Source: NetEase Explore (Guangzhou)
The Large Hadron Collider is the world's largest particle accelerator. This 27-kilometer-long particle accelerator is located in a circular tunnel 100 meters underground, and its construction cost exceeded $6 billion.
The first image generated by the Large Hadron Collider
NetEase Explore reported on September 16 that when those scientists gathered together to build this behemoth, they did not waste any time. In any case, after 30 years of effort, the world's largest Hadron Collider was successfully launched on September 10 at CERN in Geneva. The first proton beam was injected into the collider and achieved circulation, producing the first batch of images. Scientists highly praised its significance as "a small step for the proton beam, but a giant leap for mankind."
The Large Hadron Collider is not only the world's largest particle accelerator, but also the world's largest machine. This 27-kilometer-long particle accelerator is located in a circular tunnel 100 meters underground in the border region between Switzerland and France. The total length of the tunnel is 26.659 kilometers, and the construction cost exceeded $6 billion. More than two thousand physicists from dozens of countries and regions participated in this project. Researchers hope that the Large Hadron Collider will discover the existence of the Higgs boson, the "Holy Grail" of particle physics. Proposed by British scientist Peter Higgs in the 1960s, the Higgs boson perfectly explains the source of matter's mass. It is the last unverified particle in the so-called "Standard Model" of particle physics theory, also known as the "God Particle."
The purpose of using an incredibly powerful magnetic field and ultra-cold temperatures is to enable tiny particles to float in the circular tunnel at nearly the speed of light. During the first experiment on September 10, scientists controlled the proton beam to move in a single direction. In the first test, researchers injected a proton beam clockwise into the European accelerator, accelerating it to a superfast speed of 99.9998% of the speed of light, allowing the proton beam to smoothly complete the 27-kilometer-long tunnel within 55 minutes. Afterward, scientists injected another proton beam counterclockwise into the machine for the first time, successfully completing this test. Thus, the Large Collider successfully allowed the particle beam to travel in both directions around the tunnel, clearing all obstacles before the actual collision experiment. Next month, they will simultaneously inject two beams of particles moving in opposite directions into the collider and accelerate them, causing them to collide with each other to recreate a mini Big Bang. Wow, it sounds dangerous, but one thing is certain: it will have a profound impact on human thought. Let's count down these ten aspects of intellectual impact!
10. It can accelerate particles to unprecedented supersonic speeds.
Currently, it takes us seven years to reach the nearest planet, but can you believe it? We actually obtain something (though only as big as an atom) that moves almost as fast as light. For these particles, time slows down. In fact, in the European accelerator, scientists have already accelerated particles to a speed of 99.9998% of the speed of light, which is equivalent to traveling one billion kilometers per hour. This is the highest speed at which protons circulate in the circular tunnel, indicating that protons can orbit the track 11,000 times per second. In a ten-hour experiment, the distance traveled by the particle beam may exceed 10 billion kilometers, enough for a round trip between Earth and Neptune.
9. When it comes to cold, it goes far beyond what magic can achieve.
The Large Hadron Collider will reach a terrifying level of coldness, with temperatures dropping lower than outer space, reaching -456.25°F (-271.3°C), close to absolute zero. So why cool the magnets to such low temperatures near absolute zero? Because at this temperature, the magnets can work without any resistance. Therefore, the Large Hadron Collider uses 10,800 tons of liquid nitrogen to cool these magnets to -193.2°C, then approximately 60 tons of liquid helium to cool them further to the remaining temperature, ensuring that the large magnets precisely guide the particles along precise directions. Of course, it's not an environmentally friendly device—just to keep it continuously frosted, it consumes electricity worth $100,000 daily. That means the Large Hadron Collider will consume 120 megawatts of electricity annually, equivalent to the power consumption of all households in Geneva.
8. It might discover the Higgs boson (this experiment did not find it).
This is the so-called "God Particle," and researchers believe that if they find floating objects resembling suction cups around particles, it might help them fundamentally and accurately explain why matter has shape. We are trying to answer this question. In fact, finding the Higgs boson is one of the main tasks of this collider. Scientists have long wondered why some particles, like protons, are heavier, while others, like photons, are lighter. In the 1960s, British physicist Peter Higgs boldly predicted the existence of a Higgs field and the Higgs boson. The hypothesized Higgs boson is the source of matter's mass, forming the basis of mass for electrons and quarks.
7. The entire investment is equivalent to the income of the entire Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
Have they already spent $20 billion on this project? That's a cost hard to appear on a Visa card, but don't worry; many countries have been jointly participating and funding this project for decades. Currently, the final total amount is nearly equal to the GDP of the entire Grand Duchy of Luxembourg ($33.87 billion). It is estimated that the annual total budget of CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) is over 500 million euros, and this collider will operate for 20 years, with total operating costs reaching over 10 billion euros, which are shared by member states according to their gross national product ratios.
6. It might confirm string theory.
Hundreds of scientists working on this project believe in string theory. This theory suggests that atoms and molecules are not particles but strings vibrating simultaneously in two or more positions. Although this might sound like a great little trick on Halloween, string theorists hope the Large Hadron Collider will provide evidence supporting their proposed model of the universe. String theory indicates that the basic units constituting the universe are not particles but strings. Strings can open or close their ends arbitrarily. They can also vibrate, similar to the vibration of guitar strings when played. Different vibrations cause strings to behave differently. A string vibrating in one direction may behave as an electron. A different string vibrating in a different direction may behave as a neutron.
5. It could discover a set of new particles.
String theorists are particularly enthusiastic about finding supersymmetric particles to help them confirm their complex theories. Currently, other scientists think they are crazy because they have no evidence. However, this massive collision experiment might bring fundamental changes. They are looking for signs of supersymmetry. According to the "Standard Model," every particle has an antiparticle. For example, the antiparticle of an electron is a positron. Supersymmetry suggests that particles also have superpartners, meaning they have counterparts identical to themselves. This means every particle has three antiparticles. Although we haven't seen any signs of these superpartners in nature yet, theoretical physicists hope the Large Hadron Collider will prove their existence. This means supersymmetric particles can explain dark matter and help gravity join the entire standard model camp.
4. It will become even larger.
The plan for this project is to make this behemoth even bigger, and by 2012, the so-called Super Large Hadron Collider (SLHC) will be built, giving scientists better opportunities to understand rare particles through this collider experiment and establish research on them. The Large Hadron Collider is called the "Hubble Telescope" of the microscopic world by many scientists. It will help scientists understand issues such as: Are there undiscovered particles in nature? What is the origin of matter? Is there additional space? What is dark matter? How was the universe formed? The director of the Large Hadron Collider project, Evans, said, imagine the situation where two oranges collide; we can see countless pieces of pulp flying apart. We are interested in what happens when the seeds of the oranges collide. Protons are the pulp, and quarks are the seeds.
3. It will reveal the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy.
There are things in the universe that drag galaxies around. All the visible things we see combined account for only 4% of all matter in the universe. Visible matter and dark matter together may only account for 25% of the tangible objects in the universe, while the remaining three-quarters of the matter is dark energy, which is the cause driving the expansion of the universe. Currently, we don't even know if this dark energy exists, but scientists hope this collision will find evidence of the existence of dark matter and dark energy. Scientists speculate that neutral heavy particles (neutralinos) are the best candidates for dark matter. If neutralinos exist, they will be relatively easy to produce, so many physicists hope they will appear in the collision debris of the CMS or Atlas detectors, confirming the dark matter theory.
2. This thing absorbs pleasant times.
In fact, it contains the largest vacuum tube ever created by humans, producing a pressure ten times lower than what you can find on the moon. It contains fewer particles than exist in the most vacuumed regions of the solar system. We cannot imagine any stray atoms entering the tracks of protons speeding at the speed of light, but now we've made it possible. Scientists prevent collisions between particle beams and gas molecules inside the collider's vacuum tube by maintaining a pressure of only 10^-13 standard atmospheres, approximately one-tenth of the lunar atmospheric pressure. The particle beams run in this ultra-high vacuum "channel" as "empty" as interstellar space travel.
1. It will have an impact on the world.
The Large Hadron Collider experiment triggered fears of the end of the world, but all trustworthy scientists say the collision poses no threat to the world, only overturning outdated and incorrect physical theories. However, some people who enjoy spreading sensational news warn that the particle collisions in this LHC experiment might create incalculable dangers, possibly swallowing the entire Earth and destroying the whole world. To address this unnecessary panic, scientists released relevant safety assessment reports. This report titled "Assessing the Safety of the Large Hadron Collider" was published in the Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics by the Institute of Physics on September 5. This new report provides the most comprehensive evidence proving that the Large Hadron Collider poses no threat to humanity. (Nite) (Source: NetEase Explore)