Cern's LHC team - excitement over latest beam collisions record
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – It’s been a busy and record-breaking week at Cern, the European Nuclear Research Centre on the French-Swiss border, with LHC (Large Hadron Collider) researchers achieving a significant milestone and elusive antimatter held for 1,000 seconds for the first time.
Trapping antimatter for longer opens new research vistas
“The Alpha experiment at Cern reports that it has succeeded in trapping antimatter atoms for over 16 minutes: long enough to begin to study their properties in detail. Alpha is part of a broad programme at Cern’s antiproton decelerator investigating the mysteries of one of nature’s most elusive substances,” the organization reports, following publication Sunday 5 June of the news in the scientific journal Nature (article free online).
Nature in November 2010 reported on Alpha’s capture of antimatter then, saying it was the first significant milestone in the field since 2002, but this week’s report takes the research work to a new level. “For physicists, a bit of antimatter is a precious gift indeed,” said the November Nature report. “By comparing matter to its counterpart, they can test fundamental symmetries that lie at the heart of the standard model of particle physics, and look for hints of new physics beyond. Yet few gifts are as tricky to wrap. Bring a particle of antimatter into contact with its matter counterpart and the two annihilate in a flash of energy.”
The new achievement raises the question of how long anitmatter can be held, say Cern scientists, and it opens new research possibilities.
International Sports, Formula 1
Istanbul, Turkey (GenevaLunch) - Red Bull spoiled their day when their two drivers collided while leading the race at the Turkish Grand Prix 30 May. The Mclaren team swept past them to win their own double, with Lewis Hamilton taking first place ahead of Jenson Button. The Red Bull smash-up came on the 40th lap when German Sebastian Vettel tried to pass his Australian teammate Mark Webber, veered to the right before he had completed the maneuver and crashed into the side of Webber’s car. Vettel was forced to stop while Webber had to pit and emerged in third place, just ahead of Michael Schumacher. The two McLaren drivers almost collided as Button swept past Hamilton, only to have Hamilton immediately do the same back.
Urgent messages from the mechanics prevented any more fun and the race ended peacefully. Mark Webber still heads the standings this season, ahead of Button and Hamilton. Swiss driver Sebastien Buemi had another bad day with a collision on the first lap: he finished 16th. Ferrari ended 7th and 8th.
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.
Updated 24 November 08:00 Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The LHC (Large Hadron Collider) began to run over the weekend after a year-long delay, but Monday was the real day of excitement at its home at Cern (European Organization for Nuclear Research). The LHC is designed to study the world’s smallest known particles, the building blocks of the universe. Two beams have been circulating in opposite directions since the 20 November startup, alternating, but today they began to circulate at the same time, crossing at two points.
