The world’s most powerful particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), has been shut down. It has been taken offline for a major upgrade, according to the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).
“The Large Hadron Collider has exceeded all expectations. For nearly two decades, it has reshaped our understanding of the Universe and inspired generations of scientists, engineers, and people around the globe. Today, we say goodbye to the LHC as we have known it,” stated Oliver Brüning, CERN’s Director for Accelerators and Technology.
The LHC’s downtime will last until 2030. During this period, scientists will replace and upgrade equipment to make the collider ten times more powerful. The new version, called HiLumi, will allow for the collection of far more data and enable more precise studies of fundamental particles, such as the Higgs boson. There is also a chance to discover phenomena that do not fit within current physical theories.
As part of the upgrade, 1.2 kilometers of magnets will be replaced, while the main detectors, ATLAS and CMS, will receive new systems. These will process significantly more particle collisions than before. Thousands of specialists from around the world will be involved in the work.
Initial runs of the updated complex are scheduled to begin in 2028. Full-scale operation of the new collider version is planned for 2030.
CERN is the world’s largest high-energy physics laboratory, located on the border between Switzerland and France near Geneva. The organization includes 23 member countries; Russia is not among them. Among other activities, CERN is responsible for the development of the Large Hadron Collider.
In March 2022, following the onset of military actions in Ukraine, the organization revoked Russia’s observer status, and in the summer decided not to extend cooperation agreements with Moscow and Minsk after their expiration in 2024.
Earlier, CERN Council President Eliezer Rabinovici, during a visit to China, reported that Chinese scientists could build the world’s largest hadron collider, surpassing Europe’s LHC. He referred to the Circular Electron Positron Collider (CEPC) project, which would be 100 kilometers long, with an estimated cost of 36 billion yuan (about 5 billion US dollars).
The Large Hadron Collider accelerates particles in a 27-kilometer circular tunnel, buried at depths ranging from 50 to 150 meters underground. Its construction took approximately ten years.
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