Posts: 3395
Threads: 43
Joined: February 8, 2015
Reputation:
33
RE: First collisions at the LHC with unprecedented Energy! (Ask a particle physisicist)
October 13, 2015 at 7:14 pm
(October 13, 2015 at 5:27 pm)Alex K Wrote: (October 13, 2015 at 11:21 am)Pyrrho Wrote: So, what is the latest news on the Lucifer Hiding Contraption (LHC)?
Not a whole lot from my perspective - data flows more slowly than hoped because the luminosity (more or less the rate of collisions) was somewhat below expectations. There was a slight excess in.the old data which could have pointed to a new very heavy particle, but the significance does not so far increase with the new data...
Why have there been fewer collisions?
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
Posts: 20476
Threads: 447
Joined: June 16, 2014
Reputation:
110
RE: First collisions at the LHC with unprecedented Energy! (Ask a particle physisicist)
October 14, 2015 at 6:16 am
I believe they've introduced seat belts ...
No God, No fear.
Know God, Know fear.
Posts: 18510
Threads: 129
Joined: January 19, 2014
Reputation:
90
RE: First collisions at the LHC with unprecedented Energy! (Ask a particle physisicist)
October 15, 2015 at 4:34 pm
(October 14, 2015 at 6:16 am)ignoramus Wrote: I believe they've introduced seat belts ...
*badumm pssss*
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition
Posts: 18510
Threads: 129
Joined: January 19, 2014
Reputation:
90
RE: First collisions at the LHC with unprecedented Energy! (Ask a particle physisicist)
October 15, 2015 at 4:43 pm
(October 13, 2015 at 7:14 pm)Pyrrho Wrote: (October 13, 2015 at 5:27 pm)Alex K Wrote: Not a whole lot from my perspective - data flows more slowly than hoped because the luminosity (more or less the rate of collisions) was somewhat below expectations. There was a slight excess in.the old data which could have pointed to a new very heavy particle, but the significance does not so far increase with the new data...
Why have there been fewer collisions?
I don't wholly understand all those technical reasons as I'm not a collider physicist, but here is one important factor: The collider lets pairs of little clouds of protons (bunches with 100 billion protons each) cross 20 million times per second. Let this be a fixed number. Now, maybe you can imagine that the frequency with which the protons in those bunches actually hit each other frontally, depends crucially on how focused those bunches are, how narrow. If you imagine two sets of marbles collide, you immediately see that if the they are very dilute in the sideways directions, there will hardly be any collisions.
This means that if anything interferes with the beam of proton bunches which causes it to lose focus, this will reduce the number of proton - proton collisions achieved.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition
Posts: 3395
Threads: 43
Joined: February 8, 2015
Reputation:
33
RE: First collisions at the LHC with unprecedented Energy! (Ask a particle physisicis
October 15, 2015 at 4:59 pm
(October 15, 2015 at 4:43 pm)Alex K Wrote: (October 13, 2015 at 7:14 pm)Pyrrho Wrote: Why have there been fewer collisions?
I don't wholly understand all those technical reasons as I'm not a collider physicist, but here is one important factor: The collider lets pairs of little clouds of protons (bunches with 100 billion protons each) cross 20 million times per second. Let this be a fixed number. Now, maybe you can imagine that the frequency with which the protons in those bunches actually hit each other frontally, depends crucially on how focused those bunches are, how narrow. If you imagine two sets of marbles collide, you immediately see that if the they are very dilute in the sideways directions, there will hardly be any collisions.
This means that if anything interferes with the beam of proton bunches which causes it to lose focus, this will reduce the number of proton - proton collisions achieved.
So do you think there is a problem with the machine? A defective part? A misalignment? Perhaps that they have some bit of dirt in there somewhere? Or do you think they have the settings set wrong somewhere? Or are the little devils just being uncooperative? Maybe they are getting tired of you heartless scientists crashing them into each other.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
Posts: 18510
Threads: 129
Joined: January 19, 2014
Reputation:
90
RE: First collisions at the LHC with unprecedented Energy! (Ask a particle physisicist)
October 15, 2015 at 7:53 pm
It is for example well-known that there are some contaminations, possibly water ice, in the beam pipe. They call them UFOs and ULOs (unknown falling and lying objects), and some measures have been taken to compensate for that.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition
Posts: 18510
Threads: 129
Joined: January 19, 2014
Reputation:
90
RE: First collisions at the LHC with unprecedented Energy! (Ask a particle physisicist)
December 15, 2015 at 4:21 am
(This post was last modified: December 15, 2015 at 4:29 am by Alex K.)
Later today (2pm Swiss time) we will hear from the two largest LHC Experiments, ATLAS and CMS, about their latest analyses of the 13 TeV data. There have been some fluctuations which a suggestive of a new particle at a Mass of 2000 GeV (for comparison, the heaviest known particle so far, the Top quark, has 172 GeV) which decays into two W or Z bosons. If this turned out to be true, which is far far from certain, it would be a very exciting discovery. Particles decaying in this way are quite unusual and could lead to great new insights.
![[Image: pvaluecomb2tev.JPG]](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=www.pd.infn.it%2F%257Edorigo%2Fpvaluecomb2tev.JPG)
For technical details see this blog
http://www.science20.com/a_quantum_diari...ree-161799
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition
Posts: 18510
Threads: 129
Joined: January 19, 2014
Reputation:
90
RE: First collisions at the LHC with unprecedented Energy! (Ask a particle physisicist)
December 15, 2015 at 4:45 pm
(This post was last modified: December 15, 2015 at 5:12 pm by Alex K.)
Ok, this is a bit exciting - the above mentioned hint has not been seen in the new data (yay science), but now both experiments see an excess of events with two photons at a particular energy - what could be the harbinger of a completely new boson with the mass of 750 GeV. Unfortunately we will only learn over the course of 2016 whether this pans out.... but if it does, wow, it is a revolution. The books will literally have to be rewritten
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition
Posts: 4705
Threads: 38
Joined: April 5, 2015
Reputation:
65
RE: First collisions at the LHC with unprecedented Energy! (Ask a particle physisicist)
December 15, 2015 at 5:32 pm
I feel like I should be excited at this as well, but it's ever so slightly above my pay grade. It's like being at a party and everyone's relishing some delicious food, and I'm allergic to it and stuck on the sidelines :|
![[Image: rySLj1k.png]](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=i.imgur.com%2FrySLj1k.png)
If you have any serious concerns, are being harassed, or just need someone to talk to, feel free to contact me via PM
Posts: 18510
Threads: 129
Joined: January 19, 2014
Reputation:
90
RE: First collisions at the LHC with unprecedented Energy! (Ask a particle physisicist)
December 15, 2015 at 5:52 pm
(December 15, 2015 at 5:32 pm)Kaiser Wrote: I feel like I should be excited at this as well, but it's ever so slightly above my pay grade. It's like being at a party and everyone's relishing some delicious food, and I'm allergic to it and stuck on the sidelines :|
The things it could be if it is real:
another Higgs boson, which could shed a light on why the masses are as they are, or why there is no antimatter, whether there is Supersymmetry etc...
a messenger particle connecting us to the dark sector (dark matter etc...)
Vibrations of higher dimensions of space
The fool hath said in his heart, There is a God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14, KJV revised edition
|
