CERN's New Collider: Smashing into a New Era of Physics

By Gabriel Vermut

Physics and Aerospace Columnist; The Lawrenceville School, NJ

Over the years, CERN has been a driving force in most of the groundbreaking discoveries on the globe, especially in particle physics. In 2012, the LHC became the world's most powerful particle accelerator and etched a niche in history with its confirmation of the Higgs boson, popularly referred to as the "God particle." That was a huge discovery of clarity on how particles get mass, part of the Standard Model of particle physics. But despite the success, CERN is now looking forward with plans to build a next-generation super collider: an ambitious project to answer questions in physics and push the frontiers of our understanding of the universe.

Image of Particle Accelerator

Particle accelerators, such as the LHC, work by accelerating subatomic particles to near the speed of light and smashing them together in high-energy collisions. These collisions simulate the conditions just after the Big Bang and allow researchers to see and study fundamental particles and forces that could never otherwise be seen. For decades, accelerators have made key contributions to the confirmation of the Standard Model, which is a theory explaining the behavior of known particles and forces. The LHC has already explained many aspects other than the Higgs boson, including quarks and gluons, and even exotic particles not predicted by any theory.

Yet the LHC has its limits: it operates at an energy of 13 TeV, which is powerful but not enough to explore some mysteries, such as the nature of dark matter and dark energy, which together account for 95% of the universe's mass-energy. Physicists are also eager to probe phenomena beyond the Standard Model, including supersymmetry and extra dimensions. To answer these questions, CERN is already studying the Future Circular Collider, a facility that will be larger and more powerful than the LHC. With a proposed circumference of 100 kilometers, about four times greater than the circumference of the LHC, and energies of up to 100 TeV, the FCC would allow physicists to probe even earlier times in the universe's history. Such power can even lead to the discovery of completely new particles and forces.

This new collider has huge potential. If it succeeds, it could change our understanding of dark matter and shed light on the composition and structure of the universe. The FCC may finally unlock technological potential similar to other breakthroughs from past work in particle physics, such as the World Wide Web and cutting-edge medical imaging. Having said that, there's a lot at stake too, enormous funding, some international collaboration, and considerations of environmental concerns and consumption of energy. Despite these obstacles, proponents say the potential for ground-shaking discoveries makes it worth the time and money.

The proposed super collider is proof to humans curiosity and ambition to understand the unknown. The FCC has the potential to answer some of the most profound questions about the cosmos, from the nature of dark matter to the origins of the universe itself, pushing the limits of current scientific capabilities.