The particle accelerators they are among the most fascinating and complex machines ever built by man. They are used to study the subject in its most fundamental components, using electric and magnetic fields, accelerate particles causing them to collide. But they are not just tools for research: they have concrete applications also in medicine, industry and art. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), present at CERN in Genevais the largest and most powerful particle storage ring in operation today. It is located underground, in a tunnel 27 km in circumference. Here, protons are accelerated to 99.999% the speed of light and then collided. Thanks to the LHC, the Higgs boson was discovered, the particle that gives mass to all the others. Such a discovery led Peter Higgs and François Englert to receive the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2013.
What is a particle accelerator and what is it for
The particle accelerators they are devices they use electric and magnetic fields to give a “push” to the particles, accelerating them up to speed very close to that of light. Once the desired energy is reached, the particles are made to collide with each other or with a target. From these collisions yes generate new particleswhich tell us what the universe is like at a microscopic level.
How particle accelerators work
Accelerators can be theineari whether the particles travel in a straight line, or, as is often the case, are ccircular. In the latter case the particles rotate inside a ring. Here magnets with powerful magnetic fields come into play, which bend the trajectory of the particles and keep them on the ”track”. To make a particle accelerator work, various elements and technologies are needed:
- from the charged particles electrically, such as ions, electrons or protons
- of the electric fields to initially accelerate the particles
- of the magneti to curve the trajectory of the particles and to control the shape and position of the beam
- a high vacuum to prevent particles from colliding with unwanted molecules
- of the sradio frequency systems which give the “push” to the particles at each turn, to replenish the energy lost during the previous journey.
- of the detectors to “photograph” collisions between particles with each other, on a sample or against a target.
All of this is managed by a computer system and cross-functional skills shared by teams of scientists, physicists and engineers. There is also a type of particle accelerator, called synchrotronwhich generates gods from the acceleration of electrons high energy photonsranging from infrared, through the visible spectrum to X-rays.
Applications of accelerators and synchrotrons
These tools have many concrete applications. Accelerators are useful for research in physics, to understand what happens from the interaction between particlesto understand the birth of the universeto search dark matter And new dimensions.
Accelerators and synchrotrons are used in medicine, for example, for radiotherapy and for the production of radiopharmaceuticals. In the’industry they are used to analyze materials and for the sterilization of medical instruments and food. In the’art and archaeology they are useful for studying pigments, ancient finds, paintings without ruining them.
Synchrotrons allow for extremely precise analysis of the structure of materials electronics such as semiconductors and batteries, contributing to the development of more efficient and long-lasting devices. In the food fieldsynchrotron light is used to study the molecular composition of foods, improve preservation and ensure the quality and food safety of products.
