Travel Thru’ Time
Peering into the nascent universe
7 TeV collision events seen by the LHC's four major experiments
MARCH 30th, 2010, will always be a very memorable day in the history of physics. Scientists from CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, working on Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the biggest physics experiment ever, managed to set a record for high-energy collisions by smashing two proton beams at a combined energy level of 7 TeV (trillion electron volts). The collision took place after two failed attempts on that momentous day due to electrical failures; the two proton beams with record-high energy levels of 3.5 TeV apiece were racing in opposite direction at nearly the speed of light (186,000 miles per second) around the Collider's 17-mile-long underground tunnel before smashing into each other at 1:06 p.m. local time in Geneva, Switzerland. Many are considering this historic scientific event as crucial to the understanding of the beginning of the Universe. According to CERN Director General Prof. Rolf Heuer, "It's a great day to be a particle physicist". Marking the start of the LHC research program, the moment of collision of the sub-atomic particles was greeted by tremendous applause and cheers by scientists both from CERN and beyond. It is noteworthy to mention that, LHC project which worth $10 billion and took more than 15 years to construct, went back to service last year after a massive electric failure closed it down back in 2008 for about a year. But the recent landmark incident in the experiment ushered a fresh anticipation amongst the particle physicists. According to Dr. Fabiola Gianotti, the ATLAS (A Toroidal LHC Apparatus) collaboration spokesperson at CERN, "With these record-shattering collision energies, the LHC experiments are propelled into a vast region to explore and the hunt begins for dark matter, new forces, new dimensions and the Higgs boson". What scientists are expecting from this minute yet significant collision is that it would eventually create tiny fireballs mimicking the exact condition that prevailed in the Universe during the first fractions of a second, right after the Big Bang some 15 billion years ago. Experts believe that this "historic moment" of collision which commenced LHC's 4 major experiments, ALICE, ATLAS, CMS and LHCb, will reveal fundamental new insights regarding the nature of our magnificent Universe. Phil Schewe, a spokesman for American Institute of Physics stated the event as "Jurassic Park for particle physicists". Referring the LHC as a Time Machine, the noted science writer further stated that "Some of the particles they are making now or about to make haven't been around for 14 billion years"! The data from the LHC experiment is expected to shed some light on some of the grueling unanswered questions of particle physics, such as the existence of antimatter and of course the quest for the Higgs boson. The later is the hypothetical particle, often referred as the "The God Particle" which scientists theorize gives mass to other particles and thus to other objects and creatures in the Universe. The research is also expected to explain dark matter and dark energies, two mystifying aspects of space where the former covers 26% and the later 70% of our gigantic Universe. It is interesting to note that the rest of the matter that our Universe is covered with, like planets, stars and galaxies, make up for the miniscule 4% of what's actually out there. It is also believed that LHC is likely to be the first accelerator ever to detect Hidden dimensions of space and time by the end of this year. CERN will run the LHC for the next 18-24 months with specific objectives of delivering enough data to the experiments in order to make significant advances across a wide range of physics channels including a maximum-energy 14 TeV collisions in 2013. But one aspect of LHC that has sparked fear amongst many is that, the particle collision will create microscopic Black Holes, swallowing up the Earth for good. But CERN has repeatedly assured that no danger of such exists, a conclusion that has been echoed by the American Physical Society as well. Only time will tell what lies ahead. And for the time-being all that we can do is anticipate the best of results and hope that the quest for knowledge of the past won't jeopardize the familiarity of the future.
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