The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was built in 2008 to try and recreate the big bang to prove the big bang theory was correct, and to find the force behind the big bang. The large Hadron Collider was built on the Switzerland-France border near Geneva. The Collider is 27 kilometers long in circumference and maximum depth of 175 meters. The point is to try and find the Higgs Boson, which, in theory will describe and explain all the mystery about the known elements in the universe. The theory is that the Higgs Boson attracts all the elements as the Higgs Boson is the driving force of the elements. So, in regards to this theory, the Higgs Boson is the power behind and responsible for the big bang.
The Large Hadron Collider has already yielded results, generating a mini big bang in November 2010. This was done by lead ion collisions. The experiment created temperatures three times hotter than the centre of the sun, such was the matter and energy involved in these collisions. The temperatures cause protons and neutrons to melt, resulting in a quark-gluon plasma. Quarks and Gluons are sub-atomic particles, some of the building blocks of matter. In quark-gluon plasma they are freed of their attraction to each other. Physicists ale looking to understand more about the nature of the ‘strong force’. This force binds the nuclei of atoms together and this is responsible for 98% of their mass. The main theory is that proton collisions will help spot the elusive Higgs Boson, and scientists will be able to spot new physical laws, such as a framework called “supersymmetry”.
The Large Hadron Collider has 9300 magnets inside it. These magnets are cooled to an operating temperature of 1.9 Kelvin ( -271.3⁰C), this is colder than deep space. Scientists want to see new particles from the debris of the collisions inside the Large Hadron Collider. They are looking for new physics past the standard model to explain how sub-atomic particles interact. The standard model contains 16 particles: 12 matter particles and 4 force-carrier particles. The problem is that the Standard model doesn’t explain the four fundamental forces: gravity, describes ordinary matter that only makes up for a small part of the total universe. The standard model mentions the Higgs Boson that is yet to be discovered in an experiment.
The Large Hadron Collider is also being used to further scientists understanding of dark matter and dark energy. Dark matter makes up 23% of the cosmos and dark energy makes up 73% of the cosmos. Little to nothing is known about dark energy and dark matter and they can only be detected indirectly. This leaves scientist mostly left to speculate on the effects of dark energy and dark matter. One theory is that dark matter is made up of “supersymmetric particles”. “Supersymmetric particles” are massive particles that are partners to those already known in the standard model. A leading dark matter candidate is neutralino, the lightest of these “super-partners”. Theoretical physicists have claimed to link the Higgs echanism with dark energy. The Large Hadron Collider should be able to prove or disprove these theories if all goes to plan in terms of the results the experiments will produce. Evidence of “supersymmetry” will allow for the unification of three fundamental forces- the strong, weak and electromagnetic. This will help explain why particles have masses they have, also with the help of the Higgs boson.
This would provide more evidence for the string theory. The string theory predicts there to be six dimensions or more. Some physicists even provide their own theory on how this may explain why gravity is so much weaker than the other fundamental forces. At high energies, physicists could see evidence of the particles disappearing into a different dimension not previously discovered. The theory is that if they are there, the LHC will find them.
The cost to the taxpayer of the LHC is £80 million per year, this is money that lot of people who feel could be better spent on say the NHS or donated to charities. The total cost of the project is expected to be around SFr4.6 billion (around £3 billion), with the a single part, the accelerator costs over a billion SFr. The question is what price do we put upon finding out what forms us? After all, the LHC is doing experiments investigating the origins of the big bang theory and what so called “dark matter” is. There is also the question of the amount or return which will be received upon these discoveries. Discoveries from this quest to find the building blocks of life has already given us results it is the research which gave us radiotherapy used to treat cancer and used to destroy tumours. The machine is in fact too expensive to run in winter due to the high price of fuel during the winter months, this should raise questions as to how economically viable it is.
Figure 1 Large Hadron Collider
So should we continue to commit large amounts of money to a project with such unknown results, especially in consideration with the current economic state of the country? Due to the economic situation many people believe that money could be better spent than on these large, expensive science projects such as the LHC. For example money may be better spent on finding a cure for cancer rather than to exams these minute particles. Another supporting point for this side of the argument is that it is curiosity based research and there is going to be no real reason to research such ideas. Many people believe the contrary and think that more money should be given to such projects as it is fundamental to us understanding the origins of life as we know it.
Bibliography
Websites
www.bbc.co.uk/sci_tech/
www.lhc.web.cern.ch
www.bbc.co.uk/sci_tech/
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