Breakthroughs in discovering the origin of the universe

Thanks to the upgrading of CERN's particle accelerator, made possible by the HL-LHC project, scientists will increase the chances of making discoveries that revolutionize our existence in the future. A first important step towards this direction is the completion of the civil engineering works for the project.

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world's largest particle accelerator, is located within a 27-km circular tunnel at a depth of approximately 100 meters, with eight sites, called 'Points', positioned all along the circumference of the tunnel. The new civil works at Point 5, located in proximity to the existing ones of CMS in France, have been designed by the joint venture composed by Lombardi, Pini Group and Artelia, and include both underground and surface works.

Once the new HL-LHC is up and running, two high-energy proton beams will be accelerated and collided in the system under the guidance of 1 600 main superconducting quadrupole and dipole magnets. The speed reached will be very close to that of light. The hope of the scientific world, thanks to the analysis of the collision data, is to be able to make new discoveries in nuclear physics and observe new and rare physical phenomena.

The experiments will also bring concrete benefits in technology, especially in the field of electrical engineering, such as vacuum and superconductor technologies. The latter are used in various fields and to the benefit of the community, for example, in imaging diagnostics and cancer treatment.
 

Picture by: CERN