tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65239668414763944222024-03-14T03:17:31.505+00:00Team ITU@LHC's Official BlogThe official companion blog for the <a href="http://boincstats.com/stats/team_graph.php?pr=lhc&id=4023">LHC@Home's Team ITU</a>. <br>Join today, donate your spare CPU cycles - and help discover the secrets of our universe!Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01386819302956011610noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523966841476394422.post-55476558263399120112018-05-20T12:41:00.003+01:002018-05-20T12:47:56.821+01:002018 - the Higgs, new bound states and things we're yet to observeIt's been a busy few years for me, but moreso for the Large Hadron Collider. Operating since September 2008, the 27 kilometre long particle accelerator has been furthering science's understanding of subatomic particles for a long time.<br />
<br />
Let's not forget just how precise an instrument the LHC is. <a href="https://home.cern/topics/large-hadron-collider" target="_blank">From their own description</a>,<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Thousands of magnets of different varieties and sizes are used to direct the beams around the accelerator. These include 1232 dipole magnets 15 metres in length which bend the beams, and 392 quadrupole magnets, each 5–7 metres long, which focus the beams. Just prior to collision, another type of magnet is used to "squeeze" the particles closer together to increase the chances of collisions. The particles are so tiny that the task of making them collide is akin to firing two needles 10 kilometres apart with such precision that they meet halfway.</blockquote>
Basically, this is totally bonkers crazy science, and it's amazing to behold.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzZx8eRsSnMBuLmFbqblPDIt01-wtsuAr51nxh32zTYtvvYkqfkc_UdwrHFwcyasXd2I3DMkBrfJC2ioO0pzTzyvzz34ioUqRyaCLRmygnVrssyDSoiVt7vAKIq5_6FiKomnMh-56YgYE/s1600/lhc_long_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="411" data-original-width="800" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzZx8eRsSnMBuLmFbqblPDIt01-wtsuAr51nxh32zTYtvvYkqfkc_UdwrHFwcyasXd2I3DMkBrfJC2ioO0pzTzyvzz34ioUqRyaCLRmygnVrssyDSoiVt7vAKIq5_6FiKomnMh-56YgYE/s320/lhc_long_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>Somewhere, deep in Switzerland...</i></div>
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What have we observed so far?<br />
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Well, the Standard Model of physics has been further reinforced by LHC findings - every result ever seen in the collider conforms to the Standard Model.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiZaD02FT569ws-aPyVrRcN9m2u3Z7GG1v1GLDiMIIko_QaB5rE9OBxm92MfJxWgaCNqlx1NsZeiEngzq1m5y3PhyphenhyphenKh40j1t-8Dj4jX8I7n78sd-oVQPqOuyMX6IBLUW7oijglns1TA3M/s1600/atlas_free.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="460" data-original-width="860" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiZaD02FT569ws-aPyVrRcN9m2u3Z7GG1v1GLDiMIIko_QaB5rE9OBxm92MfJxWgaCNqlx1NsZeiEngzq1m5y3PhyphenhyphenKh40j1t-8Dj4jX8I7n78sd-oVQPqOuyMX6IBLUW7oijglns1TA3M/s320/atlas_free.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<i>LHC's ATLAS detector</i></div>
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No further particles have been found, although new <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bound_state">'bound states' for exotic particles</a> have been confirmed, much to the delight of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_chromodynamics">quantum chromodynamicists</a> the world over. (Did you know that quarks and antiquarks come in one of three colours/anticolours?)<br />
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We've not found evidence of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supersymmetry" target="_blank">supersymmetry (SUSY)</a>, extra dimensions or direct creation of dark matter. That's not to say they don't exist - I'm inclined to believe in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiverse" target="_blank">cyclic multiverse theory</a> - but you can rest easy for the moment, the LHC won't be making the universe implode.<br />
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<ul>
<li>2011: Higgs boson mediator particle observed decaying into two photons in the ATLAS detector</li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcHbughLVVvXsi7__EmMPYeVufHutIMPKw3wwtxolGm8dQOTBniZafitC9UYKJ6o_BKH6ut6fFVtQSAy_bAaEHqCvF4xo9erKyJhvrFFPB6TWGbi3YjeVzfo6BC2nDKTBCxH2SMZhuFY4/s1600/ATLAS-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1201" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcHbughLVVvXsi7__EmMPYeVufHutIMPKw3wwtxolGm8dQOTBniZafitC9UYKJ6o_BKH6ut6fFVtQSAy_bAaEHqCvF4xo9erKyJhvrFFPB6TWGbi3YjeVzfo6BC2nDKTBCxH2SMZhuFY4/s320/ATLAS-3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<ul>
<li style="text-align: left;">2012: <a href="https://physics.aps.org/articles/v5/32" style="text-align: left;">further hints</a><span style="text-align: left;"> of confirmed Higgs boson observation</span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;">2013: discovery of Higgs boson mediator particle confirmed!</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">March 2018: <a href="https://atlas.cern/updates/physics-briefing/atlas-illuminates-higgs-boson-13-tev">higher power illumination of the Higgs boson</a> by ATLAS</li>
<li style="text-align: left;">April 2018: <a href="https://home.cern/about/updates/2018/04/first-lhc-test-collisions-2018">CERN begins the year's test collisions at 6.5 TeV</a>, with data collection expected to start in May 2018. From the CERN update:<br /><br /><i>
Achieving first test collisions is anything but an easy job. It involves round-the-clock checking and rechecking of the thousands of systems that comprise the LHC. It includes ramping up the energy of each beam to the operating value of 6.5 TeV, checking the beams’ instrumentation and optics, testing electronic feedback systems, aligning jaw-like devices called collimators that close around the beams to absorb stray particles and, finally, focusing the beams to make them collide.<br /><br />Each beam consists of packets of protons called bunches. For these test collisions, each beam contains only two “nominal” bunches, each made up of 120 billion protons. This is far fewer than the 1200 bunches per beam that will mark the start of serious data taking and particle hunting. As the year progresses, the operations team will continue to increase the number of bunches in each beam, up to the maximum of 2556.<br /><br />With today’s test collisions, the teams of the experiments located at four collision points around the LHC ring (<a href="https://home.cern/node/119" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(214, 236, 254); background: transparent; color: #915ec9; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.2s ease-out; vertical-align: baseline;">ALICE</a>, <a href="https://home.cern/node/122" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(214, 236, 254); background: transparent; color: #915ec9; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.2s ease-out; vertical-align: baseline;">LHCb</a>, <a href="https://home.cern/node/121" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(214, 236, 254); background: transparent; color: #915ec9; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.2s ease-out; vertical-align: baseline;">CMS</a> and <a href="https://home.cern/node/120" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(214, 236, 254); background: transparent; color: #915ec9; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.2s ease-out; vertical-align: baseline;">ATLAS</a>) will now be able to check and calibrate their detectors.</i>
<i>(<a href="https://home.cern/about/updates/2018/04/first-lhc-test-collisions-2018">See the full CERN update for more</a>)</i></li>
</ul>
<br />
<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2018/04/11/five-years-after-the-higgs-what-else-has-the-lhc-found/#10b82de9552c">Forbes has a great summary of LHC discoveries to date</a>, and most importantly, what we've <i>not</i> found. In science, observing nothing is just as constructive as a novel finding.<br />
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As CERN has only recorded approximately 5% of data expected to be collected through the project's lifetime, expect more confirmations regarding our quantum universe.<br />
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While you're at it, don't forget to<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="https://home.cern/about/updates/2016/11/meet-tim-lhc-tunnels-robot">check out TIM</a> (he's a robot)</li>
<li><a href="http://virtual-tours.web.cern.ch/virtual-tours/vtours/LHC/LHC.html" target="_blank">go on a virtual tour of CERN's LHC complex</a> and</li>
<li>read <a href="http://cds.cern.ch/record/2255762/files/CERN-Brochure-2017-002-Eng.pdf" target="_blank">some amazing facts and figures about the LHC</a>.</li>
</ul>
<a href="https://home.cern/topics/large-hadron-collider" target="_blank">CERN's LHC category</a> has some great articles, be sure to have a browse...Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01386819302956011610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523966841476394422.post-19643030572053208592012-06-20T22:01:00.001+01:002012-06-20T22:06:38.861+01:00Higgs Boson discovery may be imminent... Wait, what?!Wired reported today on progress being made at the LHC at discovery of the Higgs Boson. They also futuregaze a bit and declare that formal discovery may even be announced in a few weeks' time... Crazy stuff.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Ever since <a href="http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/12/higgs-boson-hints/">tantalizing
hints of the Higgs</a> turned up in December at the <a href="http://lhc.web.cern.ch/" title="<b>LHC</b> - CERN">Large Hadron Collider</a>, scientists there have
been busily analyzing the results of their energetic particle collisions to
further refine their search.
<br /><br />
“The bottom line though is now clear: There’s
something there which looks like a Higgs is supposed to look,” <a href="http://www.math.columbia.edu/~woit/wordpress/?p=4772" target="_blank">wrote</a> mathematician Peter Woit on his blog, <a href="http://www.math.columbia.edu/~woit/wordpress/" title="Not Even Wrong">Not
Even Wrong</a>. According to Woit, there are rumors of new data that would be
the most compelling evidence yet for the long-sought Higgs.
<br /><br />
The possible news has a number of physics bloggers speculating that LHC
scientists will announce the discovery of the Higgs during the <a href="http://www.ichep2012.com.au/" target="_blank">International Conference on
High Energy Physics</a>, which takes place in Melbourne, Australia, July 4 to
11.</blockquote>
<br />
Head to <a href="http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/06/latest-higgs-rumors/?utm_source=googleplus&utm_medium=socialmedia&utm_campaign=googleplusclickthru">http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/06/latest-higgs-rumors/?utm_source=googleplus&utm_medium=socialmedia&utm_campaign=googleplusclickthru</a> for the juicy goodness.<br />
<br />
And as a sidenote, <em>yikes</em>! the Blogger interface has changed radically since I last posted through it.Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01386819302956011610noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523966841476394422.post-52092749649324497792011-05-20T02:49:00.000+01:002011-05-20T02:49:08.588+01:00LHC 2011 news update, January - May<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr align="right"><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cdsweb.cern.ch/record/1324850/files/2011_0107UK_Dec_20100098_image.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://cdsweb.cern.ch/record/1324850/files/2011_0107UK_Dec_20100098_image.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr align="right"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">CERN's finest hardcore physics nerds,<br />
busy testing in the confines of the LHC tunnel</td></tr>
</tbody></table>At the end of January 2011, <a href="http://cdsweb.cern.ch/journal/CERNBulletin/2011/06/News%20Articles/1324850?ln=en">CERN announced the then-latest developments in the LHC's shutdown work</a> as 'nearing completion'. Not only were they planning to replace some of the crucial supercooled electromagnets responsible for beam control, they've been testing a newly-commissioned power system, <a href="http://cdsweb.cern.ch/journal/CERNBulletin/2010/21/News%20Articles/1265859">POPS</a>, responsible for juicing the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton_Synchrotron_Booster">PS Booster</a>.<br />
<br />
<em>Related: <a href="http://epubs2.cclrc.ac.uk/bitstream/463/transfer_linac4.pdf">click to read a 2003 paper by Frank Gerigk proposing various possible designs for the transfer line between LINAC4 and the PS Booster systems</a>.</em><br />
<br />
Work completely fairly swiftly, and since February scaled quite quickly to some impressive, hitherto-unseen levels of collisions. However, it's never smooth sailing running the most powerful particle collider in the world (as you can see in almost-realtime <a href="http://lhc-commissioning.web.cern.ch/lhc-commissioning/news-2011/LHC-latest-news.html">from the LHC's daily operational logs</a>). Back at the end of March, Orbiter.ch published a brief article (including a lovely photo of the LHC's fibre starpoint, where a fraction of CERN's 35,000km of fibre originates) <a href="http://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2011/03/cern-lhc-impressive-start-to-2011-run.html">which elaborates further on CERN's progress in stepping up the speed of operations</a> in the first two months of 2011. It's well worth a click, here's a quick quote:<br />
<blockquote>After just a month of operation in 2011, the LHC has already achieved more than half the total number of proton-proton collisions delivered in 2010. The experiments have accumulated an integrated luminosity of 28 pb-1 this year. Integrated luminosity is a measure of the total number of proton-proton collisions measured by the experiments.</blockquote><em>-- <a href="http://orbiterchspacenews.blogspot.com/2011/03/cern-lhc-impressive-start-to-2011-run.html">Orbiter.ch's Space News blog</a></em><br />
<br />
If you want to stay apprised of all management and technological developments, the best way to do (aside from reading this humble site ;) is to check periodically on CERN's TE meeting minutes pages at <a href="https://te-dep.web.cern.ch/te-dep/internal/TEMB_Minutes_2011.html">https://te-dep.web.cern.ch/te-dep/internal/TEMB_Minutes_2011.html</a>. Not familiar with the TEMB? On their pages, <a href="http://te-dep.web.cern.ch/te-dep/mandate/">they explain</a>,<br />
<br />
<blockquote>The Technology Department is responsible for technologies which are specific to existing particle accelerators, facilities and future projects.</blockquote><blockquote><br />
</blockquote><blockquote>The main domains of activities cover: magnets (superconducting, normal conducting, fast pulsed magnets, electrostatic and magnetic septa), their machine integration and protection, power converters, cryogenics, high and ultra-high vacuum systems, coatings and surface treatments.</blockquote><blockquote><br />
</blockquote><blockquote>The Technology department is responsible for injection and extraction systems in the entire accelerator complex and for beam transfer lines between accelerators and primary beam lines up to targets...</blockquote><br />
They go on for another page - in a nutshell, everything the LHC does falls under their ultimate purview. Worth keeping tabs on meeting minutes if you want to know the minutiae of running a collider!<br />
<br />
<em>Aside: a January 2011 post from Francis' World Inside Out, which has some lovely graphed data, comparisons and discussion on the relative potentials of ATLAS and the CMS projects on finding the Higgs - <a href="http://francisworldinsideout.wordpress.com/2011/01/25/a-summary-of-chamonix-2011-lhc-performance-workshop/">http://francisworldinsideout.wordpress.com/2011/01/25/a-summary-of-chamonix-2011-lhc-performance-workshop/</a></em>Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01386819302956011610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523966841476394422.post-90266893920518181302010-03-30T12:00:00.000+01:002010-03-30T12:00:19.441+01:00LHC main event happening right now, watch on CERN livestreamThe LHC is kindly livestreaming the power-ups, beam alignment and first runs of the LHC - and you can watch from the CMS, ALICE, LHCb or ATLAS (plus the main feed) at the LHC First Physics web site: http://bit.ly/dBhPNqChristopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01386819302956011610noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523966841476394422.post-34039095902040412532010-03-30T11:24:00.000+01:002010-03-30T11:24:04.608+01:00LHC being spooled up right now! The Guardian has the details [liveblog]It's finally getting given a few more beans... From <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/2010/mar/29/lhc-launch-live-large-hadron-collider">the Grauniad</a>:<br />
<blockquote><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/2010/mar/29/lhc-launch-live-large-hadron-collider">Large Hadron Collider – Live!</a></blockquote><blockquote>The waiting is over. The world's largest, most powerful particle accelerator goes into action this morning. The hunt for new particles, forces and dimensions starts here.</blockquote>The G has a liveblog on their web site which you can set to update every minute.Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01386819302956011610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523966841476394422.post-49231701276534343852010-03-23T00:17:00.000+00:002010-03-23T00:22:42.187+00:00Keep on schedule with the LHC - from the CERN web siteCERN keeps an up-to-date <a href="http://lhc-commissioning.web.cern.ch/lhc-commissioning/">minisite on various LHC commissioning-related news</a>. Alongside, you can find <a href="http://lhc-commissioning.web.cern.ch/lhc-commissioning/planning/2010/2010-LHC-schedule_v1.4.pdf">the full proposed 2010 schedule</a> (warning: PDF) for the beast's activities. They also host <a href="http://lhc-commissioning.web.cern.ch/lhc-commissioning/news-2010/LHC-latest-news.html">a page showing Latest News</a>, blow by blow on a weekly basis.Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01386819302956011610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523966841476394422.post-89017721478830613662010-03-22T23:51:00.000+00:002010-03-22T23:59:27.323+00:00LHC to shut down... again... in 2012Well, at least this means the Olympics will pass without being sucked into a black hole ;)<div><br /></div><div><a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8556621.stm">The Beeb reports:</a></div><div><p><b></b></p><blockquote><p><b>The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) must close at the end of 2011 for up to a year to address design issues, according to an LHC director.</b></p><p><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; ">Dr Steve Myers told BBC News the faults will delay the machine reaching its full potential for two years.</span></b></p><p>The atom smasher will reach world record collision energies later this month at 7 trillion electron volts. But joints between the machine's magnets must be strengthened before higher-energy collisions can commence. The Geneva-based machine only recently restarted after being out of action for 14 months following an accident in September 2008.</p><p>Dr Myers said, "It's something that, with a lot more resources and with a lot more manpower and quality control, possibly could have been avoided but I have difficulty in thinking that this is something that was a design error. The standard phrase is that the LHC is its own prototype. We are pushing technologies towards their limits. You don't hear about the thousands or hundreds of thousands of other areas that have gone incredibly well."</p><p>"With a machine like the LHC, you only build one and you only build it once."</p></blockquote><p></p><p>Apparently the problem likes with the superconducting joints' copper sheaths - designed to take up the current load if one of the magnets begins to warm up (which is comforting that they're bothering to ensure they work properly, at least, given that at peak the LHC can <a href="http://lhc-machine-outreach.web.cern.ch/lhc-machine-outreach/faq/lhc-energy-consumption.htm">chomp through 50MW of the good stuff</a>). At peak, the LHC is designed to smash atoms together using 14TeV of power, although it can run on a reduced (!) 7TeV - which scientists can use to look further into the nature of dark matter, so it's not just sitting idle in the meantime. Good stuff.</p></div>Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01386819302956011610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523966841476394422.post-34593729382609588052009-08-12T01:21:00.001+01:002009-08-12T01:27:11.552+01:00Newsbite: LHC on schedule for November restartHowever, not as the Large Hadron Collider... It'll ramp up from an initial restart at roughly half capacity:<br /><br /><blockquote>The troubled Large Hadron Collider, which blew out part of its cooling system when scientists turned it on for the first time last September, is now set to restart in November, but as the Midsize Hadron Collider. Initially, it will smash protons together at only half the energy level it was designed for — still powerful enough that it could produce some exotic findings.</blockquote>...<br /><br /><blockquote>The world's most powerful particle smasher will restart in November at just half the energy the machine was designed to reach. But even at this level, the Large Hadron Collider has the potential to uncover exotic new physics, such as signs of hidden <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227122.900-gravity-mysteries-why-is-gravity-so-weak.html">extra dimensions</a>, physicists say. The <a href="http://lhc.web.cern.ch/lhc/" target="ns">LHC</a> is a new particle accelerator at the CERN laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland, designed to <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14606-instant-expert-the-large-hadron-collider.html">answer</a> fundamental questions, such as what gives elementary particles their mass, by colliding particles at higher energies than ever achieved in a laboratory before. But the first attempt to turn on the <a class="infusionLink" href="http://www.newscientist.com/topic/large-hadron-collider" omd="zodJump('http://widgets.zibb.com/images/_jump.gif?tag=InfusionJS&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newscientist.com%2Ftopic%2Flarge-hadron-collider&gsid=LHC&entitytypeid=kw&lid=http://www.newscientist.com/topic/large-hadron-collider&title=LHC&intref=infusion&variantName=LHC&zodid=96')" alt="LHC">LHC</a> <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14800-large-hadron-collider-out-of-action-until-spring.html">failed</a> in September 2008 when a joint connecting a pair of superconducting wires overheated, causing an explosive release of helium used as a coolant. Scientists have been making repairs and checking the strength of other electrical connections since then to pave the way for a second start attempt.<br /><br />Now, CERN has announced that the LHC's first data collecting run, to begin in November, will collide protons at only half the energy the accelerator was designed to achieve. The run will initially smash protons together at 7 trillion electron volts (7 TeV), compared to the design goal of 14 TeV, according to a CERN <a href="http://press.web.cern.ch/press/PressReleases/Releases2009/PR13.09E.html" target="ns">statement</a> on 6 August. (Protons in each of the two opposing beams will have 3.5 TeV of energy, producing collisions at 7 TeV.)<br /></blockquote><br /><br />Never mind, at least we're getting somewhere once again! Read the full article on the NewScientist site: <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17566-large-hadron-collider-to-restart-at-half-its-designed-energy.html">http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17566-large-hadron-collider-to-restart-at-half-its-designed-energy.html</a>. Also, make sure you're signed up to LHC@Home and are part of the ITU@LHC team for when the new results start coming in! :)Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01386819302956011610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523966841476394422.post-90592343787041936572009-04-17T00:26:00.001+01:002009-04-17T00:45:36.762+01:00What's been going on with the LHC? A recapThis blog's been lying dormant (very much like the LHC) since its initial beam-on last year. After the media frenzy surrounding the first successful tests on Beam On Day, the LHC has suffered setbacks and months of repairs to bring it back to operational status. Let's recap the timeline thus far:<br /><br />2008...<br /><ul><li>10th of September, 2008: LHC's first beam on event (<a href="http://press.web.cern.ch/press/PressReleases/Releases2008/PR08.08E.html">press release</a>)</li><li>20th of September, 2008: "event" in sector 3-4 (<a href="http://press.web.cern.ch/press/PressReleases/Releases2008/PR09.08E.html">press release</a>)</li><li>21st of October, 2008: LHC officially inaugurated (<a href="http://press.web.cern.ch/press/PressReleases/Releases2008/PR16.08E.html">press release</a>)</li><li>3rd of October, 2008: LHC World Computing Grid officially crunches first data (<a href="http://press.web.cern.ch/press/PressReleases/Releases2008/PR13.08E.html">press release</a>)</li><li>16th of October, 2008: CERN releases official report on September incident (<a href="http://press.web.cern.ch/press/PressReleases/Releases2008/PR14.08E.html">press release</a>)</li></ul>2009...<br /><br /><br /><ul><li>9th of February, 2009: CERN confirms the new restart date for the LHC (<a href="http://press.web.cern.ch/press/PressReleases/Releases2009/PR02.09E.html">press release</a>)</li></ul><br />CERN has confirmed that the LHC will now restart in September 2009, with a brief technical stop during Christmas. This means that CERN will have full results to crunch in the opening months of 2010, and the timescale also makes provisions for the collisions of lead ions for further study as well. <a href="http://press.web.cern.ch/press/PressReleases/Releases2009/PR02.09E.html">From the press release</a>;<br /><br /><br /><br /><blockquote><p>In Chamonix there was consensus among all the technical specialists that<br />the new schedule is tight but realistic.<br /><br /><em>“The schedule we have now is without a doubt the best for the LHC and for<br />the physicists waiting for data,”</em> said CERN Director General Rolf Heuer. <em>“It is<br />cautious, ensuring that all the necessary work is done on the LHC before we<br />start up, yet it allows physics research to begin this year.”</em></p><p>This new schedule represents a delay of six weeks with respect to the previous schedule, which foresaw the LHC “cold at the beginning of July”. The cause of this delay is due to several factors such as implementation of a new enhanced protection system for the busbar and magnet splices; installation of new pressure-relief valves to reduce the collateral damage in case of a repeat incident; application of more stringent safety constraints; and scheduling constraints associated with helium transfer and storage.</p><p>The enhanced protection system measures the electrical resistance in the cable joints (splices) and is much more sensitive than the system existing on 19 September.<br />The new pressure relief system has been designed in two phases. The first phase involves installation of relief valves on existing vacuum ports in the whole ring. Calculations have shown that in an incident similar to that of 19 September, the collateral damage would be minor with this first phase. The second phase involves adding additional relief valves on all the dipole magnets and would guarantee minor collateral damage (to the interconnects and super-insulation) in all worst cases over the life of the LHC. </p><p>The management has decided for 2009 to install the additional relief valves on four of the LHC’s eight sectors, at the same time as repairs in the sector damaged last September and other consolidation work already foreseen. The dipoles in the remaining four sectors will be equipped in 2010.</p></blockquote><div align="center"><br /><br /><a href="http://cdsweb.cern.ch/record/1142174"><img src="http://mediaarchive.cern.ch/MediaArchive/Photo/Public/2008/0811006/0811006_06/0811006_06-A5-at-72-dpi.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Engineers working on the LHC accelerator and magnets in Sector 3-4</span></div><br />Stay tuned for more updates, info and tidbits on CERN and the LHC...Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01386819302956011610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523966841476394422.post-3462030983904408302008-09-13T03:19:00.001+01:002008-09-13T03:33:13.857+01:00Live LHC CMS webca-... wait... oh n- --- - - [DISCONNECT]Yes, it was inevitable. The <a href="http://www.cyriak.co.uk/lhc/lhc-webcams.html">'real' LHC webcams</a>.<br /><br />Back to reality - as we all know by now, the initial LHC beam on was a success, with collisions to follow in due course after the final set of refinements are made to the machine. Then, hopefully, the data starts pouring in for the world to analyse!<br /><br />To satiate your curiosity in the meantime, you could do some reading around the subject:<br /><br />The CERN Large Hadron Collider: Accelerator and Experiments<br /><a href="http://www.iop.org/EJ/journal/-page=extra.lhc/jinst">http://www.iop.org/EJ/journal/-page=extra.lhc/jinst</a><br /><br />On the eve of the LHC: conceptual questions in high-energy physics<br /><a href="http://arxiv.org/abs/0806.4268">http://arxiv.org/abs/0806.4268</a><br /><br /><br />There's also lots (and I mean LOTS) of First Day media on the CERN site:<br /><br /><a href="http://lhc-first-beam.web.cern.ch/lhc-first-beam/">http://lhc-first-beam.web.cern.ch/lhc-first-beam/</a><br /><a href="http://cdsweb.cern.ch/collection/LHC%20First%20Beam%20Photos">http://cdsweb.cern.ch/collection/LHC%20First%20Beam%20Photos</a><br /><a href="http://cdsweb.cern.ch/collection/LHC%20First%20Beam">http://cdsweb.cern.ch/collection/LHC%20First%20Beam</a><br /><br />CERN's Central Document Server also has a growing archive of all LHC-related experiments at <a href="http://cdsweb.cern.ch/collection/LHC%20Experiments?ln=en">http://cdsweb.cern.ch/collection/LHC%20Experiments?ln=en</a>, also including notes, papers and theses on the technology, concepts and experiments to be conducted. There's a video highlights package of the First Beam day on the LHC First Beam minisite (the direct link: <a href="http://cdsweb.cern.ch/record/1125916">http://cdsweb.cern.ch/record/1125916</a>).<br /><br />For those who can't get enough of the video goodness, CERN also have a raft of video footage, B-roll and interviews with key members of the LHC project on their CDSWeb in the videos section, all streamable or downloadable. <a href="http://cdsweb.cern.ch/collection/Videos?ln=en">Check them out here</a>.<br /><br /><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;">And if you've not already installed BOINC, </span></em><a href="http://lhc.intotheunknown.co.uk/2008/09/lhc-and-us-going-into-unknown-together.html"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">http://lhc.intotheunknown.co.uk/2008/09/lhc-and-us-going-into-unknown-together.html</span></em></a><em><span style="font-size:85%;"> and joined the </span></em><a href="mailto:LHC@ITU"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">LHC@ITU</span></em></a><em><span style="font-size:85%;"> team... Well, go do it!</span></em><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></em><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;">Oh, and there's some real LHC webcams </span></em><a href="http://cms-project-cmsinfo.web.cern.ch/cms-project-cmsinfo/Media/CMSeye/index.html"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">here</span></em></a><em><span style="font-size:85%;"> and </span></em><a href="http://www.lhc.ac.uk/web-cams.html"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">here</span></em></a><em><span style="font-size:85%;"> - and while I'm at it, here's some more:</span></em><br /><ul><li><a href="http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/Public/ALICE_in_the_Media/Videos/liveatPoint2.html"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">ALICE</span></em></a></li><li><a href="http://pcatdwww.cern.ch/atlas-point1/ATLASview/ACR.htm"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">ATLAS: Control Room</span></em></a></li><li><a href="http://atlaseye-webpub.web.cern.ch/atlaseye-webpub/web-sites/pages/BT_Integration_webcams.htm"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">ATLAS: Surface Halls</span></em></a></li><li><a href="http://atlas.ch/webcams.html"><em><span style="font-size:85%;">More ATLAS cams</span></em></a></li></ul><p><em><span style="font-size:85%;">More goodies coming soon!</span></em></p>Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01386819302956011610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523966841476394422.post-88864810199375343362008-09-10T05:15:00.000+01:002008-09-10T05:20:11.631+01:00What is the Large Hadron Collider? Auntie explains...The BBC is giving massive amounts of coverage to a certain landmark event, and if you are in any doubt as to elements of the LHC or the project as a whole - fear not! The Beeb have published an exhaustingly comprehensive guide to the LHC, and <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7543089.stm">you can check it out on the BBC News web site</a>.<br /><br />And don't forget, the beam on <a href="http://webcast.cern.ch/index.html">will be broadcast live on the CERN site</a> tomorrow. Best get some sleep before the start!Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01386819302956011610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6523966841476394422.post-30436069347649782362008-09-09T20:49:00.001+01:002008-09-09T23:10:33.337+01:00The LHC and us, going into the unknown together... Join in!<p>In case you haven't heard, CERN is flicking the switch (as such) tomorrow morning (8:30pm UK time) on the <a href="http://www.isgtw.org/?pid=1001361">Large Hadron Collider</a>, marking the culmination of over twenty years' hard slog and amazing technological development.<br /></p><p>One side-effect of all the particle smashing is the ongoing data collected and analysed by the experiment... and the sheer volume of it is astounding; an estimated 44,000 Gigabytes of data are expected to be generated <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">each day</span> (approximately 43 Terabytes), and approximately 15 Petabytes each year.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p>So, who analyses all this data? Obviously, no one organisation could possibly ever analyse all of this data. CERN has already established the <a href="http://lcg.web.cern.ch/LCG/">Worldwide LHC Computing Grid</a>;<br /></p><p></p><blockquote class="italic">The mission of the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid (LCG) project is to build and maintain a data storage and analysis infrastructure for the entire high energy physics community that will use the LHC.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The data from the LHC experiments will be distributed around the globe, according to a four-tiered model. A primary backup will be recorded on tape at CERN, the “Tier-0” centre of LCG. After initial processing, this data will be distributed to a series of Tier-1 centres, large computer centres with sufficient storage capacity and with round-the-clock support for the Grid.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The Tier-1 centres will make data available to Tier-2 centres, each consisting of one or several collaborating computing facilities, which can store sufficient data and provide adequate computing power for specific analysis tasks. Individual scientists will access these facilities through Tier-3 computing resources, which can consist of local clusters in a University Department or even individual PCs, and which may be allocated to LCG on a regular basis.</blockquote><br />There's a video explaining the complexities of the Computing Grid <a href="http://cdsweb.cern.ch/record/690083">available from the CERN site</a>. In <a href="http://www.gridpp.ac.uk/about/">GridPP</a>, the UK collaborative effort, 17 individual institutions are currently collaborating to analyse a portion of the results - contributing an equivalent of 10,000 PCs' worth of CPU cycles towards uncovering the secrets of the universe... Including, just possibly, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higgs_boson">Higgs Boson</a>.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p>However, these academic institutions can't handle everything - even with similar arrangements worldwide. CERN realised this a fair while ago, and has partnered with Berkeley's Open Infrastructure for Networked Computing (BOINC), to create <a href="http://athome.web.cern.ch/athome/">the LHC@home project</a>. Just like other projects such as Folding@Home and SETI@Home, LHC@home will harness the combined power of millions of peoples' computers to process small chunks of data in one of the largest computing grids in the world.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The best thing? <b>We can all be a part of it.</b> All you need is a copy of the BOINC software installed on your computer; join the project (<a href="http://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/join.php">full instructions are available</a> on the LHC@home Installation page, but there are only a couple of steps you need to perform) and <a href="http://lhcathome.cern.ch/lhcathome/team_display.php?teamid=4023">then join the ITU@LHC team</a>!</p>Christopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01386819302956011610noreply@blogger.com0