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Large Hadron Collider
Intermediate
27-km ring colliding protons at 13.6 TeV.
27 km ring near Geneva with 1232 superconducting dipole magnets at 8.3 T and 1.9 K. Proton beams collide at 13.6 TeV, 40 million times a second.
Discovered the Higgs in 2012.
ATLAS and CMS detectors.
In more detail
The Large Hadron Collider at CERN is a 27-kilometre ring that accelerates protons to near light speed and collides them. It discovered the Higgs boson in 2012.
Real-world uses
- The LHC tests the Standard Model and searches for new physics.
- Its detectors record billions of collisions each year.
- Physicists at CERN use the Large Hadron Collider to study the Higgs boson and search for new physics.
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Frequently asked questions
How long is the LHC?
About 27 kilometres in circumference.
What did it discover?
The Higgs boson, in 2012.
How fast are the protons in the LHC?
They travel at speeds extremely close to the speed of light, with energies reaching trillions of electron volts.
Related topics in Particle Physics & Cosmology
Conservation laws in particles · Feynman diagrams · Particle accelerators · Particle detectors · Neutrino oscillations · CP violation