- Of the 4 fundamental forces, are strong nuclear and weak nuclear forces unified?
- What is it that generates elementary particle masses? (I.e God particle/Higgs boson particle)
- Why is the fourth fundamental force - gravity so weak?
- Dark Matter. Why? What is its nature?
- Are there extra dimensions as predicted by string theory?
Among others, these are only a fraction of the questions that the 'turning on' of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in November 2009 will answer. These are very exciting times for those in the sciences fields. The discoveries that the LHC uncovers have the potential of rivaling that of the Copernican revolution.
Now undoubtedly, you may have heard much controversy surrounding the Large Hadron Collider so what I would like to attempt, in laymens terms, is to explain what the LHC is, what its capabilities are as well as dig a bit more into these questions that physicists are asking. I will also explain what the fears are that some, in certain circles, albeit incorrect, are speaking of. As November approaches, you will more than likely be hearing a lot about the Large Hadron Collider in the news and it is important that you understand what it is and what it is going to do. There will be those that use "scare tactics" as they honestly believe something disastrous will take place when it is switched on. With just a little education about the experiments, you will realize that there is nothing to fear.
First off, What is the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)?
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator operated by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). 27 Kilometers in circumference and one of the largest scientific experiments ever attempted. 10,000 scientists & engineers from 85 countries work in collaboration to bring this experiment to life 100 meters under the streets of Geneva, Switzerland.
What is the Large Hadron Collider going to do?
What the LHC will do is accelerate protons (hydrogen nuclei) to 99.999999 percent the speed of light (300,000 Km/sec). At that speed, the protons will traverse the 27Km ring eleven thousand times per second. The protons are then collided with another beam of protons moving in the opposite direction. When the particles collide, the resulting explosion will recreate the conditions that existed less than a billionth of a second after that big bang occurred.Now, you may ask yourself 'why'? What's the point?
This question probably gets asked more than any other question when addressing experiments like this. It's funny. Researcher, J. J. Thomson the discoverer of the electron was asked this same question by the British government in 1897 when asking for funding for his research. Thomson answered, quite simply, "I don't know. But I guarantee you that you will tax it within twenty years". He was of course correct as little did anyone know at the time, that as a result of his discovery, the electron which forms the basis of what we know as electricity formed the foundation of the world's economic system. We have Thomson to thank for technologies such as medical imaging, proton treatments for cancer, that jumble of circuit boards and liquid crystal you call a computer, the Internet itself. Quite an important discovery.
Well, that's enough for now. In my next segment I will discuss the LHC's capabilities and explore some of these questions that are being asked by the scientific community. Finally, don't be intimidated by the "nerd speak". What is going on in Europe is ground breaking! I'm merely attempting to explain in "normal vocabulary" what is happening so everyone can understand and take part in the celebration that is scientific progress!
-SjN-
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