LHC, countdown

2008/08/11 Carton Virto, Eider - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Fisika

CERN has dated and announced that next September 10 will launch the largest accelerator in the world. In just one month, therefore, two proton beams will be propelled for the first time through the 27km tunnel of the LHC accelerator. So, let's go through the portal of a new basic physics.

The countdown has already begun until September 10. In fact, as indicated in the press release published by the CERN, starting an accelerator is not pressing a button. The first phase ended with the month of July, in which the 1,600 superconducting magnets that make up the accelerator cooled to almost absolute zero and found that the entire electrical system works correctly.

The next important step has been to synchronize with the tenth precision of a nanosecond the SPS sychrotron that will 'inject' the accelerator and its proton beams into the accelerator. The first test was scheduled for the weekend and the second for the coming weeks. Passing through SPS is the last step proton will take before entering the accelerator. From there will come two sets that will move through the accelerator almost at the speed of light and collide with each other with great energies.

The session on 10 September will work on energy levels of 450 GeV, with the aim of reaching 5 TeV (5,000 GeV) in September. It is believed that when working at full performance, the LHC accelerator can accelerate protons with 7 TeV power.

On September 10, therefore, the giant explores smallness and begins to realize the dreams and hopes of many physicists.

In the magazine Elhuyar Zientzia eta Teknika of the month of April we collected how is the greatest accelerator in history and what will investigate.

Photo: CERN (the image is one of the main LHC detectors, CMS detector)