Big bang tunnel cern

The tunnel of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, where particle beams collide to recreate Big Bang conditions.

About this subject

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator, located on the border of France and Switzerland near Geneva. Its circular tunnel is 27 kilometers in circumference and buried about 100 meters underground. Built by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), the LHC began operation in 2008 and was designed to collide proton beams at unprecedented energies, simulating conditions of the universe moments after the Big Bang.

The LHC's main discovery was the Higgs boson in 2012, confirming the mechanism that gives mass to elementary particles. Additionally, the collider has allowed tests of the Standard Model of particle physics with unprecedented precision and searches for new particles, such as those that could constitute dark matter. The LHC also recreates quark-gluon plasma, the state of matter in the first microseconds of the universe.

To operate, the LHC uses over 9,600 superconducting magnets cooled with liquid helium to minus 271.3 degrees Celsius, colder than interstellar space. Each collision generates enormous volumes of data, processed by a global grid of computers. Currently, the LHC is undergoing upgrades for the High-Luminosity LHC, which will increase collision rates and expand discovery potential through the end of the decade.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the LHC?

The LHC (Large Hadron Collider) is a particle accelerator that collides proton beams at extremely high energies to study fundamental particles and forces, recreating Big Bang conditions.

What has the LHC discovered?

The most famous discovery is the Higgs boson in 2012, which explains the origin of particle mass. It has also confirmed many aspects of the Standard Model and produced quark-gluon plasma.

What are the dangers of the LHC?

There are no real dangers. The collisions have energies equivalent to a mosquito in flight and occur in ultra-high vacuum. Safety studies rule out dangerous black holes or any threat to Earth.