THE LARGE HADRON COLLIDER EXPERIMENT: IS D-DAY

DEFERRED?

In recent memory no scientific experiment has created as much

excitement and consternation as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC)
experiment in CERN, Geneva. The awe-inspiring anticipation that the
secret to the creation of matter and the universe is finally to be
unraveled has kept one group waiting with bated breaths for the
outcome of this experiment.

Science has always reserved for itself the unique benefit of generating
technological thrills for the benefit of mankind. While mechanical
contraptions and electrical and electronic devices ruled the roost till
the turn of 21st century, rapid advances in nanotechnology,
microbiology, superconductivity and other areas of science promise to
expand the horizons of comfort in our daily lives. In the light of such
appealing good times ahead, the sudden appearance of news that the
CERN experiment could possibly spell the end of earth came like a bolt
from the blue and certainly put the scare into some folks.

What is the experiment all about? How much of the information is true?
What can we expect from this endeavour? These are some of the
questions the present article attempts to briefly address. Perhaps at
the end of it, the discerning reader could decide if we really need to
fear the outcome of this experiment.

1. What is the experiment about?

The LHC experiment is basically designed to replicate the
situation that existed about a billionth of a second after the Big
Bang took place. This was the time frame which signaled the
origin of material universe and the fundamental forces that
 govern its dynamics. Though Newton’s laws on how gravity acts
on mass have been around for some time now, there is still no
plausible quantum theory of gravity to explain how mass itself
was generated. Moreover, Vera Rubin and Kent Ford’s work at the
Kitt National Observatory in Arizona, USA, laid the foundation for
the discovery of “dark matter”, which cannot be seen in the
conventional sense, and yet pervades close to 60% of this
universe. Extensions of the currently prevailing “Standard Model”
accommodate the dark matter in the form of Supersymmetry
and String theories. According to these current theories, particles
acquire their mass through interactions with an all-pervasive
field called the Higgs field. Though this field is supposed to be
everywhere and at the bottom of all matter, it has still remained
elusive to the probing science of man. This is one reason why the
Higgs Boson, which carries this Higgs Field, is dubbed “God’s
particle.” The LHC experiment seeks to find this mysterious
particle and many other particles called “super-partners” of
many of the known particles, some of which could serve as dark
matter candidates and hence seek answers to the origin of
universe and dark matter.

2. How is it being done?

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN is a mammoth machine
that is the culmination of 20 years of single pointed attention of
scientists, engineers and technicians. It is also the most complex
machine ever built by man. The CERN website lists some
astounding statistics about this complex instrument. With a
circumference just less than 27 km, and straddling the French
and Swiss territories, it nestles more than 100 m underground.
At full power, the LHC will accelerate protons to 99.9% the speed
of light, which loosely means that under the same conditions
existing in the collider, they could rotate around the earth about
700 times by the time we blink our eyes once. Imparting an
energy of 7 TeV to each proton (CERN reminds us that this
energy is about the same possessed by a mosquito in flight!),
they will induce trillions of such protons to race around the cavity
of the collider in a beam that is about as thick as a strand of hair.
Zipping around at such dizzying speeds in a cavity that is
maintained at a temperature comparable to that of outer space
(about -270 degree Centigrade – comparably, the coldest
recorded temperature on earth is -89 degree Centigrade at the
Russian Vostok station in Antarctica) they would then smash into
each other creating temperatures more than 100 000 times
hotter than the heart of the sun! It is in these extreme conditions
that scientist hope to find the Higgs Boson and answer several
critical questions about the origin of matter.

On September 10th, the day feared by some as the D-day that

would end the world, CERN successfully steered the first beam of
protons fully around the entire accelerator cavity. The plan was
to first spend the first few weeks in helping the CERN scientists,
engineers and technicians to gain experience and get used to
this complex machine. It was only later that the accelerator
systems were to be systematically brought into play to ramp up
the protons to terrific speeds that would finally culminate in their
collisions. However, on September 19th, a large quantity of
helium (used to keep the superconducting coils of the magnets
cooled) leaked into the main tunnel, forcing the scientists to
temporarily shut down the system. After diagnostics and repairs,
the LHC is expected to be run again only around April 2009.
 There were many who heaved a sigh of relief on knowing that the
feared D-day was deferred. They even considered it ‘divine
intervention.’ But really, is it true that D-day is deferred?

3. How true are the fears associated with this experiment?

Contrary to the majority group that is keenly awaiting the results
of the CERN experiment, there is a small section of people
forming a minority which fears that this experiment is soon to
blow them to kingdom come. There are several fears that have
been vociferously voiced by this small group of concerned
people. From court cases in the USA and Europe to a traumatized
teenager’s suicide in Bhopal, India, the reactions were varied,
and at times bizarre. So much so that on the morning of
September 11, the world was so engrossed in discovering if a 27
km long tunnel had set off the end of the world that the
anniversary of the twin tower bombings found only a fleeting
mention among most media. While some of the fears pertain to
technicalities that are beyond the scope of this general article,
two of these are worth discussing- the cosmic rays and the mini
black holes.

Several highly energetic charged particles like electrons, protons

and some other nuclei are produced in certain astronomical
environments. These constitute the cosmic rays and are so
energetic that they can easily pass through many inches of lead.
However earth’s atmosphere shields us from these rays, which
have actually been hitting the earth since its formation. It is true
that cosmic rays will be reproduced in the LHC experiment at
CERN. However, the point to note is that cosmic rays far more
energetic than these have been hitting the earth for several
millennia and the earth has still survived without being
 destroyed. Therefore there are no grounds to fear that cosmic
rays produced at CERN will eat the earth up from inside as some
have feared.

Black holes are formed in space when an object much more

massive than the sun collapses into itself, thus concentrating a
huge amount of mass into a very small volume. This enormous
density of matter creates such exceptional force of gravitational
pull that everything in the vicinity of such an entity gets pulled
into it. It is speculated that even light cannot escape this
almighty grab and that is why these entities remain black, hence
giving them the name “black holes.” It may be pointed out that
the famous Chandrasekhar limit is associated with the theory of
black hole formation. Black holes constitute a part of what we
call as “dark matter” in the Universe. While scientists at CERN
have used well established physics laws to prove that
microscopic black holes cannot form inside the LHC, the obvious
point to note is that there is just not enough mass to even
initiate the formation of black holes. Also, the near instant
disintegration of particles formed in the LHC ensures that matter
does not stay long enough to accumulate or to form a mini black
hole in the cavity of LHC.

It is perhaps in anticipation of such concerns that CERN instituted

a study as far back as 2003 to prepare a safety report. The LHC
Safety Assessment Group (LSAG) report allays most of the fears
and concerns regarding the LHC experiment and is available for
public view at http://cern.ch/lsag/LSAG-Report.pdf.

4. What can we expect from the experiment?

The LHC machine is the culmination of perhaps every technology
and science known to man. As can be expected, it is bound to
face several glitches and obstacles along the way. The helium
leak due to a faulty electrical circuit is perhaps only the first one
among several others lurking around the corner. A case in study
is the recent hacking of the CERN computers that control several
complicated systems in the LHC. Thomas Alva Edison is said to
have tried out thousands of experiments before he perfected the
simple storage battery. If every failure were to bring in
despondency and despair, then science would never have
progressed. It is only because impediments were treated as
schools to learn from, that great inventions and discoveries saw
the light of day.
While the analysis of the data and conclusive results from the
LHC experiment are more than a year away, what can be looked
upon with interest is the spin-off of the vast technological
marvels that this project created. Especially for a country like
India where there is a vast pool of technical and scientific
manpower, such an opportunity would help in gaining hands-on
experience with some of the best minds in the field. Close to 200
Indian scientists from TIFR, BARC, SINP, IUAC and several Indian
Universities are involved in various groups that run this
experiment, and are bound to bring back with them a rich and
new experience. Such focused interplay between man and
machine calls for close interaction and cooperation, and is only
bound to herald the dawn of a new world of Physics in which
India too can play a dominant role. While there is enough reason
for grouse for missing the industrial revolution, India could
perhaps be standing on the threshold of a new era in
understanding how nature works. All it requires is for us to throw
aside our fears and misconceptions, and summon the courage to
explore the opening frontiers.