Large Hadron Collider fires back up after two years and breaks records

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was shut down about two years ago so that the device could be repaired and get some upgrades. After that two year down time, the LHC is now up and running again and it has broken some records during its first experiment. The LHC has broken previous records by producing energy levels never before seen.

Protons inside the collider are traveling at near the speed of light and have broken the previous energy level record with a production of 12 trillion electron-volts. Researchers at the LHC have also identified a puzzling decay process discovered while smashing particles together that is referred to as Bs particles.

The Bs particle is described as an extremely heavy particle that is made up of a quark and an antiquark that forms something called a muon. This peculiar decay process only occurs in four out of every billion particles.

Researchers say that the process is so rare that the fact the team of scientists were able to observe the decay process in the first experiment performed in years is incredible. The biggest challenge for the scientists performing research using the LHC is discovering the optimal position for the magnets that direct protons around the 17-mile long corridor.

SOURCE: Natmonitor