Geneva, 10 September 2008. The first beam in the Large Hadron Collider at CERN1 was successfully steered around the full 27 kilometres of the world\u2019s most powerful particle accelerator at 10h28 this morning. This historic event marks a key moment in the transition from over two decades of preparation to a new era of scientific discovery.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a fantastic moment,\u201d said LHC project leader Lyn Evans, \u201cwe can now look forward to a new era of understanding about the origins and evolution of the universe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Starting up a major new particle accelerator takes much more than flipping a switch. Thousands of individual elements have to work in harmony, timings have to be synchronized to under a billionth of a second, and beams finer than a human hair have to be brought into head-on collision. Today\u2019s success puts a tick next to the first of those steps, and over the next few weeks, as the LHC\u2019s operators gain experience and confidence with the new machine, the machine\u2019s acceleration systems will be brought into play, and the beams will be brought into collision to allow the research programme to begin.<\/p>\n
Once colliding beams have been established, there will be a period of measurement and calibration for the LHC\u2019s four major experiments, and new results could start to appear in around a year. Experiments at the LHC will allow physicists to complete a journey that started with Newton’s description of gravity. Gravity acts on mass, but so far science is unable to explain the mechanism that generates mass. Experiments at the LHC will provide the answer. LHC experiments will also try to probe the mysterious dark matter of the universe \u2013 visible matter seems to account for just 5% of what must exist, while about a quarter is believed to be dark matter. They will investigate the reason for nature’s preference for matter over antimatter, and they will probe matter as it existed at the very beginning of time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe LHC is a discovery machine,\u201d said CERN Director General Robert Aymar, \u201cits research programme has the potential to change our view of the Universe profoundly, continuing a tradition of human curiosity that\u2019s as old as mankind itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tributes have been coming in from laboratories around the world that have contributed to today\u2019s success.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe completion of the LHC marks the start of a revolution in particle physics,\u201d said Pier Oddone, Director of the US Fermilab. \u201cWe commend CERN and its member countries for creating the foundation for many nations to come together in this magnificent enterprise. We appreciate the support that DOE and NSF have provided throughout the LHC’s construction. We in the US are proud to have contributed to the accelerator and detectors at the LHC, together with thousands of colleagues around the world with whom we share this quest.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI congratulate you on the start-up of the Large Hadron Collider,\u201d said Atsuto Suzuki, Director of Japan\u2019s KEK laboratory, \u201cThis is a historical moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has been a fascinating and rewarding experience for us,\u201d said Vinod C. Sahni, Director of India\u2019s Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, \u201cI extend our best wishes to CERN for a productive run with the LHC machine in the years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAs some might say: \u2018One short trip for a proton, but one giant leap for mankind!\u2019 TRIUMF, and indeed all of Canada, is delighted to bear witness to this amazing feat,\u201d said Nigel S. Lockyer, Director of Canada\u2019s TRIUMF laboratory. \u201cEveryone has been involved but CERN is to be especially congratulated for bringing the world together to embark on such an incredible adventure.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a visit to CERN shortly before the LHC\u2019s start-up United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon said: \u201cI am very honored to visit CERN, an invaluable scientific institution and a shining example what international community can achieve through joint efforts and contribution. I convey my deepest admiration to all the scientists and wish them all the success for their research for peaceful development of scientific progress.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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