Why build the Large Hadron Collider? - page 12
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: 12 of 16 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
theory then it could even one day lead to gravity being included in a Theory of Everything.
WILL MICRO BLACKHOLES AND STRANGELETS DEVOUR THE EARTH WHEN THE LHC IS TURNED ON?
Campaigners in the US are trying to delay the LHC’s start-up due to claims that it could create mini black holes or ‘strangelets’ which could ‘devour’ the Earth.
The LHC may create mini black holes which according to Luis Sancho, from Spain, and Hawaii resident Walter Wagner might then pull in matter and eventually destroy the planet. They have filed a lawsuit in Hawaii's US District Court against CERN and US contributors to the project demanding that they do not operate the LHC until they prove it is safe.
The lawsuit's claims are "complete nonsense", James Gillies, a spokesman for CERN, told New Scientist. "The LHC will start up this year, and it will produce all sorts of exciting new physics and knowledge about the universe," he said, adding: "A year from now, the world will still be here."
In a 2003 safety review CERN stated that there was "no basis for any conceivable threat", as the microscopic black holes would only have the (tiny) energy of the colliding particles they wouldn’t have sufficient mass to generate enough gravitational force to pull in any matter. Black holes lose matter through a process known as Hawking radiation; so that any black hole that can’t attract matter will shrink and disappear (therefore any black holes produced by the LHC should only exist for a fleeting moment). However although Hawking radiation is generally accepted it hasn’t actually been observed yet.
CERN also argues that if the energies of the LHC can create black holes or strangelets then naturally occurring cosmic rays which have much higher energies than those produced in the LHC would create far more and none of these have caused any damage, so neither will the LHC. Although, naturally occurring cosmic rays travel straight through Earth while anything the LHC creates will spin with it, which could conceivably make a difference.
The LHC could also possible crate strangelets which are small hypothetical pieces of matter made up of strange quarks rather than the usual ‘top’ and ‘bottom’ quarks. As strange quarks are more unstable than the unusual quarks any strangelets would be unlikely to last long and their electromagnetic charge should repel normal matter so that instead of combining with them it should simply decay. However
Last 5 comments…
There have been no comments posted for this article, but you need to register if you want to be the first!