CERN's Large Hadron Collider fired up for relaunch

by Rich Bowden - Jun 11 2009, 05:29

Operators of CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) have announced the mammoth science experiment has almost completed its repairs and will be set for another attempt at uncovering the elusive "God particle" in October.

The multi-billion dollar machine is expected to resume experiments again after initially cranking up to huge fanfare and acclaim only to close down ignominiously in September due to a helium leak.

A statement by the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) said that repairs were almost complete.

"In Sector 3-4 the full length of the beam lines have been closed and work is currently ongoing to finish the final electrical interconnections. Once that is completed, work will start to close up the W bellows -- the large accordion-shaped sleeves between two magnets -- and preparations can start to cool the sector down," the statement said.

The massive particle collider is located 100 metres underground on the border of France and Switzerland and its length of 27km will enable scientists to smash sub-atomic particles into each other to create conditions similar to those evident at the birth of the universe.

Speculation has been rife that, such is the power of the collider, it would be capable of ripping a black hole in the fabric of space -- a possibility denied by CERN.

More intriguingly, scientists have said the collider may uncover the theoretical 'Higgs Boson' or 'God" particle' defined (though never proved) as that which gives mass to particles.

Dr. Lyn Evans, the Welsh scientist heading the project, explained the decision to keep the collider working through winter during peak energy demand.

"It would have been terrible if we'd got everything working and then had to shut it down straight away," he said to The Times newspaper.

"So we've decided to bite the bullet and keep it going," he added. "That means that if the schedule slips by a week or two, it's not so bad. Up until this year that was inconceivable."

Rumours that the smaller Fermilab in Illinois is closing in on discovering the theoretical God Particle have galvanised the CERN team, which obviously played a part in the decision to keep the collider operating through the expensive winter months.

"I always wish Fermilab good luck, but they will have a hard job now," Dr. Evans said.

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