Cern has published its ideas for a £20bn successor to the Large Hadron Collider, given the working name of Future Circular Collider (FCC). The Geneva based particle physics research centre is proposing an accelerator that is almost four times longer and ten times more powerful. The aim is to have the FCC hunting for new sub-atomic particles by 2050. It entails gradually building up to a 100km ring that is almost ten times more powerful than the LHC.
When physicists first proposed the construction of the LHC they knew that if the Standard Model was correct it would be capable of discovering the Higgs. They had hoped that it might also discover particles beyond the standard model. So far it has failed to do so. The difficulty with Cern's proposals for a larger Large Hadron Collider is that no one knows what energies will be needed to crash large hadrons together to discover the enigmatic, super particles that hold the keys to the new realm of particles.
Cern hopes that its step-by-step proposal, first using electron-positron and then electron-large hadron collisions will enable its physicists to look for the ripples created by the super particles and so enable them to determine the energies that will be needed to find the super particles.
Cern's director for accelerators and technology, Dr Frédérick Bordry, said that he did not think that £20bn was expensive for a cutting edge project, the cost of which would be spread among several international partners over 20 years. He added that spending on Cern had led to many technological benefits, such as the World Wide Web and the real benefits were yet to be realised.
"When I am asked about the benefits of the Higgs Boson, I say 'bosonics'. And when they ask me what is bosonics, I say 'I don't know'. "But if you imagine the discovery of the electron by JJ Thomson in 1897, he didn't know what electronics was. But you can't imagine a world now without electronics."
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46862486
What does it do?
ReplyDeleteSmashes stuff.
ReplyDeleteSmashes electrons?
ReplyDeleteProduces energy?
ReplyDeleteYes. And positrons. Later protons.
ReplyDeleteWell, the particle collisions will release energy, but overall it will consume much more energy than it produces.
ReplyDeleteJON PRICE, it helps us to better understand the forces involved in the sub atomic building blocks of matter and energy. Because it is research it may not be able to produce consumer energy, however it will aid us in making better, and more efficient forms of energy production in the future, as well as better understanding control of the matter that makes our universe.
ReplyDeleteTrue
ReplyDeleteLove the last paragraph. Bosonics indeed!
ReplyDeleteHope you are well, Rhys :D