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The world's greatest and most advanced particle physics experiment is set to begin on September 10, according to information released by the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) yesterday.
Photo: LHC. Credit: Image Editor/Flickr
Physicists have been waiting patiently for the experiment with the four billion Swiss franc ($3.8 billion USD) Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which will attempt to recreate the conditions experienced just milliseconds after the big bang. Scientists hope by recreating the forces present during this time, they will gain a greater insight into the birth of the universe.
The LHC will initially fire beams clockwise around a 17-mile circular tube located on the French-Swiss border. According to a CERN press release, when opposite beams are considered stable enough, they will be directed into collision with each other.
The final stage will be to increase the LHC's acceleration system bringing particle physics to a new level.
"We’re finishing a marathon with a sprint," said LHC project leader Lyn Evans. "It’s been a long haul, and we’re all eager to get the LHC research programme underway."
While construction of the collider was completed earlier this year, the superconducting magnets essential to the experiment had to be cooled down to near absolute zero in order for it to function effectively.
According to CERN, the next phase in the process is synchronization of the LHC with the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) accelerator, which forms the last link in the LHC’s injector chain.
With timing between the two machines needed to be within a fraction of a nanosecond, the first synchronization test is scheduled for the weekend of August 09 for the clockwise-circulating LHC beam, with the second to follow over the coming weeks.
Regular updates on the progress of the experiment will be available as the date approaches, and the organisation will broadcast the event live here.
CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is the world's leading laboratory for particle physics. It has its headquarters in Geneva.
At present, CERN's Member States are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. India, Israel, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United States of America, Turkey, the European Commission and UNESCO have Observer status.
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