Geneva, 23 November 2009. Today the LHC circulated two beams simultaneously for the first time, allowing the operators to test the synchronization of the beams and giving the experiments their first chance to look for proton-proton collisions. With just one bunch of particles circulating in each direction, the beams can be made to cross in […]
From CERN: Two circulating beams bring first collisions in the LHC
CERN prepares for LHC commissioning
Director’s Corner 15 October 2009 Barry Barish CERN prepares for LHC commissioning Once again, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN is moving to centre stage. The LHC is the world’s largest and highest-energy particle accelerator designed to collide protons at energies of 7 TeV per beam. Just about one year ago, as commissioning of this […]
Spring-scrubbing the beam pipe
How CERN’s accelerator complex fights electron clouds
The ILC is not the only accelerator that has to struggle against electron clouds and their distracting effect on the particle beam. Even the Large Hadron Collider LHC at CERN may suffer from it, and tests on two of its pre-accelerators, the PS and the SPS, have already proven several techniques with which the electron-cloud […]
Mapping the future
Theorists and experimentalists meet at CERN to discuss future colliders
When talking about what they know and what they want to find out, physicists like to speak about ‘landscapes’. There are the well-chartered lands of the Standard Model and undiscovered territories like the Terascale – a region that the Large Hadron Collider LHC at CERN will enter when protons start colliding in autumn. With the […]
From CERN: CERN management confirms new LHC restart schedule
Geneva, 9 February 2009. CERN1 management today confirmed the restart schedule for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) resulting from the recommendations from last week’s Chamonix workshop. The new schedule foresees first beams in the LHC at the end of September this year, with collisions following in late October. A short technical stop has also been […]
Pixel collaboration
R&D on monolithic and vertically integrated pixel detectors
Micro Magic 3D-layout of the 3-tier Fermilab Vertical Integrated Pixel (VIP) chip. Plans are taking shape to form a new group to coordinate and stimulate R&D on monolithic and vertically integrated pixel detectors for scientific applications in high-energy physics and beyond. In a joint message, the directorates of CERN, KEK and Fermilab have offered their […]
Linear collider collaborations meet
Project manager Marc Ross reports from CERN
The ILC-CLIC (International Linear Collider – Compact Linear Collider Study) collaboration was started earlier this year at CERN. It consists of five working groups which are led by conveners from both projects. Collaboration mandates and activities were defined with an eye toward this autumn’s workshops: the CLIC08 workshop, held at CERN from 14 to 17 […]
First beam in the LHC
You can witness it even if you weren't there
Wednesday must have been one of the biggest days in science history. It certainly was the biggest day in particle physics for a long time coming – the first full beam around the LHC. The first protons completed the full circle at 10:28 am (less than an hour after first injection), and scientists in CERN’s […]
From CERN: First beam in the LHC – accelerating science
Geneva, 10 September 2008. The first beam in the Large Hadron Collider at CERN1 was successfully steered around the full 27 kilometres of the world’s most powerful particle accelerator at 10h28 this morning. This historic event marks a key moment in the transition from over two decades of preparation to a new era of scientific […]