When is the exact date that the Particle Accelerator (Atom Smasher) will be turned on or if it already has?

Question

Just curious. Not sure if it already has been switched on, but anywhere you read says sometime in august and its august. So does anyone know when it will be switched on or if it already has been? Thanks

Answer 1

Previous poster is right about one thing, it takes a while for the LHC to be 'switched on'. It has to be cooled down to a couple of degrees above absolute zero, the particle beams have to be sped to near the speed of light. However, there is no real 'fusion' going on - moreso just a collision of two protons at the end of their respective cycles around the tunnel. Fusion requires two atoms fuse to make a new, heavier atom. Two protons colliding and subsequently disintegrating makes millions of smaller particles: therefore it is not fusion.

That being said, LHC is scheduled to start up on September 10 2008. That is when the first proton beam will be synchronized and 'fed' into the chamber. The speed of this will be gradually increased, and then another beam of protons (identical in every way to the initial beam) will be fed in the opposite direction, and then steered to an eventual collision.

Answer 2

There is no time when the "Big red button" will be pressed and the particle accelerator at CERN will burst into life; the particle accelerator effectively warms up, by slowly increasing the velocity of the particles until they reach a speed at which they can collide. They are doing this because of the simple physics taking place with the particles. The infinitesimally light particles travelling at 99.99% the speed of light have the equivalent momentum of the eurostar travelling at 92mph! For this reason they warm the machine up so they can control and make sure the particles are not smashing into the walls of the accelerator, therefore reducing the chance of the machine being damaged. The particle accelerator is actually warming up right now and has been for a few months.