Large Hadron Collider

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the most powerful particle accelerator ever built. According to scientists, through this discovery, some unresolved questions of physics can be answered and it can also be the beginning of changing our perspective of understanding the universe.

Some scientists are moving towards the biggest discovery of physics and it may provide answers to some unresolved questions. Scientists in Switzerland are working on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and they say this discovery could be the beginning of changing the way we understand the universe.

The building blocks of our world are smaller than an atom. Some of these subatomic particles are made up of smaller components, while others cannot be broken down into anything else. These latter particles are known as fundamental particles.

The Standard Model describes all the known fundamental particles that correspond to the universe as well as those forces. But it cannot explain some of the biggest mysteries in modern physics, such as dark matter or the nature of gravity. Physicists know it should eventually be replaced by a more advanced framework.

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was built to explore physics beyond the Standard Model. So if the results from LHC are confirmed they would represent an important discovery. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is a particle accelerator that pushes protons or ions near the speed of light. It consists of a 27-kilometer ring of superconducting magnets with a variety of accelerating structures that boost the energy of the particles.

The LHC was created by scientists to develop our understanding of physics and to the annoyance of new particles. Here researchers break these particles by colliding with each other with more force than the force applied earlier. In this sequence, he found that subatomic particles behaved in a way that could not be explained by the current theories of physics. Therefore, perhaps this may be the biggest discovery ever.

Why is it called the “Large Hadron Collider (LHC)”?

In this, the word “Large” refers to its size which is about 27 km in circumference. “Hadron” because it accelerates protons or ions, which belong to a group of particles called hadrons. “Collider” because particles traveling in opposite directions form two beams, which are made to collide at four points around the machine.

Now know about LHCb

The LHCb produces subatomic particles called “beauty quarks”, which are not commonly found in nature but are produced in the LHC. Subatomic particles undergo a process known as decay, where a single particle is transformed into several, less massive ones.

Dr Paula Alvarez Cartelle of the University of Cambridge was one of the scientific leaders behind the discovery. He added that: “This new result provides a tantalizing indication of the presence of a new fundamental particle or force that interacts differently with these particles. The more data we have, the stronger this result becomes. This measurement is the most significant in a series of LHCb results from the past decade that all seem to line up and may all point to a common explanation.”

“The results have not changed, but their uncertainty has shrunk, increasing our ability to see the potential difference with the Standard Model.”

How does the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) work?

The CERN Accelerator complex consists of high-energy machines. Each machine accelerates a beam of particles of certain energy before injecting the beam into the next machine in the chain. Then the next machine brings the beam to even higher energy and goes on like this. The LHC is the last element in the chain in which the beams reach their highest energies.

Inside the LHC, two particles approach the speed of light before the particles collide. The beams travel in opposite directions in separate beam pipes and these two tubes are placed at ultrahigh vacuums.

They are directed around the accelerator ring by a strong magnetic field created by superconducting electromagnets. Below a certain characteristic temperature, some materials enter a superconducting state and have no resistance to the passage of electric current.
The electromagnets in the LHC are cooled to a temperature of -271.3 °C (1.9K). It is a cooler temperature than outer space. It is cooled to take advantage of the effect. The accelerator is connected to a massive distribution system of liquid helium, which cools the magnets, as well as other supply services.

Thousands of magnets of different varieties and sizes are used to guide the beam around the accelerator. These include 1232 dipole magnets 15 m in length that bend the beam, and 392 quadrupole magnets, each 5–7 m long, that focus or focus the beam. Just before a collision, another type of magnet is used to “squeeze” the particles together to increase the chance of a collision.

The particles are so small that the act of colliding them is like firing two needles 10 kilometers away with such precision that they reach the halfway point.

All controls for the accelerator, its services and technical infrastructure are housed under one roof at the CERN Control Centre. From here, beams inside the LHC collide at all four locations of the accelerator ring, corresponding to the positions of the four particle detectors – ATLAS, CMS, ALICE and LHCb.

What are the main goals of the LHC?

The Standard Model of particle physics – a theory developed in the early 1970s that describes fundamental particles and their interactions have accurately predicted a wide variety of phenomena and so far Almost all experimental results in physics have been successfully explained. But the Standard Model is incomplete, it does not answer many questions, but it is believed that the LHC will help in answering.

How was the LHC designed?

Scientists began to think about the LHC in the early 1980s, when the previous accelerator, the LEP, was not yet operational. In December 1994, the CERN Council voted to approve the construction of the LHC, and in October 1995 the LHC Technical Design Report was published.

Contributions from Japan, the United States, India, and other non-member states accelerated the process, and between 1996 and 1998, four experiments (ALICE, ATLAS, CMS, and LHCb) received official approval and construction began at four sites.

What are the detectors on the LHC?

There are seven experiments installed on the LHC: ALICE, ATLAS, CMS, LHCb, LHCf, TOTEM, and MoEDAL. They use detectors to analyze a myriad of particles produced by collisions in accelerators. These experiments are being run in collaboration with scientists from institutions around the world. Each experiment is different, and so do its detectors.