After a three-year hiatus, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is gearing up to resume operations, promising more intense particle collisions and the potential discovery of new particles and phenomena. Here’s what you need to know about the upcoming activities at the LHC.
LHC’s Third Run: What to Expect?
- Increased Collision Energy: The LHC will operate at 6.8 teraelectronvolts, up from the previous 6.5, allowing for harder smashes and the potential to observe new particles.
- Enhanced Detection Capabilities: Upgrades to the LHC’s detectors will improve the quality of data collected, making it easier to spot rare particles.
- Focus on Dark Matter and Neutrinos: One of the primary goals is to detect dark matter particles and explore the properties of neutrinos, which could include the elusive right-handed neutrinos.
Key Experiments to Watch
- ATLAS Experiment: This experiment continues to explore the Higgs boson and seeks answers to why only left-handed neutrinos have been detected so far.
- New Physics Experiments: Two new experiments, SND and FASER, will aim to detect high-energy neutrinos and search for weakly interacting massive particles, a candidate for dark matter.
Why Does This Matter?
The findings from these experiments could significantly advance our understanding of fundamental physics, addressing major questions about the universe’s formation, the nature of dark matter, and why matter prevailed over antimatter.
Looking Ahead
The third run of the LHC is scheduled to continue until the end of 2025, with further upgrades planned for subsequent phases. These developments promise to keep the LHC at the forefront of particle physics research.
Originally published on Live Science.
