The inside of the LHC, where protons pass each other at 299,792,455 m/s, just 3 m/s shy of the speed of light. Particle accelerators like the LHC consist of sections of accelerating cavities, where electric fields are applied to speed up the particles inside, as well as ring-bending portions, where magnetic fields are applied to direct the fast-moving particles towards either the next accelerating cavity or a collision point. (Credit: Maximilien Brice and Julien Marius Ordan, CERN)
The way to understand the earliest moments of creation is to recreate those conditions and study them. Why would we stop now?
Here in early July of 2022, the world’s most powerful, most successful particle physics collider of all-time is currently smashing its own records. Having just completed a series…
