The LHC is the largest and most powerful particle accelerator in the world. It has a circumference of 27 km and is located about 100 m below ground. Two beams of protons, the fundamental particles which, together with electrons and neutrons, which make up atoms, are circulated in opposite directions and collide at different points in the experiment. The first collision occurred with protons at speeds equal to 99.9998% the speed of light. Subsequently, the energy of protons was gradually increased and, in less than ten days, the LHC has already reached energies ever obtained previously. In the future you will be able to accelerate proton beams up to a speed equal to 99.9999991% the speed of light, which will then collide. The theory describes our knowledge in the field of elementary particles and their interactions is called "Standard Model". It represents a true mathematical model, based on important symmetries, which form the basis of the theory. To explain the fact that the particles have a mass, the so-called Standard Model is joined Higgs mechanism, which is named after Peter Higgs, a physicist who theorized its existence.
To understand how this mechanism works, we may treat the elementary particles at very light plastic balls. Imagine now immersed in a tub filled with a thick fluid, such as honey. In moving the balls inside the tank, have the impression that they have become heavier. At the microscopic level, the elementary particles acquire a mass in a manner similar to balls dipped in honey, through interaction with the so-called "Higgs field". The Higgs mechanism predicts also the existence of a new particle, called, precisely, particle or Higgs boson.
The primary purpose of the LHC is precisely to reveal the origin of mass, through the discovery of the Higgs particle. It is expected also that the LHC could reveal new types of particles predicted by theories of the Standard Model more complex. These theories, in general, provide a response to other fundamental questions such as, for example, the nature of Dark Matter , that astrophysicists believe pervades the universe.
Some fifteen years have passed since the construction of LHC was approved by CERN, the end of 1994. After years of work on the construction of this huge accelerator, physicists from around the world are waiting impatiently important discoveries. In addition to providing answers to fundamental questions, the LHC also expect important technological implications. Remember that just came to CERN in 1989, the World Wide Web, which has radically changed our daily lives.
The primary purpose of the LHC is precisely to reveal the origin of mass, through the discovery of the Higgs particle. It is expected also that the LHC could reveal new types of particles predicted by theories of the Standard Model more complex. These theories, in general, provide a response to other fundamental questions such as, for example, the nature of Dark Matter , that astrophysicists believe pervades the universe.
Some fifteen years have passed since the construction of LHC was approved by CERN, the end of 1994. After years of work on the construction of this huge accelerator, physicists from around the world are waiting impatiently important discoveries. In addition to providing answers to fundamental questions, the LHC also expect important technological implications. Remember that just came to CERN in 1989, the World Wide Web, which has radically changed our daily lives.
VIVIANA NIRO
image, the colossal structure of the detector ATLAS, one of the LHC experiments. At the center of the image, a huge calorimeter capable of measuring the energy of the particles produced by the collision of protons, eight giant tubes are actually powerful magnets needed to accelerate particles and keep them on a certain trajectory. Image CERN / ATLAS.
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