A powerful new magnet designed to replace the existing magnets of the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest atom smasher, just passed its first test.
The new magnet will allow the atom smasher to analyze two to three times more than the number of proton collisions that its current magnet allows. This development will reveal the not-yet-classified properties of the newly discovered Higgs boson, which could impact scientific knowledge across different fields once it is able to explain why a weak force has a shorter range than an electromagnetic force. It will then lead to new physics and the development of new technologies.
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world’s largest and highest-energy particle accelerator, or atom smasher, developed by the European Organization for Nuclear Research in collaboration of about 10,000 scientists and engineers from more than 100 countries. It aims to validate or invalidate the theory of the existence of the Higgs boson and other particle theories.
The LHC located between Switzerland and France sends two proton rays in an underground ring at near light-speed around 27 kilometers until they collide into each other. The collision will result to an explosion which creates myriad subatomic particles. The new magnet will allow scientists to send more than two protons in the underground ring.
The current magnet of the LHC is made of a superconductor called niobium titanium which when cooled to near absolute zero will allow large amounts of electricity to flow without overheating. Its current force was enough to identify the presence of the Higgs boson but insufficient to smash it to reveal its properties.
In order to form a better magnet, the scientists created more powerful magnets which can hold more radiation of subatomic particles during collisions than the current magnet. They built a thick aluminum shell to support the niobium tin superconductor and prevent its dislocation during the collisions.
This new magnet is measured to be 50 percent stronger than the current magnet.
