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Cern operations group leader Mike Lamont (foreground) and LHC engineer in charge Alick Macpherson in the Cern control centre 19 March

Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Two 3.5 TeV proton beams successfully circulated in the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) at Cern for the first time Friday morning 19 March, shortly after 05:20, a key step in ramping up the LHC for 7 TeV collisions, whose data will be fed to a series of physics research projects around the world.

Cern (European Organization for Nuclear Research) says this is the highest energy yet achieved in a particle accelerator.

Teams at Cern are preparing the LHC for 7 TeV (two beams at 3.5 TeV colliding), which will happen in the near future. At 3.5 TeV the collider’s operation will fulfill two objectives: calibration and research. The machine has to be carefully calibrated in order for its results to make sense.

The current run on the LHC began in November 2009, with a short stop early in 2010 to  prepare the machine for higher energy collisions. In its first 26 days over a billion particle collisions were recorded and the data send around the world via the LHC computing grid.

Once 7 TeV collisions have been established, the plan is to run continuously for a period of 18-24 months, with a short technical stop at the end of 2010, says Cern.

“Getting the beams to 3.5 TeV is testimony to the soundness of the LHC’s overall design, and the improvements we’ve made since the breakdown in September 2008,” says Steve Myers, Cern’s director for accelerators and technology. “And it’s a great credit to the patience and dedication of the LHC team.”

Background, GenevaLunch on LHC dates, on LHC programme