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Photo of ATLAS closing
Claudia Marcelloni De Oliveira, CERN

Video: LHC experiments prep for restart

Engineers and technicians have begun to close experiments in preparation for the next run.

The LHC is preparing to restart at almost double the collision energy of its previous run. The new energy will allow physicists to check previously untestable theories and explore new frontiers in particle physics.

When the LHC is on, counter-rotating beams of particles will be made to collide at four interaction points 100 meters underground, around which sit the huge detectors ALICE, ATLAS, CMS and LHCb.

In the video below, engineers and technicians prepare these four detectors to receive the showers of particles that will be created in collisions at energies of 13 trillion electronvolts.

The giant endcaps of the ATLAS detector are back in position and the wheels of the CMS detector are moving it back into its “closed” configuration. The huge red door of the ALICE experiment is closed up ready for restart, and the access door to the LHC tunnel is sealed with concrete blocks.


A version of this article was published by CERN.

 

LHC restart timeline

February 2015
LHC Magnets Cooled

The Large Hadron Collider is now cooled to nearly its operational temperature.

Info-Graphic by Sandbox Studio, Chicago
 

LHC filled with liquid helium

The Large Hadron Collider is now cooled to nearly its operational temperature.
Read more…
LHC Magnets Powered

A first set of superconducting magnets has passed the test and is ready for the Large Hadron Collider to restart in spring.

Info-Graphic by Sandbox Studio, Chicago
 

First LHC magnets prepped for restart

A first set of superconducting magnets has passed the test and is ready for the Large Hadron Collider to restart in spring. Read more…
LHC Experiments Ready

Engineers and technicians have begun to close experiments in preparation for the next run.

Info-Graphic by Sandbox Studio, Chicago
 

LHC experiments prep for restart

Engineers and technicians have begun to close experiments in preparation for the next run.
Read more…
March 2015
LHC accelerator ready

The Large Hadron Collider has overcome a technical hurdle and could restart as early as next week.

Info-Graphic by Sandbox Studio, Chicago
 

LHC restart back on track

The Large Hadron Collider has overcome a technical hurdle and could restart as early as next week. Read more…
April 2015
First beam seen at LHC

The Large Hadron Collider has circulated the first protons, ending a two-year shutdown.

Info-Graphic by Sandbox Studio, Chicago
 

LHC sees first beams

The Large Hadron Collider has circulated the first protons, ending a two-year shutdown. Read more…
energy record broken at LHC

The Large Hadron Collider accelerated protons to the fastest speed ever attained on Earth.

Info-Graphic by Sandbox Studio, Chicago
 

LHC breaks energy record

The Large Hadron Collider accelerated protons to the fastest speed ever attained on Earth.
Read more…
May 2015
Low-Energy Collisions seen at the LHC

LHC sees first low-energy collisions

Info-Graphic by Sandbox Studio, Chicago
 

LHC sees first low-energy collisions

The Large Hadron Collider is back in the business of colliding particles.
Read more…
record-energy collisions achieved at the LHC

The Large Hadron Collider broke its own record again in 13-trillion-electronvolt test collisions.

Info-Graphic by Sandbox Studio, Chicago
 

LHC achieves record-energy collisions

The Large Hadron Collider broke its own record again in 13-trillion-electronvolt test collisions.
Read more…
June 2015
LHC Collisions for Physics

Data collection has officially begun at the Large Hadron Collider.

Info-Graphic by Sandbox Studio, Chicago
 

LHC arrives at the next energy frontier

Data collection has officially begun at the Large Hadron Collider.
Read more…

 

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