The Large Hadron Collider, which is the most powerful particle accelerator on Earth, demonstrated the existence of a subatomic particle known as the Higgs boson ten years ago. This particle is believed to have been an essential component of the universe ever since the big bang, which occurred billions of years ago.
Now, physicists at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), which is located on the border between Switzerland and France, are restarting the collider in an effort to learn more about the Higgs boson, other subatomic particles, and the mysteries of dark matter. Dark matter is an invisible and elusive substance that cannot be seen because it does not absorb, reflect, or emit any light.
The Large Hadron Collider is a particle accelerator that comprises a ring that is 27 kilometers (16.7 miles) in diameter and is situated deep below the Alps. It is built of superconducting magnets that are cooled to temperatures of 271.3°C (-456 F), which is colder than outer space. The process involves crashing together very small particles so that researchers may examine them and determine what is contained inside them.
Since the accelerator complex was turned back on in April after being shut down for the previous three years for maintenance and modifications, proton beams have already circulated throughout the facility.
The scientists who work at CERN will start gathering data for their experiments on Tuesday, and the Large Hadron Collider will continue to operate around the clock for roughly four years. It is the gigantic machine’s third run, and owing to the recently enhanced data readout and selection systems, as well as the newly installed detection systems and processing infrastructure, the machine is capable of more accuracy and has a bigger potential for discovery than it ever has before.
What is Higgs Boson?
The Higgs boson was initially proposed by François Englert and Peter Higgs in the 1960s. The Standard Model of Particle Physics describes the fundamentals of how fundamental forces and particles interact in the universe. However, the hypothesis could not adequately explain where the particles’ masses truly come from. Particles, often known as particles of matter, come in a variety of sizes and may be much bigger or more minute than atoms. For example, electrons, protons, and neutrons are all subatomic particles that contribute to the construction of an atom. Scientists are now of the opinion that the Higgs boson is the particle that imparts mass to all other particles in the universe.
Englert and Higgs were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2014 for their foresightful prediction, which was made in 2013, one year after the particle was found. Unlocking the secrets of the Higgs boson may help scientists comprehend the world on a smaller scale as well as some of the most perplexing questions about the cosmos. However, there is still a significant amount that is unknown about the Higgs boson.
The Large Hadron Collider, which began operating in 2008, is the only facility in the whole world that is capable of producing the Higgs boson and conducting in-depth research on it.
In the most recent round of experiments, the scientists at CERN will investigate the properties of matter when it is subjected to extremes of temperature and density. In addition, they will look for explanations for dark matter and for other new phenomena. These searches may be conducted directly, or they may be conducted indirectly through precise measurements of the properties of known particles.
Michelangelo Mangano, a theorist at CERN, was quoted as saying in a press release that despite the fact that all of the data collected up to this point are compatible with the Standard Model, there is still a lot of potential for novel events that go beyond what is anticipated by this theory.
It has been shown that dark matter may produce gravitational distortions in space, which is how it was first found. This leads scientists to believe that dark matter constitutes the majority of the stuff in the universe.
“The Higgs boson itself may point to new phenomena, including some that could be responsible for the dark matter in the universe,” said Luca Malgeri, a spokesperson for CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid), one of the four big Large Hadron Collider experiments, which is built around a huge electromagnet. CMS is one of the four major experiments that are being conducted at the Large Hadron Collider.
