Large Hadron Collider Accelerates Beams to 3.5TeV

A new world record has been achieved at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, this month after scientists successfully circulated two 3.5 TeV proton beams for the very first time.This is the highest energy

yet achieved in a particle accelerator and marks an important step on the way to the LHC ramping up to its next target of colliding the two beams and the start of the physics research programme.

The UK is one of the biggest contributors to the LHC project. Through the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), which funds the UK particle physics programme, including the CERN subscription,

the UK has contributed vital hardware, computing and scientific knowledge and has around 150 UK scientists currently involved in the experiment.

Professor John Womersley, particle physicist and the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s (STFC) Director of Science Programmes said: “Accelerating particle beams to this new record energy is a critical step in starting the LHC science programme – a programme with the potential to make significant discoveries in the next couple of years, and which will bring us another step closer to answering some of the most fundamental questions about our Universe.”