Recreating the Big Bang
Scientists at CERN, home of the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator, are within a nanosecond of recreating the Big Bang, according to a talk at ANSTO by Dr Stephen Myers.
Dr Myers, from CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research in Geneva, presented a free public lecture on Monday 8 November, entitled: 'Status Report on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)', in the AINSE Theatre as part of the ANSTO Distinguished Lecture Series. He treated his audience to a detailed update on the progress made with the LHC since its closure for repairs in 2008.
The talk centred on the current work being done with the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) which is aiming to simulate the first moments of the Universe's existence by accelerating and colliding lead ions.
The LHC's first lead ion collisions were seen by the ALICE, ATLAS and CMS experiments on 7 November 2010.
Dr Myers explained that at T-Zero, or at the precise moment the universe was created, the absolute temperature scale was 1032 Kelvin (0ºC is equal to about -273K). Inside the LHC, the temperature is 1000 million times hotter than the centre of the Sun when the two counter-directional beams collide.
"We have to select one event or collision of two protons or two lead nuclei interacting in 1000 billion, which is why we need the grid," Dr Myers said.
The 'grid' is the worldwide computing network that backs up the LHC. It combines the computing power of more than 140 independent computer centres in 34 countries, with data transferred at peaks of 10 gigabytes per second, which is the equivalent of two DVDs a second.
If they need to perform what is known as a 'quench' or a total deactivation of the LHC while at 'full blast', it is like trying to stop the 90,000-ton US Nimitz Naval Aircraft Carrier, travelling at a 30-knot battle speed in a time of between 30 to 40 seconds.
Dr Myers was appointed by the CERN Council as Director of Accelerators and Technology in September 2008, effective from January 2009. This area will comprise three new departments: Beams, Engineering, and Technology.
One of the experiments currently being run on the LHC involves the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS detector). Measuring 21 x 15 x 15m and weighing 12,500 tons, this is built around a huge solenoid magnet that takes the form of a cylindrical coil of superconducting cable that generates a magnetic field of 4 teslas, which is about 100,000 times greater than the Earth's.
Another massive experimental device is the Toroidal LHC Apparatus (ATLAS) detector. Measuring 46 x 25 x 25m and weighing 7000 tons, this is the largest volume particle detector ever constructed and stands as high as a six-storey building.
Five other current experiments are:
- LHC-beauty (LHCb) detector
- Monopole and Exotics Detector At the LHC (MoEDAL)
- Total Cross Section, Elastic Scattering and Diffraction Dissociation (TOTEM)
- LHC-forward, and
- A Large Ion Collider Experiment (ALICE) detector.
"The emphasis in the next few years is clearly on the operation, exploitation, and further development of the LHC," Dr Myers explained.
ANSTO is well placed to benefit from these developments, with ANSTO's CEO, Dr Adi Paterson co-signing a framework for collaboration with CERN Director-General, Professor Rolf-Dieter Heuer in Geneva on 23 June, 2010. This will enable scientists affiliated with each organisation to collaborate on cutting-edge research and receive reciprocal use of equipment.
Adi commented, "The agreement is expected to lay a pathway for collaborative research by Australia's best and brightest scientists and engineers in areas such as accelerator science, health and life sciences, information technology and radiation detection."
Posted: 14 November 2010