LHC Status

[MeteorWayne]

Thanx R1..latest news from the LHC.

Just as CERN finished repairing the damage last September’s Large Hadron Collider helium leak, a new problem cropped up.

Engineers discovered two vacuum leaks in areas of the enormous atom smasher that are supposed to be maintained at ultracold temperatures. They’ll have to warm those areas up to complete the repairs, which will set back the project another couple of months.

Now, it won’t be ready for new particle beams until mid-November. Late last year, CERN foresaw the LHC back up and running in July 2009. In February, the schedule was pushed back to September, and now we probably shouldn’t expect actual particle beams until late November.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/ ... nd-delays/

Let me state right up front, this thread is solely to discuss the recovery of the LHC to operational status.

Any off topic posts will be unceremoniously removed to an appropriate location.

[ramparts]

Oy!! These particle physicists are such teases.

[dangineer]

I wonder if this will deter other governments from trying to build bigger particle accelerators. It's quite a shame, I think.

[MeteorWayne]

I suspect the LHC will be the last big one built for many decades. Under current world economic conditions, I can't see anyone even seriously suggesting a project this large.

[Ginjar]

I wonder if this will deter other governments from trying to build bigger particle accelerators. It's quite a shame, I think.

Bigger? The its called the LARGE Hadron Collider for a reason you know.

[ramparts]

I wonder if this will deter other governments from trying to build bigger particle accelerators. It's quite a shame, I think.

Bigger? The its called the LARGE Hadron Collider for a reason you know.

I mean, it's not called the Largest Hadron Collider

[yevaud]

(No, silly people, it's music!)

[EAK09]

Thanks for that update.

Does anyone here know if the folks at Fermi Lab have managed to make anything productive out of what might have become -- for them -- some cause for (competitive) celebration? I remember, I was flying in an airplane over that lab (near Chicago) the day of the LHC start up last year.

[darkmatter4brains]

For anybody who's every worked on a large project, all these delays are no surprise. But, still, it's a bit disappointing for those who can't wait to find out what they discover.

Too bad they never finished that super collider? wasn't that going to be bigger than the LHC? How many millions (billions?) did they throw away by not finishing it I wonder?

[darkmatter4brains]

I just read an article somewhere (that I can't seem to find again!) that said the LHC is years away from operating at the powers it needs to discover the Higgs, etc. Something about faulty electrical connections with the magnets??? I think it said it will still try and turn on in Nov, but it will be a while before it gets to energies higher than the Tevatron. Which would be a bummer - I'm anxious to see what they can find!! Anybody else know any current updates or perhaps knows the location of that article?

[MeteorWayne]

The latest update I'm aware of is in the original post of this thread. Did you read it?

If you find something newer than that, feel free to add it to this discussion.

[darkmatter4brains]

yes, this is something newer. I'll have to dig around some more and see if I can't find it again.

[MeteorWayne]

Here's the latest news on the repairs directly from LHC:

http://lhc.web.cern.ch/lhc/News.htm

[darkmatter4brains]

Here's that article. Not too sure what to make of it, as it seems to contradict things. But it does seem to imply that even if that thing turns on in Nov, it could be a while till it's at an energy that is anything new really.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/04/scien ... 1&emc=eta1

[MeteorWayne]

Thanx for the article. I didn't see anything there that terribly surprised me, but I'm a pragmatist

Anyone who expected a machine this large, complex, and powerful to come up to full power on time would have to be an optimist!

It does flesh out a bit more detail about the reality of the situation, I appreciate the info.

Wayne

[nimbus]

Here's that article. Not too sure what to make of it, as it seems to contradict things. But it does seem to imply that even if that thing turns on in Nov, it could be a while till it's at an energy that is anything new really.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/04/scien ... 1&emc=eta1

"“It’s not the design energy of the machine, but it’s 4 times higher than the Tevatron,” he said."

NewScientist article on this says that the LHC is expected to run at 7 TeV and the old projected 14 TeV in 1-3 years. So that's "something new".

[darkmatter4brains]

Another article on the LHC I came across:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090809/ap_ ... ng_machine

Seems like the media has it out for the LHC right now.

As Nimbus pointed out above and I didn't realize earlier, even though it comes on at half energy in Nov, that will still be at least 3.5 times more powerful than the Tevatron. Sweet!

[nimbus]

It's just such a monumental instrument, and it's been nothing but a let down in the public's point of view. No doubt it makes excellent fodder for bad press.

[cosmictraveler]

Looks like a few more months before it will be ready to do testing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cvE_fA9 ... 7D&index=8

[CommonMan]

Just what are they trying to find? They spent A LOT of money on this, so they must be pretty sure of finding something. But what? I watched a show about it but I am still not sure. Some say they will find what they call the Higgs boson particle or GOD particle.
Also they say they are trying to prove if there are extra dimensions, dark matter, and some other things. My question is, if they do find it, what are they going to DO with it?