut short, and the researchers, who at peak attendance numbered two-dozen-plus, were running low on pizza
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but they did successfully collide some particles at three times the previous energy levels

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-hadron-collider31-2010mar31,0,4393311.story

Applicable · Mar 30, 2010

just to have a dig at our US counter-parts

CERN > FermiLab

Hashu · Mar 30, 2010

Yeah now whos gonna prove Higgs boson existence ?
as appli said before atm CERN > Fermilab

doctorie · Apr 1, 2010

Hadron Collider II planned for Circle Line

Cern believes it can build a successor to the Large Hadron Collider (left) within the Circle line(right) by 2020

London Underground is in talks with the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (Cern) about the possibility of using the 23km tunnel of the Circle Line to house a new type of particle accelerator similar to the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva.

Particle physicists believe the existing tunnel can be adapted to take a small-scale "atom smasher" alongside the passenger
line at a fraction of the cost of building a new tunnel elsewhere in Europe. They are understood to have approached London Underground with a view to announcing a feasibility study later this year.

Specialist engineers commissioned by Cern have already produced a preliminary report, seen by The Independent, which proposes installing supercooled magnets and collision detectors at strategic positions on the Circle Line. The main collision experiment will be sited at the newly refurbished Westminster Station, directly below Portcullis House, the offices
of more than 200 MPs.

FliggenMan · Apr 1, 2010

doctorie said: ↑

Hadron Collider II planned for Circle Line

Cern believes it can build a successor to the Large Hadron Collider (left) within the Circle line(right) by 2020

London Underground is in talks with the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (Cern) about the possibility of using the 23km tunnel of the Circle Line to house a new type of particle accelerator similar to the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva.

Particle physicists believe the existing tunnel can be adapted to take a small-scale "atom smasher" alongside the passenger
line at a fraction of the cost of building a new tunnel elsewhere in Europe. They are understood to have approached London Underground with a view to announcing a feasibility study later this year.

Specialist engineers commissioned by Cern have already produced a preliminary report, seen by The Independent, which proposes installing supercooled magnets and collision detectors at strategic positions on the Circle Line. The main collision experiment will be sited at the newly refurbished Westminster Station, directly below Portcullis House, the offices
of more than 200 MPs.
Click to expand...

that's bizarre.

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