Large Hadron Collider

 

Steven Santos

 

The Large Hadron Collider, commonly referred to as “LHC”, is a massive particle accelerator situated in Europe. It is located in a tunnel below the Swiss and French border in a city called Geneva. The Hadron Collider was first finished and used in 2009. It has been used in various experiments since then, helping scientists to better understand questions, like how the universe behaved after the Big Bang and other important issues related to physics. Many have heard of the LHC in the news, during conversations, or on the internet, but what exactly does it do? What is its purpose? How does it work?
 

To understand how LHC works, we must first understand what “hadrons” are. Hadrons are composite particles made of up quarks, which are the building blocks of matter. As the name suggests, the LHC accelerates these particles through beams in the machine where they collide with other particles. The beams are guided by close to 9,300 magnets around a 27 kilometer loop under Geneva, Switzerland. At four locations in this loop (or circle) there are superconducting radio frequency cavities which accelerate the particles:
 

“Just like pushing a child’s swing, these RF cavities give the particles a push each time they pass, steadily increasing the energy of the particles prior to collision” (STFC).
 

The magnets are bathed in “supercold” liquid helium. 

Such a massive machine requiring the attention of dozens of engineers and scientists must have an important purpose.
 

“The LHC was built to help scientists to answer key unresolved questions in particle physics. The unprecedented energy it achieves may even reveal some unexpected results that no one has ever thought of!” (CERN).
 

Many questions have been answered, or will be answered through the use of the LHC. These include the origin of mass and why some particles have no mass, the detection dark matter and how it makes 96% of the universe, why is there an absence of anti-matter, how the universe behaved seconds after the big bang, and the existence of hidden dimensions. The experiments have names like ATLAS and ALICE to classify them. The LHC truly is an amazing machine. 

Apart from the experiments, the LHC specifications are also astonishing. The LHC, to start off, is the largest machine in the world. When the LHC is at full power the particles it accelerates travel at 99.9% the speed of light. The beams are set to travel in a vacuum which is emptier than space to avoid particle collision with gas particles. The LHC is capable of extreme temperatures. During particle collision, the temperatures rise to 100,000 times hotter than the heart of the sun, in a tiny space, while the supercold helium cools the LHC to a temperature cooler than space. The LHC also has the most powerful supercomputer in the world capable of connecting a network of scientists all over the world. The remarkable facts about this machine go on and on. 

The Large Hadron Collider is tremendous feat by the scientific world. The experiments it will conduct will change the way scientists view the universe. During the next fifteen years (its remaining lifespan) it will be interesting to see what information these experiments yield and how it affects the human race.

Works Cited:

Fact and Figures. European Organization for National Research (CERN). Copyright CERN 2008. http://public.web.cern.ch/public/en/lhc/Facts-en.html. 26/December/2010.
 

Welcome to the Large Hadron Collider. STFC Large Hadron Collider. 2010 Science and Technology Facilities Council - All Rights Reserved. http://www.lhc.ac.uk/default.aspx. 26/December/2010.