Damaged magnets (pictured) in the Large Hadron Collider forced its initial shutdown in 2008. [Photograph courtesy Maximilien Brice, CERN]
Posted on 02/25/2010 4:27:37 AM PST by SunkenCiv
Prior to the December shutdown, the Large Hadron Collider had set a new world record in high-energy physics by accelerating two beams of proton particles to 1.8 tera (trillion) electron volts (TeV) each and smashing them together, for a combined collision energy of 2.36 TeV...
The current schedule calls for operating the machine at a level that would result in collisions with the energy of 7 TeV (3.5 TeV per beam) until late 2011 or early 2012.
The Large Hadron Collider will then be shut down once again so superconducting hardware can be upgraded to support collisions of 14 TeV -- the Large Hadron Collider's maximum operating energy.
The 2012 rest period should last about a year, though the LHC team is "still looking at the planning of this shutdown, to try to devise ways of reducing its length," said Paul Collier, head of the beams department at CERN.
...
Even at half power, the LHC could yield evidence backing up the theory of supersymmetry, which says all the particles we know have more massive, but as yet undetected, partners, Green said.
The collider, he said, could also uncover "states reflecting large extra dimensions" beyond the three we know: the first (often represented by a line), second (a plane), and third (a cube).
Extra dimensions are predicted by string theory, an unproven concept that suggests that subatomic particles operate like tiny vibrating cords.
Evidence for the Higgs boson, which physicists think is responsible for mass in the universe, might also be found at the Large Hadron Collider's lower energies, Green added.
(Read about the God particle in National Geographic magazine.)
That's a tall order for an apparently delicate machine, but so far the Large Hadron Collider has performed admirably during current systems checks, CERN's Collier said.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.nationalgeographic.com ...
Damaged magnets (pictured) in the Large Hadron Collider forced its initial shutdown in 2008. [Photograph courtesy Maximilien Brice, CERN]
Next those crazy boys and girls in Europe really do “Step Right Off The Planet”.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
