When MCI says the word CERN, most of you will think of a particle accelerator. Yes, today MCI wants to celebrate the Large Hadron Collider (“LHC”), the massive (and we really mean massive) particle accelerator that was started up on the 10 September 2008. Without this amazing piece of equipment, we would not have had proof of the Higgs Boson in 2012. This has helped us to understand some of the big questions that we have asked ourselves, namely why we and everything around us has mass. The fact that it is proven to exist, allows us to ask further questions about our understanding of the universe and how we fit into it. Yes, Prof. Brian Cox type questions.
The LHC is the largest particle accelerator in the world. It is 17 miles in circumference and about 175 metres underground. It was made in collaboration with 10,000 scientists and more than 100 countries. As most of you will know, it’s near Geneva underneath the French/ Swiss border and you can visit it as a tourist. In fact, they are opening a new visitor centre at the end of October 2023! Places are limited, so please make sure you apply online in advance of your visit.
Even though it only opened in 2008, it was closed so that it could be upgraded in 2013 for about two years and again at the end of 2018 for a further three years. The collider currently has four crossing points with nine detectors placed around the crossing points to capture different phenomena. The very fundamental explanation of how it works is for two particle beams to be sent around the ring like a tiny Scalextric. The particles race off in opposite directions and hit one another at immense speeds. When the particles collide they smash up into their subatomic parts, which can only be detected for an instant before decaying away. Well, that’s how I understand it – my apologies for the oversimplification.
Anyway, Happy Birthday LHC! Have a good week everyone and, if you have an electronic or electrical problem with your machinery, don’t hesitate to give MCI a call on 01324 611371 to see how we can accelerate your repair! The Dad jokes only keep coming…
