Table of Contents
- 1 A 100 kilometer long circuit
- 2 Easier to send the particles straight on
- 3 The dream of a new physics
- 4 A lot of money
- 5 * If CERN decides to build the next collider in a location other than its current site, what social, economic, and political factors should be taken into account when selecting a new host country or region?
It is 70 years since the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) was founded. Since 2008, the 27 kilometer long Large Hadron Collider (LHC) particle accelerator has received the most attention. He is still far from retirement age, but plans for the next generation are already in full swing.
– We plan to run the LHC until 2041, with a major upgrade at the beginning of 2030, says researcher Eirik Gramstad at the Department of Physics at the University of Oslo.
– For the last ten years, the LHC will be operated by a relatively new detector that is both better and can work with higher energy and higher intensity, so we get more collisions, he says said to Titan.uio.no.
Gramstad was already at CERN as a master’s student almost 20 years ago. It has captured the life cycle of the Large Hadron Collider.
– I was involved before we started the LHC machine. I climbed into the detector and helped put it together, connect the last cables to check if everything was working, says Gramstad.
A 100 kilometer long circuit
The LHC is sure to provide a lot of interesting data over the next 20 years, but it has its limitations. Mostly it’s about how much energy you can add to the particles before they enter.
– We suspect that the new physics we are looking for, dark matter and things like that, is somewhere at energies higher than those we have achieved so far. It is natural to think that if we are going to find something new, the probability will be greater if we get more energy into the collisions, says Gramstad.
Therefore, one of the options is to build an even bigger tunnel, including the round one, almost 100 kilometers. It’s called the Future Circular Collider (FCC) and it will go under Lake Geneva and under the Jura mountains.
– There is not much new. Only the LHC has been blown up, but that makes it possible to reach higher energies, Gramstad explained.
In a larger ring, the path of the particle does not have to be bent so much, and it is precisely in relation to this bending that they lose speed and energy.
READ IN: A new beginning at CERN: – I think we will find another Higgs boson
Easier to send the particles straight on
The big challenge, of course, is digging a tunnel that long 100 meters underground. Therefore, other possibilities are also being looked at, for example an accelerator that only sends the particles straight forward in a linear tunnel.
The Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) requires less extensive excavation, will be cheaper and will be able to be in place a little earlier. It will also be able to solve one of your minuses when the smallest particles, for example electrons, go around and around.
– In a circle, you will have trouble hitting particles of light. You get to a point where they have to give more energy to change direction than you can put in. Eventually, they lose more energy than you can put in, and then you’ve reached a threshold, says Gramstad.
It may be more interesting to hit the much larger protons, but there are huge advantages in focusing on the simpler electrons and their positive opposites, the positrons. Although the energy in linear accelerators that are on the drawing board now is lower than today’s LHC.
– Electrons are very beautiful particles because they are fundamental. They have nothing inside them like protons do. If we strike lightning, we have full control. We can set the energy to the level we want to explore. There is not much noise in such accidents, so we can make a very precise measurement, says Gramstad.
Among other things, it provides good opportunities to know the Higgs particle, which was discovered with the help of the LHC in 2012.
– In a linear accelerator we can create the Higgs factory. We would like to know more about, among other things, how it interacts with other particles, and in a linear accelerator we can make very precise measurements of everything related to it the Higgs, says Gramstad.
READ IN: The “God particle” Higgs is no longer so mysterious
The dream of a new physics
You may not find in a linear accelerator, unless it is very, very far, a direct proof of the new physics that many physicists dream of. The answers will fill in some of what is still missing in our understanding of the world and the universe.
– A linear accelerator can give us clues as to where to look next. But it’s hard to know what the new physics will be because we can’t go to high energy to study it, says Gramstad.
He has been a proponent of the promise of a serial accelerator in the past, in part because of the shorter time frame. He will then have the opportunity to experience the results while still being an active researcher. But Gramstad also knows the pull towards the 100 kilometer long circular accelerator.
– For those of us working to discover new physics, the circle is the most attractive.
– One of the great things about a large circular accelerator is that we can use it first to collide electrons with positrons for a few years. We can then replace all the instruments and detectors, and start hitting protons.
It was exactly what was done with the LHC tunnel. From 1989 to 2000 it was home to the Large Electron Positron (LEP) detector where electrons were collided with positrons to prepare the ground for the LHC.
A lot of money
Over the next year, CERN will get closer to deciding what to do next, whether they want to continue round and round or instead go straight ahead. A lot is about money. It’s a difficult time to get an audition for such a large investment in something you don’t know what will come of it.
– People would like to get quick results, something that will help society immediately. But if history has shown us anything since CERN was founded 70 years ago, it’s that a lot of useful things have come out of CERN, even if we didn’t always know what was going on. to come before he came, said Gramstad.
READ IN: His job is to create as many accidents as possible in CERN
Where CERN goes will also depend on what other major players, such as China, Japan and the US, do.
– If someone else builds a linear accelerator, CERN will hardly go for it, says Gramstad.
There are also those who wonder about the possibility of hitting muons, another type of elementary particle.
– The muon is much heavier than the electron, but has almost the same properties. They are electrons at a distance. With the muon we can do the same thing as we do with the lightning, but with a much higher energy. But there the time period is much longer, says Gramstad.
It may only be relevant at the later Stations of the Cross. In the meantime, Gramstad and his colleagues are focusing on the LHC.
– We understand the LHC so well. It’s a bit like when your children are seven or eight years old and you start getting to know them. You know how to communicate with them. That is why we are still very focused on the LHC and all the data we get from there.
2024-11-25 10:37:00
#CERN #LHC #Straight #larger #circle #Titan.uio.no
## Open-Ended Questions on CERN’s Future:
**Future Collider Models & Their Implications**
* Given the benefits and drawbacks discussed for both circular and linear accelerators, what factors (beyond cost) are most important for CERN to consider when making its decision?
* How do the potential discoveries promised by both models align with the broader goals of particle physics research?
* The article mentions muons as a potential particle to collide. What are the implications of pursuing muon collisions, and how do they compare to the possibilities offered by electrons and protons?
* If a country other than those involved in CERN builds a linear collider, would that logically lead CERN to choose a circular design? Why or why not?
**The Value of Fundamental Research:**
* The article mentions that fundamental science often yields unexpected benefits. Can you think of examples of scientific discoveries made at CERN that have led to real-world technological advancements?
* Is it ethically justifiable to fund such large-scale scientific projects when there are pressing global issues like poverty and climate change? Should basic scientific research be prioritized over more immediately applicable research?
* How can the scientific community better communicate the potential long-term benefits of fundamental research to the public and policymakers?
**CERN’s Future and Collaboration:**
* What role do international collaborations play in advancing scientific knowledge? How crucial is it for CERN to collaborate with other countries and institutions?
* How might the makeup of collaborations and funding for future projects at CERN change in the next decade? What are the potential implications of these changes?
**The Nature of Scientific Discovery:**
* The article mentions the possibility of discovering “new physics.” What are some of the most pressing questions in particle physics that a new collider might help answer?
* How does the pursuit of knowledge in physics differ from other scientific fields? What makes particle physics unique and challenging?
* What are the ethical considerations surrounding the potential discovery of new particles or forces?
**Personal Reflections:**
* What sparked Eirik Gramstad’s interest in particle physics?
* What is the most fulfilling aspect of his work at CERN?
* What advice would Eirik Gramstad give to young people interested in pursuing a career in science?
These open-ended questions aim to ignite discussions on the future of CERN, the value of fundamental research, and the broader ethical and societal implications of pushing the boundaries of scientific knowledge.
