The Large Hadron Collider - A Future Gamma Ray Factory?
The Large Hadron Collier (LHC) is the largest and most powerful particle accelerator in the world. It is the largest single machine in the world.
The LHC accelerated its first atoms on July 25th.
Lead atoms usually have 82 electrons however all but one were stripped away and then accelerated in the LHC. Previously only protons and nuclei of atoms had been accelerated. This breakthrough means that the LHC may be used as a gamma-ray factory in the future.
This would happen by using a laser to put the electrons of the atoms into high energy states. When the atoms are accelerated the electrons would then emit gamma rays as the electrons fall back into their low energy state. This would produce gamma-rays at higher intensities than ever before which would be useful in searching for dark matter (particles that scientists believe exist but have never detected before) and producing beams of other heavy particles such as muons (for use in new kinds of experiments).
Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this post or any of my others, follow and subscribe to my blog. Feel free to discuss anything related to this post or ask questions in the comments below.
Did you see my previous post? Click the link below to check it out
Schrödinger’s Kittens - The Boundary Between Quantum And Classical Mechanics
The LHC accelerated its first atoms on July 25th.
Lead atoms usually have 82 electrons however all but one were stripped away and then accelerated in the LHC. Previously only protons and nuclei of atoms had been accelerated. This breakthrough means that the LHC may be used as a gamma-ray factory in the future.
This would happen by using a laser to put the electrons of the atoms into high energy states. When the atoms are accelerated the electrons would then emit gamma rays as the electrons fall back into their low energy state. This would produce gamma-rays at higher intensities than ever before which would be useful in searching for dark matter (particles that scientists believe exist but have never detected before) and producing beams of other heavy particles such as muons (for use in new kinds of experiments).
Did you see my previous post? Click the link below to check it out
Schrödinger’s Kittens - The Boundary Between Quantum And Classical Mechanics
Comments
Post a Comment