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In Brief
- The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the biggest and most complicated particle physics experiment ever seen, is nearing completion and is scheduled to start operating this year.
- The LHC will accelerate bunches of protons to the highest energies ever generated by a machine, colliding them head-on 30 million times a second, with each collision spewing out thousands of particles at nearly the speed of light.
- Physicists expect the LHC to bring about a new era of particle physics in which major conundrums about the composition of matter and energy in the universe will be resolved.
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You could think of it as the biggest, most powerful microscope in the history of science. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), now being completed underneath a circle of countryside and villages a short drive from Geneva, will peer into the physics of the shortest distances (down to a nano-nanometer) and the highest energies ever probed. For a decade or more, particle physicists have been eagerly awaiting a chance to explore that domain, sometimes called the terascale because of the energy range involved: a trillion electron volts, or 1 TeV. Significant new physics is expected to occur at these energies, such as the elusive Higgs particle (believed to be responsible for imbuing other particles with mass) and the particle that constitutes the dark matter that makes up most of the material in the universe.
The mammoth machine, after a nine-year construction period, is scheduled (touch wood) to begin producing its beams of particles later this year. The commissioning process is planned to proceed from one beam to two beams to colliding beams; from lower energies to the terascale; from weaker test intensities to stronger ones suitable for producing data at useful rates but more difficult to control. Each step along the way will produce challenges to be overcome by the more than 5,000 scientists, engineers and students collaborating on the gargantuan effort. When I visited the project last fall to get a firsthand look at the preparations to probe the high-energy frontier, I found that everyone I spoke to expressed quiet confidence about their ultimate success, despite the repeatedly delayed schedule. The particle physics community is eagerly awaiting the first results from the LHC. Frank Wilczek of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology echoes a common sentiment when he speaks of the prospects for the LHC to produce “a golden age of physics.”
This article was originally published with the title The Discovery Machine.
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54 Comments
Add CommentLook at this http://www.risk-evaluation-forum.org/anon1.htm
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI am not a physicist, and there are certainly many astounding intellects that have analyzed this situation, but even trumped up estimates of 11%-25% risk of total cataclysm are concerning.
We have not detected signs of intelligent life in the universe, but we have detected black holes that defy current explanations for their formation. Remnants of past physics experiments? It gives one pause...
With the amount of filtering done on the data it seems to me as if the operators will only find what they expect and hope to find. I can understand this from the need to obtain data to justify the huge cost of construction and operation but I am almost certain that events which might be of extreme interest but which fall outside of the expected will occur and not be detected. I would therefore suggest that, at some time after initial runs have been completed, selection criteria be randomized in some manner to allow unanticipated events to be detected and analyzed.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTime will tell??
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSo the search is on for the Higgs (entitiy) particle. Good luck to all the searchers at CERN.
Based on Hawkins and Penrose evolution back to the big bang or whatever one calls it, it seems certain that once the Higgs is found this will lead to the enevitable search for what has been called "The Timeon"
The Timeon should exist in the self cancelling foam of space. The Timeon should exist in two forms TP and TF defined as "Time Past" and "Time Future", with the cancelling state as TN or as we know it "Time Now."
It all sounds very unreal!
Yet remember the wors of Michael Faraday in his 1819 talk....
The man that who is certain he is right is almost sure to be wrong; And he has the additional misfortune of inevitabably remaining so.
All our theories are fixed upon uncertain data and all of them want alteration and support.
Ever since the world began opinion has changed with the progress of things and it is something more than absurd to suppose that we have...
--
Edited by cattall at 01/21/2008 7:32 AM
No, the black hole is the biggest (mathematicly) scientific lige of all. They hav not, ever, detected nor calculated any black hole or any singularity: http://google.com/groups?q=Autymn+fast-food.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTwelve years ago I told Cern how physics works. Since then I have continue my study and now have the nature of the electron, mass, time, inertia, wave particle duality action at a distance under my belt and I am working on the nature of the neutron.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBut now as then nobody cares.
Mind-bending. I'm almost 84 and I pray I will live long enough to see somebody find a Higgs particle. Hurry up, folks. Dorothy van den Honert
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMind boggling. I just hope they find a Higgs particle before I croak. (I'm 83)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think they will eventually find that there isn't any solid particle. Everything will break down to be energy. Sub-atomic particles are just different expressions of energy. Remember, E=MC^2
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHmmm, I think they will probably discover something "big" but not what they are expecting to find. From my young, ignorant perspective, this whole thing seems like the scientists are going "Maaaan, let's just smash these particles reaaaally reallly hard and see what happens! Yeah! Cool! Explosions!" Regardless, it will be productive.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMRWAHEN, THEY'VE ALREADY DETERMINED THAT EVERYTHING BREAKS DOWN TO ENERGY. THAT IS NOT THE QUESTION.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt will start a black hole here on earth. We will be gone in .0000000000000333 seconds!!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhy not a unicorn?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisScientists need some matter to develop or create anything but God didn't have a machine or anything else to help Him create Heaven and Earth.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI wish this article had given more description of the fundamental physical problems which the data from the LHC is supposed to help answer. I would have liked a fuller explanation if possible in laymen's terms of the universe/multiverse, the supersymmetry or no supersymmetry/ the Higgs Boson or no Higgs Boson/ questions and their meaning and implication. The dark matter puzzle, the question of whether the data will lead to a 'unified theory' or not.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisGod also didn't feel the need to tell people about this miracle five times over...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf the LHC could indeed usher in a fundamental new chapter in physics, can we be sure the sums will add up?
CERNs web site states that we have not been destroyed by effects of cosmic rays and micro black holes will evaporate.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHowever, cosmic rays travel too fast to be captured by Earths gravity, and Hawking Radiation is disputed and contradicts Einsteins highly successful relativity theory. Collider particles can be captured by Earths gravity, and relativity predicts micro black holes will not decay. The LHC Safety Assessment Group has been trying for months to prove safety without success, but it may not be possible.
Alleged in the legal action: Chief Scientific Officer, Mr. Engelen passed an internal memorandum to workers at CERN, asking them, regardless of personal opinion, to affirm in all interviews that there were no risks involved in the experiments, changing the previous assertion of minimal risk.
(Statisticians generally consider minimal risk as 1-10%).
Not even history or fact.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisProfessor Dr. Otto E. Roessler estimates 50 months Earth accretion time from a single micro black hole captured by Earth's gravity (www.golem.de/0802/57477-4.html, translation at www.lhcconcerns.com/LHCConcerns/Forums/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=52)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisToo bad black holes are impossibil under relativity.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt is not necessary to run the Collider at full power, when it's first brought on line. In fact, from an engineering perspective, it would be irresponsible not to test the machine at a lower level of operation. It would also be very bad science, whose results would be suspect, until the machine is properly tested and calibrated. Tests at lower power levels will provide preliminary information that should help answer the question about creating a black hole during a collision. If there is data indicating that producing a black hole is possible, then the responsible people in charge of the Collider should suspend operation. To do other wise will be to commit suicide. Are the scientists and technicians in Europe willing to take the chance that they might destroy their families, themselves and the rest of the world?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThey would not be very good scientists if this is true.
are data
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf the LHC ever makes a unicorn, then panic. Onely they can make black holes.
The prevailing view is that the risks are small, perhaps 1 in 50,000,000 as was estimated for the RHIC collider, but this is strongly disputed as entirely unsupportable with respect to the LHC collider.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe lawsuit before US Federal Court estimates the risk at closer to 50% with a very high degree of uncertainty. (Credible scientists assert that those risk probability calculations are as accurate as can be currently supported. Actually risk may be closer to 0% or closer to 100% depending on what assumptions prove correct.)
I am a former US Army Officer, and I am willing to accept a fairly high level of risk, I would not oppose 1 in 50 million odds, but I also have a non-trivial physics back ground, and I have done extensive research related to LHC Safety risks, including creating the web site LHCFacts.org. And I am very concerned because I conclude that the risks may be exceedingly high, potentially a probability, and I conclude that CERN has NOT been open and honest about the risks involved. And I believe we can prove this in court.
In short, these are the conditions necessary for safety or not:
If the following reasonable and plausible assumptions prove to be correct, then the uncomfortable truth may be that the probability of destruction of Earth could be closer to 100%, far from the often quoted 1 in 50 million, though only mother nature currently knows for certain due to our limited understanding of the physics involved.
A. LHC Creates black holes as CERN Predicted (1 per second)
B. Micro Black holes do not evaporate as LSAG accepts as plausible.
C. One or more micro black holes are captured by Earths gravity as LSAG accepts as plausible.
D. Micro Black holes grow exponentially as Dr. Otto E. Rosslers paper predicts and calculates.
Supporting references to PHDs and Professors of Math, Physics and other Theoretical Sciences that very strongly support these arguments in favor of possible extreme risk are available at http://www.lhcfacts.org/?cat=53
Well one day, a very hungry ant colony made a major discovery: an enormous pile of horse manure up the hill from the colony. And the queen ant sent her troops out to bring this large pile of manure back to the colony for provisioning. But as they manoeuvred it down the hill, it began to roll on its on, and grew faster and faster until there was an avalanche of horse manure about to pour down upon the ant colony, and the queens antennae went out like this...You know what that means in ant language, dont you? Stop that horseshit.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDidn't we have this discussion a few years ago with a different experiment in another particle accelerator? Experiment went on and apparently we're still here...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf this machine creates as much energy as predicted where will all of this energy go? Will this be enough to create an engine that could alter the earts orbit ? It has to go somewhere . for ervey action there is a equal and oppsite reaction???
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI'm a bit confused. What happened to the transparent debate over LHC that had been going on for the last six months? The new Dominium model poses major questions to this project. Last week, "MrSheepish" offered evidence that could have conclusively proven this new model and all its implications. Today, Hasanuddins Blog, and all the record of the arguments does not seem available. What happened?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI have mixed feelings about all this im confused about alot of it i just dont understand how they would risk the planet the odds are way to high if you ask me to be riskin the whole world and the whole human race
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYOO KNOW WHAT THEY SAY: " Curiosity killed the Cat"
Yes mrwahen, you could well be right , now that we are now down to sub neutron particles,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTesseract_Hat, Well it would not be so exciting if we only found what we expected to find , would it.?
Regarding black holes, they are now known to exist due to the observed matter rotating around a point , at at "astronomical"velocities, and emitting x.rays etc. It is all real- really!
Next week we may have aliens here in Observable Flying Objects.
I'm not a scientist or anything near one. Science does however fascinate me. It does seem that we should air on the side of caution. Especially when we don't know the outcome. I know a lot of science has come about through trial and error and with great risk. Ever wonder why we seem to be the only blue spot in the universe? You talk about winning the one out of infinity lottery! We are a people that yearn to know our universe, but at what cost to humanity. If this were to create a black hole, worm hole, tear open another dimension, would it be worth the risk? If we find we can manipulate time, are we disciplined enough, wise enough to handle that kind of power? I pray, because I believe God created us...that we do not open Pandora's box. Just food for thought!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisi hope that, that project would not contribute to the problem in global warming
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI believe that size does matter and that every singularity could be a whole universe being created existing and dying within its own relative time and space and size , so you see size doesnt only matter its the most important thing in the universe
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt is one of the greatest scientific experiment in the history of mankind. If the experiment results in negative, what will be its impact on nature?... will its negative effects be visible or not?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thismind blowing
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thiswht a good photographs
wow
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thismind blowing pictures on http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/08/the_large_hadron_collider.html
really its a new world after this world
hi ajay
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisShow your support for the scientific theories competing for validity toady at Cern. Pick up a Team Higgs Boson or Team Supersymetric Particles t-shirt here. http://231556.spreadshirt.com/us/US/Shop/
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisToo good, we will definetily know the theory of our existance.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisthe rest 96% of our universe will be known.
Is anyone here as excited about this thing as I am?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://www.cafepress.com/cossbot/5965007
The Large Hadron Collider and the Particle Zoo Three
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://earthmatrix.com/sciencetoday/hadroncollider.htm
Hawkings is going to be a hundred bucks richer.
Why does everyone continue to talk about E equals M times C square. If you square the velocity of light, you obtain a value that simply does not exist. It is impossible to square the speed of light, just as you cannot cube the speed of light or whatever power you wish to employ. When physicists cease using non-existing values, maybe some of their theoretical posits will begin to make sense.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisi think this whole thing is stupid because God created the world not the so called big bang! evoloution is wrong.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishi you stupid scientists out there it would be really weird if you did create something weird
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThere you are wrong. There have been a number of astronomical observations that can only be explained by the presence of black holes.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisGOD is almighty only he alone can create the universe and all thats in it like how it is. if you haven't guessed by now i'm a free reformed christian.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisGod is almighty he is the only one who has the sort of power to create the world.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSo you dare to try to enter the realm of God...wont happen...watch it fellas.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thiswont happen...God will not be mocked...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDr. Lsamb
This is so simple, dont play with things you dont understand. I can understand what they are trying to do, find out what we are all made of an the purpose of us being here an were we come from amongst other things. But trying to re-create the big bang can not be a good thing. No one knows what will happen, black hole maybe.... were all doomed.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisi have Hawking on record saying he doesn't think they will find the Higgs particle. i don't think he's saying it doesn't exist, just that they won'd find it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://physics.about.com/b/2008/09/09/hawking-on-lhc-pure-research.htm
Man is made in the image of God, is he not? We too have a desire to create. God gave us this magnificent mysterious universe to manipulate, so why would it be wrong to do so? There is no greater way to fully appreciate what God has given us then to explore it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thiswww.markorodin.com This is the answer to everyone's questions. And not to embrace it would be fighting against our very flow of existence. Which infinitely polarize toward the positive or "Good always prevails" despite ANY-THING trying to say otherwise.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thiswww.markorodin.com This is the answer to everyone's questions. And not to embrace it would be fighting against our very flow of existence. Which infinitely polarize toward the positive or "Good always prevails" despite ANY-THING trying to say otherwise.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thiswww.markorodin.com This is the answer to everyone's questions. And not to embrace it would be fighting against our very flow of existence. Which infinitely polarize toward the positive or "Good always prevails" despite ANY-THING trying to say otherwise.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI think we are rather backward to think that smashing these atoms together is not causing damage to our planet..
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe weather has gone a bit crazy with these colliders all working.
What makes you think that pebbles being thrown into pond won't create ripples. We are also using so much energy and money to keep these colliders going.