Record-breaking particle collisions at CERN

CERN researchers have made scientific history by using the most powerful particle accelerator in the world, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), to run proton beam collisions at an energy level of 13 TeV (tera-electronvolts).  The collisions on Wednesday were a crucial step in the final preparations for the long-awaited LHC season 2 experiments at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) on the French-Swiss border, north of Geneva. These are expected to commence in early June following two years of machine maintenance and upgrading. The 13 TeV collisions are designed to ensure that systems designed to protect the LHC from stray particles are in good working order. Tests will continue today, and their successful completion will indicate that experiments on four detectors – known as ALICE, ATLAS, CMS and LHCb – can safely proceed. For comparison, collisions during the LHC’s initial three-year run topped out at an energy level of 8 TeV. Collisions made at ...