Future Circular Collider (FCC)- Giant new atom-smasher

Source-This post on Future Circular Collider (FCC)- Giant new atom-smasher is based on the article “Scientists move forward with plans for giant new atom-smasher to begin operating by 2040” published in “The Hindu” on 6th February 2024.

Why in the News?

Recently, CERN (the European Organisation for Nuclear Research) scientists are advancing plans for a multibillion-euro project to construct the more powerful Future Circular Collider. The collider plans to start operating by 2040 with an estimated cost of around 17 billion dollar.

What is Future Circular Collider (FCC)?

1. About– The Future Circular Collider (FCC) is a particle accelerator currently under design, intended to accommodate the next generation of particle colliders.

2. Purpose– The FCC aims to design a hadron collider with a center-of-mass energy of about 100 TeV (trillion electron volts), which is eight times more powerful than the Large Hadron Collider’s 13 TeV.

3. Location– The FCC is planned to be in a newly constructed 80–100 km tunnel. The circular tunnel will be at a depth of 100 to 400 meters on the France-Switzerland border.

4. FCC extends LHC research– The FCC aims to build upon the ongoing research at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

5. Significance:
a. It will enhance our understanding of fundamental physics.
b. It will foster advancements in fields such as cryogenics, superconductivity, vacuum tech, and detector instruments.

What is the Large Hadron Collider(LHC)?

1. About– Large Hadron Collider is the world’s largest and highest-energy particle collider.

2. Built by– European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) between 1998 and 2008 in collaboration with over 10,000 scientists.

3. Located at-The accelerator lies in a tunnel 100 meters underground at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, on the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva, Switzerland.

4. Purpose-To explore tiny subatomic particles, which represent the smallest known units of matter and form the basis of everything.

5. Achievements– In 2012, scientists at CERN announced to the world the discovery of the Higgs boson or the ‘God Particle’ during the LHC’s first run. This led to Peter Higgs and his collaborator François Englert being awarded the Nobel Prize for physics in 2013.

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