Nothing That Matters

Most focused and elegant of all the six experiments at the LHC is the LHC beauty or LHCb. It will try to find asymmetries in the behaviour of B-Quark and anti-B-quark particles.
Oh then what is quark, B-Quark and the lack of symmetry. What will they signify.
The present model of particle physics, Standard Model, envisages that Proton and Neutrons are made-up of fundamental particles called Quarks. Each ordinary run-of-the-mill proton or neutron is made of two types (Pair) of Quark - UP Quark and Down Quark. Three quarks (two of one type and one of another) make a Proton or Neutron.
Quarks inside the Proton/Neutron are held together by force particles called Gluon's.
Surprisingly there are Two other family of pair of Quarks. These are named exotically as seen in graphic above. Surprising part is that all the matter that we see in the world is made of Up/Down family of Quarks. Quarks of other two families are very short lived. Where has the matter made of other two Quark families disappeared. The Top & Bottom Quarks were at one time also called Truth and Beauty. Together this family is called B-Quark Family.
Quarks have a property that they cannot be seen by themselves - but only as a Quark-Gluon Plasma. Its this Plasma -specially B-Quark family - that will be targeted at the LHCb.
But what will it signify. And what about the Symmetry?
That will be the next post.

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Please see my post on how two counter rotating beams of proton are accelerated in stages and then collided. Remember the rings smallest to largest are:
1.Booster Ring on Surface
2.Proton Synchrotron on Surface
3.Super Proton Synchrotron at 40M below level
4.LHC with ATLAS at 100M below.
Click this link for video.

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As Mentioned earlier, there are four sets of Detectors on the LHC Ring Tunnel - ALICE, ATLAS, CMS & LHCb. Since ATLAS & CMS only crosscheck each other, there will be only three sets of results. How will the results of these experiments improve with time?
The results from particle collisions, like any other quantum affected processes, are based on probabilities. Therefore confirmations of results will have to wait for accumulation of enough numbers of collisions.
As with passage of time, the teething trouble will be overcome and the learning curve in running the LHC will be crossed, the number of possible collisions per year will grow from 6X10¹³ in 2009 to 6X10¹⁵
in 5 to 6 years time (2014)- a 100 time increase . The more energy you have in LHC the more heavier particle it can detect. Depending on the promise that LHC unfolds, it may then be shutdown for an upgrade to increase its power from 14TeV to 40TeV and also to larger number of collisions per year to 6X10¹⁶ a further 1000 times increase.
So up to 2014 before the upgrade we will be discovering only lighter particles but more and more particles are likely be confirmed as the year go by till then.
After upgrade the higher particles are likely to be confirmed in 4 to 5 years thereafter (2018-2019).
Hmmmm!! But what will these particles that we expect to look for - That will be next post Sir!

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>>The Circular Underground Tunnel of LHC was not built now, it was a pre-existing one housing an earlier Large Electron Positron Collider (LEP) built in 1980 for peak energy levels of 209 gigaelectronvolts (GeV).
>>Since the energy of LHC was upto 14 (Teraelectronvolt) Tev, for using the same low energy experiment tunnel, much stronger Magnetic Field was needed to move much higher energy particle on the same tracks. But at the same time all the magnets and other equipment had to fit into the existing small bore-tunnel. Thus the coils of the magnet had to be cooled to much lower temperature (1.9K or -217.1C) so that more currents could be carried.
>>Alas at these temperature, the liquid Helium used for cooling is superfluid with nil viscosity (i.e. the liquid can climb up a wall). Therefore all welds and joints had to be of same standard as in a Nuclear Power Reactor.
>>The Detectors for the experiments - ALICE. ATLAS, CMS and LHCb were construted anew.
>>The magnets used for ATLAS are world's largest Supeconducting Magnets. The cavern needed for these is so large(35 M high)at 100M below earth - that due to Archimedes Principle it tries to rise towards surface of earth like a bubble at the bottom of lake - though only 0.2 millimetres per year. So the floor of the Cavern is 5 M thick concrete to avoid distortions during upward movement.
>>CMS actually rechecks the results of ATLAS by another technology. It has to be diametrically opposite to ATLAS. But at that point there were very fast moving underground acquifiers. To build cavern there, brine (salt saturated water) at -5C had to be pumped there for 6 months and then liquid nitrogen at -196C for one month to freeze water into a 3 metre thick ice-wall - which held back the water of the acquifier. Then only digging and construction could be done.
>>CMS magnetic field had to be stronger than even ATLAS. The magnet weighed 10,000 tonne. The coils therefore had to withstand the magnetic forces (=60 atmospheres)on each other.
>>To carryout any repair, 40,000 tonnes of equipment has to be allowed to heat back unaided to normal temperatures - that takes 5 weeks. Then after repairs 10,000 tonnes of liquid nitrogen and 130 tonnes of liquid Helium are needed to cool it back in another 5 weeks.
What will the future archaeologist make of this megalomania!!

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(Some errors in sketch, I will correct it soon)
The first step in the smashing of two counter-rotating beams of proton is:
On the Ground Level:
1. Strip electrons from hydrogen atoms to make protons and accelerate these in a linear accelerator (see LA & BR in sketch) to 31.4% of Speed of Light (C).
2. Then booster ring (see LA & BR in sketch) accelerates these protons to 91.6% OF C and feeds these into proton synchrotron machine(see PS in sketch) .
3. This almost half a century old machine finally accelerates proton to 99.93% of C (25 Gigaelectronvolt (GeV). This machine will also be used for accelerating Lead ions for ALICE experiments.
Now 40 metres below earth
4. The super proton synchrotron (see SPS in sketch) will step up the speed of protons to 99.9998% of C (450 GeV).
And Finally 100 M below surface
The Large Hadron Collider (see LHC in sketch) will tweak the protons to 99.9999991% (7TeV). Then it will collide two such counter rotating beams of protons at four experimental areas on its periphery: ALICE, ATLAS, Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) and LHC beauty (see LHCb in sketch) .

What are these experiments is NEXT POST!

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