Captivating Cosmos - Large Hadron Collider
Large Hadron Collider,  Space Technology

3 Facts to Help Understand the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)

If you are fascinated about the Universe and the amazing discoveries scientists continue to uncover, here are 3 facts to help understand the Large Hadron Collider.

The Amazing Capabilities Of The Large Hadron Collider

The LHC is what scientists refer to as a ‘Particle Accelerator’.

An incredible machine operated by CERN (European Council for Nuclear Research). It was designed and built by combining the most brilliant scientific, engineering and mathematical minds. Located underground near Geneva, on the France/Switzerland border.

Basically, it is a massive tube which is looped, it measures 16 miles or 27kms in circumference. Bunches of ‘beams’ made up of billions of protons travel inside the tube in opposite directions.

Powerful super conductive magnets help the beams reach a speed of over 99.999999% the speed of light.

They are capable of completing over 11 thousand revolutions per second, with the sole purpose of recording data of the millions of collisions between these protons.

Scientists believe these collisions replicate the conditions present just millionths of a second after the Big Bang. (A pretty major event which occurred 13.8 billion years ago that led to the creation of the Universe!)

Capturing The Results Of Collisions Inside The Large Hadron Collider

As the protons collide, the data is recorded by four separate collision points located around the LHC. These points are named Atlas, CMS, ALICE and LHCb.

Usually, when two bunches containing billions of protons pass each other, only around thirty successful collisions occur and the results are, well, a big mess of particles.

This mess can actually tell scientists what the particles are made of, things like Neutrons, Kaons, Pions, Muons and Neutrinos.

Physicists call particles that are made of these things ‘Hadrons’, hence the name Large Hadron Collider.

Proton collisions help scientists understand what these tiny structures that make up our Universe are made of.

Captivating Cosmos - Large Hadron Collider

The Large Hadron Collider’s Greatest Discovery To Date

In 2012, the Higgs Boson or Higgs Particle, otherwise referred to as ‘the God particle’ was discovered at the LHC by two separate collision points – ATLAS and CMS.

Without the existence of the Higgs particle, there would be no atomic elements, no stars and no life in the Universe. So, yes, it’s a pretty major discovery.

Amazingly, in 1964 Professor Peter Higgs proposed his theory regarding the existence of such a particle. It was only fitting that it be named after him once its existence was confirmed by the LHC in 2012.

What Next For CERN?

In 2019, CERN proposed plans to build a much larger particle accelerator, the Future Circular Collider (FCC). At a cost of €20bn this machine would have a 91km circumference with the sole purpose of smashing subatomic particles together at an incredible maximum energy of 100 teraelectronvolts (TeV).

The Large Hadron Collider currently achieves maximum energies of 14TeV. Should the FCC be built, possible future discoveries could provide scientists with new information and help them gain a better understanding about the mysteries of our Universe.

It is hoped the FCC will be operational sometime in the 2040’s.