MOSCOW, September 17 (RIA Novosti) - The...
ring must be cooled by liquid helium to minus 271 degrees Celsius, just two degrees above absolute zero.Experiments using the particle accelerator were suspended last September due to a helium leak into the tunnel housing the device. CERN says the repairs will $37.7 million and the LHC could be back in operation late this year.
By colliding particles in front of immensely powerful detectors, scientists hope to detect the Higgs boson, nicknamed the "God particle," which was hypothesized in the 1960s to explain how particles acquire mass. Discovering the particle could explain how matter appeared in the split-second after the Big Bang.
The international LHC project has involved more than 2,000 physicists from hundreds of universities and laboratories in 34 countries since 1984. Over 700 Russian physicists from 12 research institutes have taken part.
Pages: 1 [2]