Science world celebrates startup of 'Big Bang' machine
ARGONNE, Ill. (Sept. 10, 2008) — Some of the biggest questions in particle physics
could only be worked through on paper – until now.
The Large Hadron Collider came online in the early hours of September 10,
and with it the ATLAS experiment, led in part by the U.S. Department of Energy's
Argonne National Laboratory, begins its investigation into the fundamentals
of the universe.
ATLAS (which stands for A Toroidal LHC Apparatus) is the biggest of the four
experiments currently housed in the LHC at the European
Organization for Nuclear Research. The ATLAS detector will search for new discoveries by studying head-on
collisions of protons of extraordinarily high energy, shedding light on the
inner workings of forces that have shaped our universe. It will also investigate
the exotic unknowns of particle physics, such as the origins of mass, extra
dimensions in space and evidence of dark matter in the universe.
The LHC, located at the CERN laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland, is now
the world's most powerful particle accelerator.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National
Science Foundation (NSF)
invested a total $531 million in the construction of the accelerator and its
detectors, which scientists believe could help unlock extraordinary discoveries
about the nature of the physical universe.
Celebrations across the United States and around the world mark the LHC's
first circulating beam, an occasion more than 15 years in the making. An estimated
10,000 people from 60 countries have helped design and build the accelerator
and its massive particle detectors, including more than 1,700 scientists, engineers,
students and technicians from 94 U.S. universities and laboratories supported
by DOE's Office of Science and NSF.
"As the largest and most powerful particle accelerator on Earth, the LHC represents
a monumental technical achievement," said U.S. Department of Energy Undersecretary
for Science Raymond L. Orbach. "I congratulate the world's scientists and engineers
who have made contributions to the construction of the accelerator for reaching
this milestone. We now eagerly await the results that will emerge from operation
of this extraordinary machine."
The first circulating beam is a major accomplishment on the way to the ultimate
goal: high-energy beams colliding in the centers of the LHC's particle detectors.
Beyond revealing a new world of unknown particles, the LHC experiments could
explain why those particles exist and behave as they do. They could reveal
the origins of mass, shed light on dark matter, uncover hidden symmetries of
the universe and possibly find extra dimensions of space.
NSF has focused its support on funding university scientists who have contributed
to the design and construction of the two largest detectors, CMS and ATLAS,
and promoted the development of advanced computing innovations, essential to
address the challenges posed by the enormity and richness of data to be accumulated.
Continued support will enable scientists to optimize detector performance,
successful data accumulation and sophisticated analysis, necessary for discovery.
"This national and international collaboration of unprecedented scope, and
our investment in basic science, fundamental to the NSF mission, provide an
exciting opportunity to solve some of the core mysteries of the universe," said
Arden L. Bement, Jr., director of the NSF. "With the operation of the LHC,
anticipation of transformative scientific discoveries soars to new heights."
DOE provided support for the design and construction of the ATLAS and CMS
detectors through two DOE national laboratories—Brookhaven
National Laboratory
in New York and Fermi National
Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) in Illinois. While the construction was managed through Fermilab and Brookhaven, scientists
and engineers at universities and other DOE national laboratories – Argonne
National Laboratory in Illinois and Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley
Lab) in California – played key roles in the design and construction and are
finalizing preparations to collect and analyze the data at the energy frontier.
In addition, DOE supported about 150 scientists, engineers and technicians
from three DOE national laboratories—Brookhaven, Fermilab and Berkeley Lab—that
built critical components for the LHC accelerator. They are joined by colleagues
from DOE's Stanford
Linear Accelerator Center and Texas
A&M University in ongoing accelerator R&D.
"The LHC is a discovery machine," said CERN Director General Robert
Aymar, "its
research program has the potential to change our view of the Universe profoundly,
continuing a tradition of human curiosity that's as old as mankind itself."
Argonne National Laboratory brings the world's brightest scientists and engineers
together to find exciting and creative new solutions to pressing national problems
in science and technology. The nation's first national laboratory, Argonne
conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every
scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from
hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies
to help them solve their specific problems, advance America 's scientific leadership
and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60
nations, Argonne is managed by UChicago
Argonne, LLC for the U.S.
Department of Energy's Office
of Science.
For more information, please contact Brock Cooper (630/252-5565
or bcooper@anl.gov) at Argonne.
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