CERN: the accelerator ring of the Superlative planned

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The new particle accelerator at CERN is to be called Future Circular Collider and 100 kilometers long. The physicists want to achieve even higher energy collisions than the present Large Hadron Collider.

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the European organization for nuclear research, CERN, is known the world over. It is in terms of energy and number of particle collisions most powerful proton Accelerator in the world and has four huge detectors. There are the particle physicists in 2012, have discovered the long-sought Higgs Boson. You will recall?

Now, the particles want to go to a physicist a step further. The laws of physics provide the framework of A much larger accelerator ring, in which electrons and positrons collide to collide, is the goal. Later, he could be converted, and – like the LHC – proton speed.

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Once at Geneva, and a good chunk of France around

With a length of 100 kilometers of the Future Circular Collider (FCC) would be more than three times as long as the 27-Kilometer-long LHC. In the circle of the new accelerator ring, practically the entire city of Geneva would fit, and on top of that, a part of France.

The concept for the FCC, CERN-physicists at the 15. January published. He will be part of the “European strategy for particle physics”. Therein is to be determined, where the journey goes, if the LHC is expected to put in 2035 to a standstill.

It’s all about the light force

Already in the last few years, physicists, engineers and technicians have improved the LHC, to achieve higher energies in particle collisions. This was mainly due to a technique by which the particles of packages are still conducted in a more precise and more focused collide. Physicist, the increase in the luminosity or luminosity.

Thus, the detectors are practically the huge digital cameras – the energies could cope with, had to be constantly improved, Sensors and solenoids replaced and upgraded.

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If protons in the ATLAS detector at the CERN collide

Decision on the future of

As a second Option for a LHC-successor to a compact linear Collider (CLIC) is in the conversation. But what is to be built at the end, you must ultimately decide the 22 member States of CERN.

The circular FCC, in any case – he should be and built decided, would reach an energy of up to 100 Terra-electron-volts (TeV), which is added difficult for us laymen to imagine. For comparison: The LHC has reached an energy of 13 TeV, and to reach after the recent modernization of a maximum of 14 TeV.

The protons in the accelerator ring, we have already reached almost the speed of light. This means that the higher energy can result in the FCC barely a speed increase. But the number of collisions would increase significantly. Thus, the probability of a rare particle decay track is on the rise. These were previously for the detectors are barely visible. Especially, it would be possible to capture the processes of Decay more precisely and to detect possible deviations from the standard model of physics.

First, electrons and positrons – protons come later

The cost for the giant Ring to appreciate the CERN physicists to nine billion euros. Five billion of which would cost the construction costs for the actual Tunnel. The new accelerator ring could, at the earliest, go to 2040, first with electrons and positrons in operation and is intended to serve for 15 to 20 years of research.

And also for the future after the end of the accelerator, the physicists already have an idea: A superconducting proton accelerator similar to the present LHC – could be later in the same Tunnel. The would cost 15 billion euros, and at the earliest the end of the 2050s years in operation.


  • Giant camera for the smallest particles

    Mini-Big Bang

    30. March 2010, particle physicists performed at the particle accelerator (LHC) of the European organization for nuclear research-a Mini-big Bang. Opponents of the experiment, had tried to prevent the court-because they were afraid of a doomsday. The came not. Instead, there were many other exciting discoveries.


  • Giant camera for the smallest particles

    Gateway to the world of fast ions

    2013 the Higgs-particle can be detected: In the ATLAS detector – a giant digital camera. You can take pictures of the smallest building blocks of the universe: the individual parts of the atomic nuclei. The wall painting shows how big ATLAS is. But only almost, because the Original is a good 90 meters deep and is a little larger.


  • Giant camera for the smallest particles

    Helmet requirement for particle-photographer

    Four detector cameras are located along the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the CERN particle accelerator. They are called ALICE, ATLAS, CMS and LHCb. Who wants to see you, must deep down into the Rock of the Swiss and French Alps. There, at the bottom of the helmet is compulsory, because pipes and cables are. You can easily bump your head, or a tool falls from above.


  • Giant camera for the smallest particles

    Images from the world of the big Bang

    The images from the shoot to the detectors. In the collision of protons, as here, the CMS detector, or lead ions collide at the speed of light to each other, the smallest of the elementary particles free – for example, the recently found Higgs-Boson. It particles from which our universe existed in the first trillionth of a second after the big Bang.


  • Giant camera for the smallest particles

    Railway for speeds of light

    In this tube lead to be accelerated-ion and hydrogen protons. You fly through a vacuum tube with the energy of a fast train. Electro-magnets keep them in its orbit. The tube has a circumference of 27 kilometers. It is located under Switzerland and France. Access to the tube system, there are the four large detectors. This is where the particle collisions take place.


  • Giant camera for the smallest particles

    Not one, but two tubes

    Under the blue Wrapping two pipes, because the particle flows are supposed to run against each other. Although the protons and ions from the point of view of the outsider fly, respectively, with the speed of light towards each other, not collide you with double the speed of light. From the point of view of a flying particle, approaching the other only with a simple speed of light.


  • Giant camera for the smallest particles

    Ice-cooling for superconductors

    The electro-magnets, which keep the particle beam on course, are made of superconducting coils. The cable can be cooled at -271.3 degrees Celsius, then you have no electrical resistance. For this purpose, the particles need accelerator a lot of liquid Helium flowing through the tubes. CERN operates the largest refrigerator in the world.


  • Giant camera for the smallest particles

    Magnets with the highest precision

    The LHC is not a precision circuit, but consists of straight lines, interrupted by bends, where such magnets deflecting the beam. The electro-magnets are extremely precise: just before the collision, you focus the beam so precisely that the two protons meet, with high probability, exactly. The clash will take place exactly in the center of the detector.


  • Giant camera for the smallest particles

    Everything had to go through this hole

    The detectors are as large as multi-storey residential houses. But they all had to be in many parts in the mountain is introduced, for example, through this narrow slot. Including a gigantic cavern, a grotto is located. That was ALICE built together – similar to how a ship in a bottle in a glass bottle.


  • Giant camera for the smallest particles

    Digital camera with 8000 frames per second

    The ALICE detector is shown in the open maintenance condition: In operation, the ion beams meet in its center, to each other. The resulting particles fly in different directions through several layers of silicon Chips, similar to the Sensors of digital cameras. The Chips and other detectors record the paths of the particles. Per second to 1.25 gigabytes arise of digital data.


  • Giant camera for the smallest particles

    Electro-magnetic power particles visible

    This blue block is a magnet for huge electric, an important part of the ALICE detector. The generated field makes it possible to identify the collision-generated particles. Depending on which direction you fly, be able to recognize the researchers, for example, whether a positive or negative charge or are neutral.


  • Giant camera for the smallest particles

    Wings for the capture of muons

    The Atlas detector has a very special measuring devices: the so-Called muon-spectrometer. How big a wing you are outside of the detector core. Thus, a heavier Relative of the electron can capture: The muon. It is difficult to find, because it is only two millionths of a second.


  • Giant camera for the smallest particles

    Observation from a safe distance

    All detectors have spaces, such control, such as ATLAS. If the particles bescheluniger is in operation, no one may be present in the underground installations. A runaway proton beam could melt 500 Kg of copper. By escaping Helium frostbite and suffocation threaten. In addition, the particle beam radio-activity can generate.


  • Giant camera for the smallest particles

    What to do with the many images?

    40 million Times per second, the four detectors to deliver data. Since not all collisions for the scientists are interesting, it will be filtered out: At the end of a good 100 interesting particle collisions per second remain. The are still 700 megabytes per second – the contents of a commercial CD. All the data will land here first, in the data center of CERN.


  • Giant camera for the smallest particles

    A world-wide computer network

    Per year, the CERN produces so much data that a stack of CDs 20 kilometers altitude. Such archives can take a lot of data, but that is not enough still. The data are therefore distributed worldwide to Over 200 universities and research institutions have joined with your data centers to a world-wide CERN computer network.


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    Data for the humanity

    Particle physicists from around the world have access to the CERN data. CERN sees itself as a service provider for universities and research institutes engaged in basic research – as a community project for the whole of humanity.

    Author: Fabian Schmidt