LHC accelerator sets a new record

Last week, the Big Bang experiment at CERN (European Atomic Research Agency) set a new record when it launched beams of protons with higher energy levels.

Collisions in the LHC accelerator are part of an experiment to recreate the conditions immediately after the Big Bang explosion occurred at the beginning of the universe to understand more about the natural state of matter.

Scientists observe the activity of a large particle accelerator through a computer screen at the CERN control center in Geneva (Switzerland) - Photo: Reuters

'This can be considered as the first phase of operation aimed at testing the entire LHC system, providing defining data for experiments and showing what needs to be completed to prepare the transfer machine. to the period of continuous operation at higher energy levels , 'said CERN Director General Rolf Heuer.

Scientists at the European Atomic Research Agency (CERN) have collided particles at 2.36 tera-electron volts (TeV) energy, a new record made by a powerful accelerator The most current since it was restarted last November.

1 TeV is only equivalent to the amount of energy a mosquito makes when performing flight gestures, but when this energy level is concentrated in a single "super baby" elementary particle, it becomes much stronger. .

CERN set a previous record on November 30, after the first proton shot out on November 23, through a 27-kilometer tunnel system deep beneath the French-Swiss border of the accelerator.

The new record broke the collision record at the previous 1.96 TeV and the record of collisions at less than 1 TeV for single particles was performed at the Fermi National Laboratory accelerator (USA). .

When CERN's particle accelerator, the world's largest machine, operates at the highest energy level, it will produce 7 TeV proton beams and create collisions with opposite particles at 14 TeV.

The accelerator is currently in a state of inactivity. It will be restarted in February 2010 to prepare for a higher energy level and start entering the main research program.

CERN's Big Bang machine was first put into operation in September 2008, but 10 days later, it had to stop operating due to a malfunction of the electrical connection.