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Lots of work to be done on the LHC (Courtesy: CERN)
By Hamish Johnston
It’s been quite a rollercoaster ride for physicists working on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. When the collider was first switched on in 2008 it suffered a major explosion when a superconducting connector failed – and was shut down for over a year for repairs. Then in 2010 the LHC began taking data and the excitement about the imminent discovery of the Higgs boson grew and grew – and then on 4 July last year, CERN physicists announced the discovery of a Higgs-like particle.
Now, things have gone quiet again as the LHC has been shut down for what CERN calls “consolidations” – a funny way of saying that tens of thousands of modifications and checks will be made to the collider.
If you are interested in what these will be, this graphic from CERN outlines the main work ahead. Click on the image for a larger version.
Very interesting to know, thanks!
Although for the installations of all these necessary consolidations, one has to wait for the end of 2014, all the best to all those involved in the task.
What I find difficult to understand is why such upgrades are necessary when, so we were told, the LHC was originally (?) specified to work at 14 TeV. Now it transpires that a lengthy closue and lots of money (even more money the sceptics might say) are needed to get it up to design specification. Who has been misleading whom?
Over-estimating one’s experience- in good faith, and particularly, when one works at the limit of technology.
This is the most complicated machine ever built. It uses thousands of cutting edge
technological innovations.
You probably mislead yourself.