The LHC: the future of science

It could bring about a revolution in modern physics and science. It could alter the way we see… It could bring about a revolution in modern physics and science. It could alter the way we see the world around us and change our core beliefs. If we’re really unlucky, it might just suck up all the matter that constitutes our planet ‘mdash; but probably not. ‘ ‘ ‘ The European Organization for Nuclear Research, commonly known as CERN, has started testing its ambitious Large Hadron Collider project. On Wednesday, the first particle beam was sent around the LHC’s entire 17-mile-long concrete-lined tunnel. ‘ ‘ ‘ By late October, the world’s largest particle accelerator will be fully unveiled, and its first high-energy particle collisions will start taking place. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘It’s our civilization’s answer to the Pyramids of Egypt, but much better because it’s driven by curiosity rather than superstition, and built on collaboration, not command,’ claims 2004 Nobel laureate and MIT physicist Frank Wilczek. ‘It’s not only big in physical size; it’s extremely sophisticated, extremely delicate. It’s probably the most complex thing [humanity] has ever done.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ That’s a big claim to live up to, especially coming from one of the smartest guys in the world. But if things turn out as most experts predict, our society may have a new wonder of the modern world. More than 85 nations, thousands of physicists and countless academic institutions have thrown their lot in with the CERN project, making it one of the biggest collaborative international efforts in human history. And it’s been a long time coming. ‘ ‘ ‘ I can remember reading about the LHC as a far-off product of the future in high school and how the results of its tests would be shaping the physical perceptions of future generations to come. ‘ ‘ ‘ The collider comes at a time when major breakthroughs in the subject have been slow to develop. But nothing of this scale has ever been produced before: The experiments will shoot particles around the entire 17-mile tunnel at a rate of nearly 11,000 times per second, close to the speed of light. ‘ ‘ ‘ The knowledge gained from these experiments will be the basis of what’s being taught in college physics textbooks in ten years. ‘ ‘ ‘ One predicted result of the experiments could be the production and observation of the Higgs Boson, which might turn out to be a sort of ‘missing link’ within the Standard Theory and could even be a stepping stone to the development of a Grand Unified Theory of physics. ‘ ‘ ‘ Physicists are also seeking insight into the properties and nature of dark energy and dark matter, as well as why gravity is so weak in relation to the other forces. ‘ ‘ ‘ Some theories try to account for gravity’s weakness by suggesting that the force itself actually escapes into extra special dimensions that are invisible to us. And wouldn’t you know it ‘mdash; the LHC is ready to test out that theory, too. Brian Greene, a physicist at Columbia and author of ‘The Elegant Universe,’ explains, ‘What might happen is there will be some debris created in the collision that gets ejected out of our three dimensions of space into a higher dimensional space ‘mdash; dimensions that we don’t have direct access to.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ If the tests are positive, there will be less energy left over after one of these particle collisions, indirectly giving evidence that it has escaped into one of these higher dimensions. ‘ ‘ ‘ Not everyone is as enthused as Brian Greene. Walter Wagner, a former nuclear safety official, leveled a civil court case in Hawaii charging that CERN had not properly weighed out the risks involved with the project. Wagner, along with Spanish science writer Luis Sancho, argued that the experiments could lead to catastrophic physical events, such as the creation of miniature black holes that would consume the earth from within. ‘ ‘ ‘ Most dismiss the doomsday scenarios as scientifically unsound. ‘It is absolutely safe,’ says legendary physicist Stephen Hawking. ‘Collisions at these and greater energies occur millions of times a day in the Earth’s atmosphere, and nothing terrible happens.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ At present, CERN is planning on continuing its tests regardless of the ruling in the United States. ‘ ‘ ‘ The Large Hadron Collider is a fantastic product of accumulation. Millennia of knowledge, billions of dollars, years of work, and the improbable cooperation of numerous individuals and groups have gone into it, all for the sake of satisfying our own boundless curiosity. It truly is an amazing feat. ‘ ‘ ‘ And in the very off chance that something does go terribly wrong, and a monstrous miniature black-hole-of-death is created in the process, so be it. I can think of a dozen worse ways to go out. Brandon can be reached at bkp3@pitt.edu.