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An official ceremony on 27 November 2006 celebrated the successful delivery of the 1624 superconducting main magnets

LHC milestone triple jump

CERN’s major project to build the LHC (Large Hadron Collider), the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator, has recently made some impressive leaps towards the finishing line. One eighth of the machine is now complete, the entire ‘cryogenic distribution line’ has been installed, and CERN has taken delivery of all the main magnets required to build the LHC.

This gigantic scientific machine is located inside a circular underground tunnel of 27 km circumference approximately 100 metres beneath Switzerland and France. It was initially conceived 22 years ago and the construction was approved 10 years later. When fully operational, it will reach seven times the energy of the most powerful particle accelerator currently in use. Scientists will use the LHC to recreate the conditions just after the Big Bang, by colliding two beams of particles travelling in opposite directions at close to the speed of light.

The construction of the LHC is divided into eight sectors, each approximately 3 km in length. On 10 November, the magnets, cryogenic distribution line, and other systems and services of one of these sectors were completely interconnected.

During the LHC’s operation, thousands of magnets of different varieties and sizes will be used to navigate the beams of particles around the accelerator. These magnets form a ring inside the 27 km tunnel, 22 km of which is composed of 1624 superconducting main magnets. CERN took delivery of the last of these on 27 November, thus completing the full set of main magnets required to build the LHC.

To achieve the high magnetic field required to bend the path of the particle beam around the accelerator, the magnets must perform in a ‘superconducting’ state where there is no loss of power. This requires chilling the machine core to a temperature of -271°C throughout the LHC’s operation – this is even colder than outer space! A ‘cryogenic distribution line’ spanning the entire length of the tunnel will serve this purpose; its installation was successfully completed on 19 October.

The LHC will be central to the next generation of experiments at CERN, enabling scientific investigations that have never been possible before. A new frontier of knowledge will shed light on the unresolved questions of science, through for example the search for the elusive ‘Higgs boson’ to explain the origin of particle mass, particles that could make up dark matter, and the existence of extra dimensions of space. With the recent triple achievements, the LHC is well on course to welcome in the new year, with eager anticipation for its start-up expected in spring 2008.

December 2006