The Cern particle accelerator was shut down for two years

The goal of the particle accelerator, Large Hadron Collider (LHC), located on the border between Switzerland and France, is to allow up to ten times the number of particle collisions compared to the current one after the upgrades. In this way, researchers can collect significantly larger research materials than before.

The update is characterized in the release as the biggest since the accelerator was built.

The particle accelerator collides electrically charged particles with the help of a magnetic field. In 2012, the investment of decades and billions of euros was rewarded when the particle accelerator discovered the Higgs particle.

The accelerator is supposed to restart gradually starting in 2028.

European particle physicist, director general of the particle research center Cern Mark Thomson told Helsingin Sanomat in June about plans for a new particle accelerator.

The purpose is to build a 91-kilometer-long circular accelerator in the border region of Switzerland and France, under Lake Geneva and its surroundings. The price of the project is estimated at around 16 billion euros.

The goal of the new accelerator would be to make new breakthroughs in particle physics, for example in the study of dark matter.

The Council of CERN’s member countries will decide on the approval of the project in 2028. Finland is also a member of the Council.

Read more: A nearly hundred-kilometer device could verify whether the universe is stable

Read more: Cern’s CEO explains in Helsinki why it is worth paying 16 billion for a giant particle accelerator

Read more: Cern announced a plan: A huge particle collider could reveal the secrets of dark matter

Read more: It’s been more than ten years since the discovery of the Higgs particle, and no new breakthroughs have been seen – Is particle research at the end of the road?

Correction 3.7. 5:00 p.m.: Contrary to earlier reported in the article, the particle accelerator was shut down for two years, not three. Also clarified that updates do not produce collisions but enable them.