Luminosity in LHC: Engineer's Guide to Understanding

In summary, luminosity is a measure of the rate of collisions in particle accelerators, such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). For physicists, a higher luminosity is preferred as it increases the chances of finding rare interactions and allows for better statistics. Low luminosity can result in a longer wait time for potential discoveries.
  • #1
kususe
22
0
I'm an engineer.
What's luminosity? I don't understand the explanation of Wikipedia.
Why are physics glad if the luminosity grows up in LHC, respect of last year?
 
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  • #2
for the second question I think the answer is http://slsbd.web.psi.ch/pub/cas/cas/node38.html"
 
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  • #3
kususe said:
I'm an engineer.
What's luminosity? I don't understand the explanation of Wikipedia.

Read this, especially on pages 31-34

http://www.phys.spbu.ru/content/File/Library/studentlectures/schlippe/pp05-07.pdf

Why are physics glad if the luminosity grows up in LHC, respect of last year?

If the luminosity is too low, you are getting very few collisions and thus, very few data. Considering that the probability of finding one of these exotic interaction is very low, and you also need to have very good statistics, you want to have as high of a collision rate as you can to increase your chances. Too low of a luminosity, and it will take months, if not years, to find something, if it is really there.

Zz.
 
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  • #4
Thank you.
Question solved.
 
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1. What is luminosity in the context of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)?

Luminosity is a measure of the number of collisions between particles in a given amount of time. In the LHC, it specifically refers to the number of proton-proton collisions per second.

2. How is luminosity calculated in the LHC?

Luminosity is calculated by measuring the intensity of the particle beams and the cross-sectional area of their overlap. This is then used to determine the number of collisions per second.

3. Why is luminosity an important factor in the LHC?

Luminosity is important because it directly affects the rate at which new particles can be created and studied. Higher luminosity means more collisions, which leads to more data for scientists to analyze.

4. What are some techniques used to increase luminosity in the LHC?

There are several techniques used to increase luminosity in the LHC, including increasing the number of particles in each beam, squeezing the beams to make them more narrow, and using special magnets to focus the beams more precisely.

5. How does luminosity impact the search for new particles in the LHC?

Luminosity is crucial for the discovery of new particles in the LHC. By increasing luminosity, scientists can increase the chances of observing rare events or particles that may only be produced in a small number of collisions. This allows for a more thorough exploration of the subatomic world and potential breakthroughs in our understanding of the universe.

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