After three years of upgrades and maintenance, the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), has gone into operation for the third time. On Tuesday at 10:47 am EDT, the atom smasher fired beams of protons through a 16.7-mile ring of superconducting magnets in Switzerland. New upgrades will allow the LHC to achieve an increased collision energy of 13.6 trillion electron volts (previous runs were 8 trillion and 13 trillion electron volts). Physicists predict that the machine will run for nearly four years at this intensity, opening up new insights into the field of particle physics.
“This is a significant increase, paving the way for new discoveries,” said Mike Lamont, director of accelerators and technology at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), in a press release.
One of the goals of the new LHC era is to better understand the structure of the Higgs boson, a subatomic particle discovered by the collider ten years ago. The Higgs boson particle, which scientists theorize gives other particles such as electrons and quarks their mass, was created 10 to 12 seconds after the big bang that created the universe billions of years ago.
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Scientists at CERN, which runs the LHC, plan to measure how the Higgs boson decays into other matter, such as muons. “This would be a completely new result in the Higgs boson saga, confirming for the first time that second-generation particles also gain mass through the Higgs mechanism,” CERN theorist Michelangelo Mangano said in a press release.
The LHC updates will also more precisely measure other fundamental characteristics of the universe, such as the origin of matter-antimatter asymmetry (the unsolved mystery of why there is more matter than antimatter). Other areas of interest include the research of dark matter and the study of matter at extreme temperatures and densities.
To search for these rare atomic fragments, the LHC contains multiple accelerating structures to increase the energy of its particle beams. The machine uses thousands of magnets which help push particles closer together, increasing the chance of collision. Those rays travel at nearly the speed of light before breaking together, allowing scientists to study the insides of atoms.
Through particle collisions, physicists have learned a great deal about the smallest known building blocks of matter. Also on Tuesday, CERN unveiled evidence of three new exotic particles, a pentaquark and two tetraquarks. The discovery could help inform physicists about how quarks are formed, pairs of subatomic particles that carry a fractional electric charge. When combined, quarks are believed to create protons and neutrons, known together as hadrons, in an atomic nucleus.
It can also help explain the creation of exotic hadrons, which are particles made up of more than three quarks. “Finding new types of tetraquarks and pentaquarks and measuring their properties will help theorists develop a unified model of exotic hadrons, the exact nature of which is largely unknown,” said Chris Parkes, spokesperson for the experiment responsible for the discovery. separate document. CERN press release. With the LHC in operation, scientists could be one step closer to unlocking the secrets of the universe.
Geneva, 4 July 2022. Ten years ago, on 4 July 2012, the ATLAS and CMS collaborations at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) announced the discovery of a new particle with characteristics consistent with those of the Higgs boson predicted by the Standard Model of Physics of particles.
What happens if the Hadron collider goes wrong?
The impact would be enough to completely obliterate a large metropolitan area, excavate a crater about 5 km in diameter and 300 meters deep. (They are approximately 3 miles wide and 1000 feet deep). This is several times larger than the Barringer Meteor Crater in Arizona.
Could the LHC create a black hole? The LHC will not generate black holes in a cosmological sense. However, some theories suggest that the formation of tiny “quantum” black holes may be possible. Observing such an event would be thrilling in terms of understanding the Universe; and it would be perfectly safe.
Can the Large Hadron Collider destroy the world?
Question: Will the Large Hadron Collider destroy the Earth? Answer: No. As you may have heard recently on the news, several people have sued to try to get the Large Hadron Collider project canceled. When it finally goes online, the LHC will be the largest and most powerful particle accelerator ever built.
What are the risks of the Large Hadron Collider?
There is no risk [in collisions with LHC and] the LSAG ratio is excellent. Those who have doubts about the safety of the LHC should read the LSAG report in which all possible risks have been considered. We can be sure that particle collisions at the LHC cannot lead to catastrophic consequences.
Why is the Higgs boson called the God particle?
The Higgs boson is best known by its colloquial name, “the God particle,” so called because for a generation scientists had to believe it existed.
What does the God particle prove? The media call the Higgs boson the God particle because, according to the theory expounded by Scottish physicist Peter Higgs and others in 1964, it is physical evidence of an invisible field, extended to the universe, which gave mass to all matter immediately. after the Big Bang, forcing particles to merge into stars, planets and …
What is the so called God particle?
In 2012, scientists confirmed the detection of the Higgs boson, also known as the “God particle”, at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the most powerful particle accelerator on the planet. This particle helps to give mass to all elementary particles that have mass, such as electrons and protons.
What is Higgs boson and why it is called God particle?
The Higgs boson is often called “the God particle” because it is said to be what caused the “Big Bang” that created our universe many years ago.
How much did the LHC cost?
The cost of CERN’s Large Hadron Collider It took about 10 years to build the LHC and the total cost of that creation is said to have been around $ 4.75 billion.
When did the construction of CERN begin? A historic moment went almost unnoticed on May 17, 1954, when the first excavation works began in the Meyrin countryside and construction of CERN began.
How many collisions are there in the LHC?
We only get about 20 collisions per cross with nominal beam currents. The clusters cross (every 25 ns.) So we often end up with around 600 million collisions per second – at the start of a fill with rated current.
