What is Large hadron collider: Definition and 111 Discussions

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world's largest and highest-energy particle collider. It was built by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) between 1998 and 2008 in collaboration with over 10,000 scientists and hundreds of universities and laboratories, as well as more than 100 countries. It lies in a tunnel 27 kilometres (17 mi) in circumference and as deep as 175 metres (574 ft) beneath the France–Switzerland border near Geneva.
The first collisions were achieved in 2010 at an energy of 3.5 teraelectronvolts (TeV) per beam, about four times the previous world record. After upgrades it reached 6.5 TeV per beam (13 TeV total collision energy, the present world record). At the end of 2018, it entered a two-year shutdown period for further upgrades.
The collider has four crossing points, around which are positioned seven detectors, each designed for certain kinds of research. The LHC primarily collides proton beams, but it can also use beams of heavy ions: lead–lead collisions and proton–lead collisions are typically done for one month per year. The aim of the LHC's detectors is to allow physicists to test the predictions of different theories of particle physics, including measuring the properties of the Higgs boson and searching for the large family of new particles predicted by supersymmetric theories, as well as other unsolved questions of physics.

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  1. M

    I Are there currently working colliders with unequal beam sizes?

    I know that for any coliders beams are not exactly the same size but they can be approximated to the same value as the deviation is relatively small, such as LHC. My questions: 1- are there currently working or planned colliders with unequal beam sizes? 2- for coliders of different particles...
  2. A

    B How fast are the the protons in the large Hadron collider?

    Hi, I was asking how fast is the fastest Hadron ever moved in the large Hadron collider.And most importantly how do they calculate it? Do the calculate it mathematically or with a detector?
  3. Beanyboy

    B Is the Large Hadron Collider large?

    Or, is that that the hadrons are large? Or, are they both large? What exactly is the adjective "large" qualifying please? I do know that the tunnel is very large indeed, and that this is the most sophisticated machine ever built.
  4. K

    I Has Large Hadron Collider shown Higgs conformal invariance

    the higgs naturalness problems has several solutions 1- natural susy 2- technicolor 3- extra dimensions 4- conformal invariance Large Hadron Collider has to date strongly disfavored susy, technicolor, extra dimensions. it is highly unlikely susy is the answer to the higgs hierarchy problem...
  5. B

    Why does the LHC need to be more powerful?

    I am doing a piece of A-2 coursework concerning the LHC and its restart and cannot understand why the increase in energy of run 2 would allow us to detect heavier particles such as those proposed by SUSY.
  6. K

    Is a Small Space Hadron Collider More Efficient than a Large One?

    It's to my understanding that the Large Hadron Collider is so 'large' due to the fact E=MC^2 and that when the accelerated particles approach the speed of light their mass increases logarithmic to a near infinite mass, meaning the magnetic force applied to the particle, to stop it from touching...
  7. N

    Higgs particle and standard model Higgs particle difference?

    Hey physics enthusiasts, I have been reading and watching various videos, which talks about the possibility that the Higgs particle which was discovered by collisions in the large hadron collider(LHC) may not be the standard model Higgs particle. What does this mean? What is the difference...
  8. C

    Looking For (Academic) References About How the LHC Works

    I'm currently writing a paper for a small class called "Contemporary Physics" and I am writing about particle accelerators and the search for the Higgs Boson. I have a fairly good idea about how the Large Hadron Collider works, but I cannot use my own explanation alone as I need references to...
  9. Math Amateur

    MHB What Will the Restarted Large Hadron Collider Uncover About Dark Matter?

    Large Hadron Collider is restarting ... wonder what will be discovered ... particles somehow related to dark matter ... and other wonders ... Cern restarts Large Hadron Collider with mission to make scientific history | Science | The Guardian Peter
  10. stevebd1

    Energy & Time Dilation in Large Hadron Collider (LHC)

    Due to the blogs being removed, I thought it might be worthwhile posting a few in the forums-The Large Hadron Collider has produced collisions at 7 TeV. For collisions at 7 TeV, protons need to be ‘ramped’ to 3.5 TeV, the proton has a mass of 1.6726e−27 kg which, according to mass–energy...
  11. T

    Why are time dilatation & length contraction infinite at light speed?

    Considering that speed of light is constant and finite, then why are the time dilatation and length contraction infinite to a frame of reference moving at the speed of light? We know that a moving frame of reference experiments time dilatation and length contraction from the point of view of a...
  12. T

    Differences between Engineering and Physics?

    It seems like once you get to the upper levels engineering and physics start to blend together. For example, think of the Large Hadron Collider. The people that worked on the Higgs Boson theory were definitely physicists but what about everything else? Were the people who actually designed...
  13. V

    Database of theories beyond the standard model?

    I am a programmer and physics fan. A speaker (Lawrence Krauss?) at https://origins.asu.edu/events/great-debate-parallel-realities-probing-fundamental-physics (not on youtube yet) said physics theories beyond the standard model are an under-determined problem. There are 7,000 theories that fit...
  14. dheeraj

    Understanding X-Ray Emission from Colliding Electrons

    i everybody i've studied in my 9th standard that x rays are produced when cathode rays(electrons) hit solid targets such as molybdenum,titanium,etc.. now we'll observe the physics going out there so what's happening there? an electron is coming with some speed say v and hitting the valence...
  15. A

    Particle collider imaging process

    How do particle colliders read the trajectories of particles in the collider? Are EM waves emitted from each of the particles? If some particles do not emit EM waves, does the "sensor" only read particles that emit EM waves? ...In other words, what bridges the gap between our pictorial data and...
  16. N

    One quick question about Higgs boson and supersymmetry

    Peter Higgs is going to get a Nobel prize for physics, since Higgs boson's existence was confirmed in the experiments in CERN. But I do have some questions: I read the following, but I'm not qualified to say if this is true or not, so I'm asking you for help, and if the following statement is...
  17. E

    Econ: Budget cuts and expensive laboratory science projections for 10s

    (I am going to attempt a 2nd, little thread before I finish my earlier thread. I want to see if I can practice using PF Rules & Guidelines and FAQ before I wrap up my thread on Autism in Medical Sciences.) In my humble opinion, the current budget crisis in the news likely augurs deep cuts -...
  18. J

    LHC Sim: Hydrogen Atoms & Quark Charges

    I was on the LHC simulator and the collisions of the Hydrogen atoms were confusing. Why were some uniform in direction while some spinning erratically in a cork screw pattern? Does that behavior have anything to do with the positive or negative charges of the Quarks in the nucleus?
  19. J

    Why is the W cross section so much larger than the Z cross section?

    I had a look at the production cross sections for W/Z at hadron colliders. These differ as a function of energy with the W x-sec being consistently ~10 times larger than the Z cross sections. Why is the W cross section so much larger? I think the coupling strength is similar and the mass...
  20. A

    New Physics Complications Lend Support to Multiverse Hypothesis

    "New Physics Complications Lend Support to Multiverse Hypothesis" From Scientific American: Bolded by me. While certainly not enough to definitively prove the existence of a multiverse, from the way the article reads it does sound like the Standard Model has some holes in it. I...
  21. howabout1337

    Do the Large Hadron Collider take earth's rotational speed?

    so according to wiki: protons have a Lorentz factor of about 7,500 and move at about 0.999999991 c, or about 3 metres per second slower than the speed of light (c) If we consider speed of Earth's rotation or speed at which two galaxies approach each other (collision or otherwise)?
  22. C

    Parton model and quark interaction in DIS.

    I'm currently reading about the parton model and deep inelastic scattering. As I've understood it was observed that when protons collided at high energy very little transverse momentum transfer was observed, while when electrons were collided with protons transverse momentum transfer was...
  23. Drakkith

    New results indicate that new particle is a Higgs boson

    This was released today so I'm not sure if most have seen it yet. It appears that "a" Higgs Boson is confirmed. http://home.web.cern.ch/about/updates/2013/03/new-results-indicate-new-particle-higgs-boson
  24. krash661

    Hangout With Cern: Lhc And The Grid

    Hangout With CERN: LHC and the Grid - Big data, big questions Public · By CERN usually every thursday 5:00pm in UTC+01 http://hangouts.web.cern.ch/ http://youtube.com/CERNTV Last week we showed you how global computing helps CERN store, distribute and analysis around 25 Petabytes...
  25. D

    Anti Science friends and trying to enlighten them. (possibly funny)

    Anti Science "friends" and trying to enlighten them. (possibly funny) I know its pointless to even argue with people like this (even more pointless when its on Facebook), but do you guys ever give in and try to school people like this? Sadly a few of my friends decided to stop their education...
  26. D

    Cern: First evidence for the decay Bs → μ+μ−

    BBC News reported this http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20300100 Here's the actual paper https://cdsweb.cern.ch/record/1493302/files/PAPER-2012-043.pdf What does this actually mean for Susy etc?
  27. M

    Reason for dipole and quadrupole magnets in the Large Hadron Collider

    According to Wikipedia, the source of all knowledge, the LHC contains some 1,232 dipole magnets with an additional 392 quadrupole magnets. What is the difference in function between the two types of magnets? How might the effects of magnetic field gradients contribute to the differences...
  28. C

    Mass Observed to Increase as Velocity Increases?

    With CERN's Large Hadron Collider being in the news recently, I began to think of a question that bothered me for years about particle accelerators. It is well known in physics that mass increases as velocity does (Special Relativity if I'm not mistaken), so if these particles in the LHC are...
  29. T

    Explain why x-rays source are protons which are accelerated

    In a large hadron collider at CERN, protos follow a circular path with speeds close to the speed of light. X-rays can be produced by free protons which are accelerating. Explain why this providesa source of x-rays even though the speeds of the protons are constant. Provided answer: must...
  30. B

    New Beauty Baryon discovered

    New "Beauty Baryon" discovered “A never-before-seen subatomic particle has popped into existence inside the world's largest atom smasher, bringing physicists a step closer to unraveling the mystery of how matter is put together in the universe.” “After crashing particles together about 530...
  31. H

    The question of circular motion in future

    i want to know some applications(idear) about circular motion in future. Is Large Hadron Collider, LHC about circular motion? PLZ,HELP
  32. rhody

    In the future, an Exobyte of astronomical data per day

    Wow, what a Project: Square Kilometer Array This thread is unique, last one was written in 2007 concerning the "Square Kilometer Array". It looks like requirements will push new developments in hardware and software technologies to handle an exobyte of data per day. One half an exobyte of...
  33. Greg Bernhardt

    LHC finds new Chi-b (3P) particle

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16301908
  34. rhody

    Important reason for squashing software bugs accuracy of scientific discoveries

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/09/22/cern_coverity/"]CERN's[/PLAIN] boson hunters tackle big data bug infestation It's the software or the science that's been wrong One's analysis when processing experimental data must account for possible errors in the tools used to identify and detect...
  35. A

    Observing the physics of Black Hole interiors‏

    I am writing to propose an experiment to observe the physical affect on matter within the interior of Black Holes. The approach requires combining the phenomena of Quantum Entanglement with the manufacture of mini Black Holes in the CERN’s LHC (Large Hadron Collider): A paper by Choptuik and...
  36. V

    Experiments in quantum entanglement

    Two or three years ago there was an interview in a science journal with a physicist who had worked on the large hadron collider. The interviewer asked what he wanted to do next,and he replied that he'd like to do some experiments in quantum entanglement but had no funding. Apparently donations...
  37. C

    Does superconductivity really have zero resistance?

    Take for instance putting the large hadron collider in space at a near absolute zero where you never have to put energy into cool down the system. The LHC takes 10 GJ to run and the total energy of the two beams is 724 MJ. [1] Since the power to run the system never experiances resistence, would...
  38. A

    Testing String Theory: Exploring the Possibilities

    String Theory is basically the idea involving an indefinite amount of invisible "strings" vibrating at a large spectrum of frequencies, thus creating sub-atomic particles that compose everything we experience and ourselves. It would make sense if you could test this theory by creating something...
  39. F

    Why don't these methods give me the same answer?

    Homework Statement The tunnel of the Large Hadron Collider is 27.00 km long. The LHC accelerates protons to a speed of 0.999997828 times the speed of light. How long would it take the proton to pass through the tunnel according to an observer at rest with respect to the building? To an observer...
  40. F

    Are these two calculations of electrostatic force correct?

    I was watching a show the other night about the Large Hadron Collider, and I got to wondering how much force it would take to push two uranium nuclei right up against each other. I figured it would be on the order of a thousandth, maybe a millionth of a pound, which seems like a lot, considering...
  41. S

    Large Hadron Collider - can it re-create the early universe?

    One of the aims of the Large Hadron Collider is that it may be able to re-create conditions in the early universe and therefore produce the quark-gluon plasma that appeared microseconds after the universe's birth. However a fundamental difference between the universe now (in which the...
  42. Dotini

    Simple Supersymmetry Bites the Dust

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14680570 Results from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have all but killed the simplest version of an enticing theory of sub-atomic physics. Researchers failed to find evidence of so-called "supersymmetric" particles, which many physicists had hoped...
  43. F

    What is the most detailed analysis of the very early universe?

    Hello people! I’m an engineer, and i’ve received math training, but i assume not to the level necessary to understand the deepest laws of the nature. Since I’ve reading about the Large Hadron Collider, I’ve been more and more interested in the cosmology. I’m interested in the VERY VERY EARLY...
  44. R

    Are extra-dimensions a possible explanation for electroweak symmetry breaking?

    Higgs field is proposed because the brute force inclusion of masses into the wave equation of say the W and Z force-field quanta destroys the underlying Lie group gauge symmetry. What if the Large Hadron Collider can't find the Higgs Boson. What are the alternatives to Higgs field that...
  45. R

    Physics-Based Extended Project Title Needed

    Hi Everyone , I'm in year 12 and have just started the extended project qualification with AQA and I'm seriously struggling to pick a topic. I have decided I want to do it on a subject to do with physics, as that's what I want to do at Uni. More specifically, I'd quite like to do it on...
  46. S

    Supergravity paper on LHC-physics by Chris Austin

    http://arxiv.org/abs/1103.2732 Abstract "Rough estimates are presented to show that the bump at 1.7 to 1.9 TeV seen in ATLAS-CONF-2010-088 could arise from about 10^{30} approximately degenerate Kaluza-Klein states of the d = 11 supergravity multiplet in the s channel, that could arise from...
  47. ZapperZ

    Marvel of Technology: The LHC, Machine, And Experiments

    The Chicago Blues Fest is going on this weekend in Grant Park right in the heart of downtown Chicago. If you are attending this, or are in downtown Chicago this afternoon, a short walk from the Blues Fest up Columbus drive just north of the Chicago River, you can attend this...
  48. A

    Is CERN LHC suppose to create matter or simply analyse debris of collision ?

    I read 2 books on CERN's LHC and I'm confused by the different information provided in regards to what exactly will the detectors will be analyzing. In the first book ("Present at creation" author: Mr.Aczel), it is clearly written that after the beams collides, matter (protons) will be...
  49. J

    What are the conditions inside the LHC Atlas detector?

    If I could be inside the LHC Atlas detector during a proton bean collision what would I see? Would there be a huge flash of light? Would I be killed, if yes how fast? Or would there be nothing to see?
  50. L

    Calculating Centre of Mass Energy in Fixed Target Interactions with the LHC

    Homework Statement The proposed maximum colliding beam energy, Ec, in the Large Hadron Collider is 7TeV per beam (proton-proton collisions). By a Lorenz transformation, show clearly that to produce the same centre of mass energy in a 'fixed target' interaction, the beam energy woulr have to...
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