Prompt Cast
The Large Hadron Collider: Studying the Basic Particles of the Universe
TLDR The Large Hadron Collider is a massive scientific instrument that accelerates particles to study the basic structure of atoms. It has played a crucial role in discovering the Higgs Boson particle and may require future super particle accelerators to answer unanswered questions in physics.
Timestamped Summary
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The Large Hadron Collider is a massive scientific instrument that allows us to study the basic particles of the universe.
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Particle accelerators are devices that accelerate particles by utilizing the electrical charge of particles, and while they have industrial uses, physicists primarily use them to study the basic structure of atoms.
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In order to study subatomic particles in a more controlled environment, scientists developed particle accelerators, starting with the cyclotron in the 1930s and later the synchrotron in the 1950s.
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The synchrotron consists of an acceleration section and magnets that guide the particle along a curved path, allowing it to loop around and pick up energy; the larger the particle accelerator, the higher the energy particle that can be created and the more can be seen in resulting collisions.
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In the 1980s, the United States approved funding for the Superconducting Supercollider (SSC), which would have been the biggest particle accelerator in the world, but it was canceled in 1993, leaving a hole in high-energy physics that was filled by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) with the launch of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in 1994.
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The Large Hadron Collider had setbacks, but eventually sent its first beam around the collider in 2008, and in 2012, conclusive proof of the existence of the Higgs Boson particle was announced, leading to the awarding of the 2013 Nobel Prize, and the collider has since undergone upgrades and is currently operational.
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Future super particle accelerators, such as the proposed International Linear Collider and the Chinese Circular Electron-Positron Collider, may be necessary to answer unanswered questions in physics, but these projects will require significant funding and approval.
