TheLHC or Large Hadron ColliderCERN has today become theworld’s most powerful particle acceleratorafter this morning its two proton beams have reached a1.18 teraelectronvolts (TeV) energy. Until now the record was held by the collider Tevatron of theFermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) from the United States, which in 2001 achieved 0.98 TeV.
? It’s fantastic, but we continue to work step by step because there is still a lot to do before the first physical discoveries start to arrive next year. Will I keep the champagne cold until then ?, said CERN Director General Rolf Heuer
The new advancements come just 10 days after the LHC was turned on again, demonstrating the “excellent performance” of the machine. On November 20, the first particle beams were injected into the Large Collider and in the following days the operators of the machine re-established the circulation of the beams inside the ring. The operation was carried out alternately, first in one direction and then in the other, at an injection energy of 450 GeV and increasing the duration of the beam gradually up to approximately 10 hours. On November 23 they circulated for the first timeyou two do togetherand the four large detectors at the LHC recorded thefirst collision data.
? I was here 20 years ago when we turned on CERN’s previous most important particle accelerator, theBEAUTIFUL? says Director of Research and Technology Steve Myers. ? I thought it was a great machine to drive, but this is something else. What took us days or weeks with the LEP, we are doing in hours with the LHC. At the moment, everything predicts that it will be a fabulous research program.?
For more informationThe LHC returns to the charge (Science & Nature)
The LHC in images (Science & Nature)
