Laws of nature put to the test. The particle accelerator in Geneva starts again.
After a three-year break, the particle accelerator at CERN near Geneva is starting up again. Scientists promise new insights into the mysteries of the universe.
Almost ten years ago, in July 2012, there was a sensation in Geneva. In the particle accelerator Large Hadron Collider (LHC) of the nuclear research center CERN, theoretically described elementary particles Higgs boson were detected for the first time since the 1960s.
Since then, however, no other new elementary particle has been detected. However, the LHC was also in hibernation for a long time and is only just being woken up again. The first particle collisions WILL probably be observed again from June and possibly some scientific surprises as well.
Only used twice so far
The second “Long Shutdown” began in December 2018 and lasted a little longer than planned due to the corona. The shutdown followed the second run of the LHC, which has only operated twice since inauguration, namely from 2009 to 2013 and from 2015 to 2018.
However, the LHC did not simply rest during the shutdown, but was equipped with numerous upgrades. The ring is 27 kilometers long and crosses the French-Swiss border four times at a depth of 175 meters. A total of eight detectors are installed in the ring tunnel, each dying different types of observations of particle collisions.
Quarks do not obey the laws of nature
In cave run 3 great expectations are placed. For example, an open question concerns the quarks, which are the components of protons and neutrons.
Specifically: what about them Beauty or bottom quarks Come on? Contrary to what the Standard Model of particle physics envisages, these do not decay into muons and electrons in equal parts, as previous observations at the LHC have shown. Instead, there were only 0.846 muons per electron. It is possible that a previously unknown force of nature is at work.
Some researchers believe, all point to the existence of leptoquarks. These would couple to both the quarks and the leptons (which include muons and electrons). In the LHC, leptoquarks, if they exist, could only be detected indirectly.
where is the dark matter
The search for dark matter is going on MORE QUICKLY devote a newly installed detector. It is designed to detect particles that interact with dark matter. Dark matter is believed to make up 85 percent of all matter in the universe, but has never been shown directly.
FASER should now be able to observe light and weakly interacting elementary particles. In addition, the expected could also be purely hypothetical Dark Photons that are expected to interact with dark matter.
Ring planned to be longer than Gotthard Base Tunnel
At CERN there is already concrete plans for the future. With the high-luminosity upgrade, which is to take place in the next shutdown, it should be possible to observe almost five times more collisions in the LHC from 2029.
Around 2038 is also the commissioning of a completely new particle accelerator, the Future Circular Collider planned. The Dessen ring tunnel will soon be 100 kilometers long and correspondingly stronger. However, the construction costs were already estimated at over 20 billion francs in 2019, and the financing is anything but secure.