Science Current Events | Science News | Brightsurf.com
 
Email a Friend Send to a friend
Printer Friendly Print First beam for Large Hadron Collider, world's mightiest particle accelerator

First beam for Large Hadron Collider, world's mightiest particle accelerator

September 11, 2008

UC Riverside physicists are involved in the accelerator's Compact Muon Solenoid experiment

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - An international collaboration of scientists today sent the first beam of protons zooming at nearly the speed of light around the 17-mile-long underground circular path of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world's most powerful particle accelerator, located at the CERN laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland.




The scientists also accelerated a second beam of protons through the path in the opposite direction, the goal being head-on collisions of protons that can offer clues to the origin of mass and new forces and particles in the universe. The second beam made one turn around the LHC.

Celebrations across the United States and around the world mark the LHC's first circulating beams, an occasion more than 15 years in the making. An estimated 10,000 people from 60 countries have helped design and build the accelerator and its massive particle detectors, including more than 1,700 scientists, engineers, students and technicians from 94 U.S. universities and laboratories supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science and the National Science Foundation.

UCR faculty Robert Clare, John Ellison, J. William Gary, Gail Hanson and Stephen Wimpenny, along with postdoctoral scientists and graduate students are involved in the LHC's Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment, a large particle-capturing detector whose discoveries are expected to help answer questions such as: Are there undiscovered principles of nature? What is the origin of mass? Do extra dimensions exist? What is dark matter? How can we solve the mystery of dark energy? And how did the universe come to be?

"After many years of preparation, particle physics is taking a huge step towards understanding whether our theories about the origin of mass are correct and whether there is new physics that can explain dark matter and help us understand dark energy and the origin of the universe," said Hanson, a distinguished professor of physics, who currently is at CERN. "Particle physicists from UCR have been involved in the CMS experiment since its beginning, and have been working to construct and commission parts of the detector. They will soon be able to carry out the measurements and make the discoveries that have been dreamed of for so long."

It will take about a month for scientists to align the proton beams traveling in opposite directions in the LHC so that proton-proton collisions are generated. The LHC will create almost a billion such collisions per second at an energy of 14 trillion electron volts. These collisions will take place at four points around its 17-mile ring, where the four main LHC experiments, including CMS, are located.

"This is an extremely important moment," said Clare, a professor of physics. "We are now on the verge of making hopefully many discoveries over the next years in our understanding of particle physics and how the universe works. For the first time in a long time, we will be breaking new ground. We may discover the Higgs boson; we may discover supersymmetry. We may discover completely new and unexpected phenomena, which would be by far the most exciting prospect."

UCR postdoctoral researchers and students doing work related to the CMS experiment are: Avdhesh Chandra, Feng Liu, John Babb (currently at CERN), Geng-yuan "Greg" Jeng (currently at CERN), Shih-chuan "Kevin" Kao (currently at CERN), Hongliang Liu, Arun Luthra, Harold Nguyen, Robert Stringer (currently at CERN), Jared Sturdy (currently at CERN), Rachel Wilken, and Manatosh "Milton" Bose.

"As the largest and most powerful particle accelerator on Earth, the LHC represents a monumental technical achievement," said U.S. Department of Energy Undersecretary for Science Raymond L. Orbach, who is a former UCR Chancellor. "I congratulate the world's scientists and engineers who have made contributions to the construction of the accelerator for reaching this milestone. We now eagerly await the results that will emerge from operation of this extraordinary machine."

University of California - Riverside



Related Particle Accelerator Current Events and Particle Accelerator News Articles Particle Accelerator Current Events and Particle Accelerator News RSS Particle Accelerator Current Events and Particle Accelerator News RSS
STFC Daresbury Laboratory's ALICE accelerates to 4 million volt milestone
A major milestone has been achieved in the completion of the UK's next-generation particle accelerator, ALICE, which is set to produce an intense beam of light that will revolutionise the way in which accelerator based light source research facilities will be designed in the future.

21st century detective work reveals how ancient rock got off to a hot start
A new technique using X-rays has enabled scientists to play 'detective' and solve the debate about the origins of a three billion year old rock fragment.

Einstein's relativity survives neutrino test
Physicists working to disprove "Lorentz invariance" -- Einstein's prediction that matter and massless particles will behave the same no matter how they're turned or how fast they go -- won't get that satisfaction from muon neutrinos, at least for the time being, says a consortium of scientists.

U-M physicists' analysis leads to discovery of new particle
University of Michigan physicists played a leading role in the discovery of a new particle, the Omega b baryon, which is an exotic relative of the proton.

First beam for Large Hadron Collider
An international collaboration of scientists today sent the first beam of protons zooming at nearly the speed of light around the world's most powerful particle accelerator-the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)-located at the CERN laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland.

UC Santa Barbara has key role in Large Hadron Collider project
Earlier today, some 300 feet below the Earth's surface, in a circular tunnel so extensive that it travels from Switzerland into France and back again, scientists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva fired the first beams of protons that they hope will eventually produce history-making science.

Boston physicists celebrate first beam for Large Hadron Collider
Scientists today sent the first beam of protons zooming at nearly the speed of light around the 17-mile Large Hadron Collider. The LHC, located at the CERN laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland, is the world's most powerful particle accelerator.

Iowa State scientists, students contribute to world's biggest science experiment
The first beam of protons will begin racing around the world's biggest science experiment on Wednesday, Sept. 10, and Iowa State University physicists will be part of the research team taking notes.

UCSB professor's paper on safety of large hadron collider to be published in Physical Review D
Particle colliders creating black holes that could devour the Earth. Sounds like a great Hollywood script.

Nuclear scientists eye future landfall on a second 'island of stability'
Modern-day scientific Magellans and Columbus's, exploring the uncharted seas at the fringes of the Periodic Table of the Elements, have landed on one long-sought island - the fabled Island of Stability, home of a new genre of superheavy chemical elements sought for more than three decades.
More Particle Accelerator Current Events and Particle Accelerator News Articles


Particle Accelerator Physics
by Helmut Wiedemann

Particle Accelerator Physics is an in-depth and comprehensive introduction to the field of high-energy particle acceleration and beam dynamics. Part I gathers the basic tools, recalling the essentials of electrostatics and electrodynamics as well as of particle dynamics in electromagnetic fields. Part II is an extensive primer in beam dynamics, followed in Part III by the introduction and...



An Introduction to Particle Accelerators
by E. J. N. Wilson

There are more than ten thousand particle accelerators in the world from the linear accelerators used for cancer therapy in modern hospitals to the giant 'atom-smashers' at international particle physics laboratories used to unlock the secrets of creation. Many scientists and engineers spend their lives designing, constructing, and operating these machines - yet few universities include the...



Accelerator Physics
by S. Y. Lee

The development of high energy accelerators began in 1911, when Rutherford discovered the atomic nuclei inside the atom. Since then, progress has been made in the following: (1) development of high voltage dc and rf accelerators, (2) achievement of high field magnets with excellent field quality, (3) discovery of transverse and longitudinal beam focusing principles, (4) invention of high power rf...



Introduction To The Physics Of Particle Accelerators
by Mario Conte, William W MacKay

This book provides a concise and coherent introduction to the physics of particle accelerators, with attention being paid to the design of an accelerator for use as an experimental tool. In the second edition, new chapters on spin dynamics of polarized beams as well as instrumentation and measurements are included, with a discussion of frequency spectra and Schottky signals. The additional...



RF Superconductivity for Accelerators
by Hasan Padamsee, Jens Knobloch, Tomas Hays

This book introduces some of the key ideas of this exciting field, using a pedagogic approach, and presents a comprehensive overview of the field. It is divided into four parts. The first part introduces the basic concepts of microwave cavities for particle acceleration. The second part is devoted to the observed behaviour of superconducting cavities. In the third part,general issues connected...

Particle Accelerators: From the Cyclotron to the Superconducting Super Collider (Venture Books)
by David E. Newton

Examines the types, functions, and basic principles of particle accelerators, both linear and circular, and their application in the search for the basic building blocks of...



An Introduction to the Physics of Particle Accelerators
by Mario Conte, William W. Mackay

This book aims to provide a concise and coherent introduction to the physics of particle accelerators. It is written for students at the graduate level in physics and provides the elements to tackle the main problems regarding cyclic particle accelerators. In particular, a thorough introduction is given on the topics of such machines. Phase focusing is also fully treated together with fundamental...



A Primer on Theory and Operation of Linear Accelerators in Radiation Therapy
by C. J. Karzmark, Robert J. Morton

Particle Accelerators and Their Uses (Accelerators and Storage Rings Series)
by W. Scharf

Particle Accelerators and Their Uses is a comprehensive treatment of the construction and applications of the major accelerator types. Part I presents the design and parameters of such accelerator types as high-voltage and radio frequency linear designs, synchrocyclotrons and microtrons. Part II explores the wide range of accelerator applications in physics, medicine, industry and...



Measurement and Control of Charged Particle Beams
by M.G. Minty, F. Zimmermann, Michiko G. Minty

This advanced textbook and reference is the first comprehensive and systematic review of all methods used for the measurement, correction, and control of the beam dynamics of modern particle accelerators. Based on material presented in several lectures at the US Particle Accelerator School, the text is intended for graduate students starting research or work in the field of beam physics....

© 2008 BrightSurf.com