US record broken by CERN atom smasher
Source: Agencies |
December 1, 2009, Tuesday
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Print Edition
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THE world's largest atom smasher broke the record for proton acceleration previously held by a United States lab yesterday, sending beams of the particles at 1.18 trillion electron volts around the massive machine.
The Large Hadron Collider eclipsed the previous high of 0.98 1 TeV held by Fermilab, outside Chicago, since 2001, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, also known as CERN, said.
The latest success is part of the preparation to reach even higher levels of energy for significant experiments next year on the make-up of matter and the universe.
It comes on top of a rapid series of operating advances for the US$10 billion machine, which underwent extensive repairs and improvements after it collapsed during the opening phase last year.
CERN Director-General Rolf Heuer said early advances in the machine located in a 27-kilometer tunnel under the Swiss-French border have been "fantastic."
"However, we are continuing to take it step by step, and there is still a lot to do before we start physics in 2010," Heuer said. "I'm keeping my champagne on ice until then."
The organization hopes the next major step will be to collide the proton beams at about 1.2 TeV before Christmas for an initial look at the tiny particles and what forces might be created.
Ultimately, scientists want to create conditions like those 1 trillionth to 2 trillionths of a second after the Big Bang - which scientists think marked the creation of the universe.
The electron volt is an extremely small measure. One TeV is about the energy of the motion of a flying mosquito, but it becomes significant in the submicroscopic collisions of the collider.
The Large Hadron Collider eclipsed the previous high of 0.98 1 TeV held by Fermilab, outside Chicago, since 2001, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, also known as CERN, said.
The latest success is part of the preparation to reach even higher levels of energy for significant experiments next year on the make-up of matter and the universe.
It comes on top of a rapid series of operating advances for the US$10 billion machine, which underwent extensive repairs and improvements after it collapsed during the opening phase last year.
CERN Director-General Rolf Heuer said early advances in the machine located in a 27-kilometer tunnel under the Swiss-French border have been "fantastic."
"However, we are continuing to take it step by step, and there is still a lot to do before we start physics in 2010," Heuer said. "I'm keeping my champagne on ice until then."
The organization hopes the next major step will be to collide the proton beams at about 1.2 TeV before Christmas for an initial look at the tiny particles and what forces might be created.
Ultimately, scientists want to create conditions like those 1 trillionth to 2 trillionths of a second after the Big Bang - which scientists think marked the creation of the universe.
The electron volt is an extremely small measure. One TeV is about the energy of the motion of a flying mosquito, but it becomes significant in the submicroscopic collisions of the collider.
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