The Large Hadron Collider Is Back in Business
For the past several months, the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland has been undergoing maintenance. Equipment has been tested and upgraded, parts have been replaced, and this weekend, the giant machine will finally be switched back on to begin collecting data again.
The LHC is the largest machine in the world, which means keeping it operational is a herculean task. Millions of components have to work seamlessly with one another, and if something breaks it could accidentally send a beam of particles crashing into a wall at nearly the speed of light.
Given the immense complexity and power of the machine, it's not surprising that engineers spend months testing and retesting every component to make sure everything is working the way it's supposed to. The LHC's actual upgrades and maintenance work have been finished since December, and the past several months have been spent systematically testing every one of the accelerator's pieces.
All of this work should be worth it, however. The most recent round of upgrades is designed to increase the LHC's luminosity, which is essentially a measure of the accelerator's collision density. The higher the luminosity, the more collisions per second per cubic centimeter. Increasing the luminosity means more collisions and more data for the scientists to study.
Once the largest ring of the LHC is tested this weekend, the scientists will start small test runs with only a few particles and slowly ramp up the number of particles until there are enough for collisions. That will begin a series of hopefully successful high-energy runs at the LHC later this year.
Source: CERN
For the past several months, the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland has been undergoing maintenance. Equipment has been tested and upgraded, parts have been replaced, and this weekend, the giant machine will finally be switched back on to begin collecting data again.
The LHC is the largest machine in the world, which means keeping it operational is a herculean task. Millions of components have to work seamlessly with one another, and if something breaks it could accidentally send a beam of particles crashing into a wall at nearly the speed of light.
Given the immense complexity and power of the machine, it's not surprising that engineers spend months testing and retesting every component to make sure everything is working the way it's supposed to. The LHC's actual upgrades and maintenance work have been finished since December, and the past several months have been spent systematically testing every one of the accelerator's pieces.
All of this work should be worth it, however. The most recent round of upgrades is designed to increase the LHC's luminosity, which is essentially a measure of the accelerator's collision density. The higher the luminosity, the more collisions per second per cubic centimeter. Increasing the luminosity means more collisions and more data for the scientists to study.
Once the largest ring of the LHC is tested this weekend, the scientists will start small test runs with only a few particles and slowly ramp up the number of particles until there are enough for collisions. That will begin a series of hopefully successful high-energy runs at the LHC later this year.
Source: CERN
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