Why build the Large Hadron Collider? - page 11
Keywords: Physics Report Large Hadron Collider Basic Introduction Grand Unified Theory Cosmic Rays Anti Matter Extra Dimensions String Theory Dark Matter Higgs Boson
By Jenny on 02/07/2009
Level: A Level (Year 13)
Page Number: 11 of 16 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
produce quarks but usually they only form the two lightest ones (the up quark and the down quark). However, because of the plasma’s huge temperature the gluons will have enough energy to form equal amounts of the heavier ‘strange’ quarks, which then form unusual particles (for example “omegas” and “lambdas”) which last long enough to be observed by ALICE’s detectors.[10]
COSMIC RAYS AND THE SIZE OF THE PROTON
The small TOTEM experiment will study focus on physics not accessible to the larger, general purpose experiments. Among other studies it will measure (in effect) the size of the proton and monitor the LHC’s luminosity. TOTEM will also complement the results obtained by the other LHC experiments.
The LHCf experiment will use particles created inside the LHC to simulate cosmic rays in laboratory conditions. Cosmic rays are charged particles from outer space that constantly bombard the Earth's atmosphere. They collide with nuclei in the upper atmosphere, leading to a cascade of particles that reaches ground level.
Studying how the collisions inside the LHC cause these cascades of particles will help scientists to interpret and calibrate large-scale cosmic-ray experiments that can cover thousands of kilometres. [1]
THE GRAND UNIFIED THEORY AND BEYOND
Physicists today have written many Grand Unified Theories but more data is needed to see which or indeed any of them are correct.
It has already been discovered, that at high energies the electromagnetic and weak forces become one. So many theories speculate that at even higher energies the strong force may join them, and experiments already show that the effect of the strong force becomes weaker as energy increases. The energy involved is at least a thousand million times greater than the LHC can produce, but it would have existed in the very early Universe, almost immediately (10-34 s) after the Big Bang.[11][19]
Although the LHC cannot produce high enough energies to look for this unified force directly, it can search for its effects at lower energies. One consequence of this unification would be supersymmetry, so finding supersymmetric particles would be a sign of it. [11]
The LHC experiments are likely to take us closer to the Theory of Everything as the Grand Unifications theories only make sense if the standard model is true, for which you need the Higgs boson. Then finding supersymmetry could allow a Grand Unified Theory to be confirmed, and if the appearance or disappearance of particles at the LHC confirms the possibility of string
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