Why build the Large Hadron Collider? - page 13
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: 13 of 16 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
if a negatively charged strangelet did occur it could possibly convert ordinary nuclei into strange matter, and just conceivably start a chain reaction which could devour the entire Universe
If a strangelet were stable and negatively charged, it might begin eating the nuclei of ordinary matter, converting them into strange matter. Eventually the menacing chain reaction could assimilate our entire planet and everyone on it.
Wagner and Sancho describe CERN's safety reviews as "perfunctory" and say the cosmic ray argument may be misleading.
"There is no question that should [the] defendants inadvertently create a dangerous form of matter such as a micro black hole or a strangelet, or otherwise create unsafe conditions of physics, then the environmental impact would be both local and national in scope, and quite deadly to everyone," their lawsuit claims.
Unconfirmed reports say that a magistrate judge has been assigned to the case for an initial conference on 16 June, and that Wagner intends to serve court papers to the federal government.
"What we want to do is get this machine up and running," said Gillies, "We'll show people that the world is not going to disappear."[12]
Analysis - (Is it worth it?)
The LHC is a remarkably versatile accelerator, for example it as well as having the capability to collide proton beams with higher than ever energies and luminosities, providing high interaction rates and so value for money, it can also collide beams of heavy ions such as lead at higher energies than before increasing the number of experiments that it can perform. In fact all experiments are ingeniously designed so that between them they are searching for such a huge number of theoretically predicted phenomena (while also being on the lookout for any surprises) they are almost guaranteed to find at least some of the things they are looking for.[20]
It is also cost-effective in that it was built in an existing collider tunnel (that of the LEP) and uses existing particle sources and pre-accelerators – for example the beams are injected into the LHC from the existing super proton synchrotron (SPS). [2][20] However to achieve the proposed luminosities and energies (required to find many the particles being searched for - see Why is so much new equipment required?) the LHC needed to build the most advanced superconducting magnet and accelerator technologies ever used, which was extremely expensive. [14]
The huge amounts money spent on the LHC (the direct total LHC project cost
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