A joint Fermilab/SLAC publication

Inside the LHC

What really goes on in and around the Large Hadron Collider?

10/05/21

How to train your magnet

New accelerator magnets are undergoing a rigorous training program to prepare them for the extreme conditions inside the upgraded Large Hadron Collider.

08/31/21

Photographing the HL-LHC

A CERN photographer and videographer writes about his experiences documenting the ongoing upgrade that will turn the Large Hadron Collider into the High-Luminosity LHC.

09/17/20

Parking the LHC proton train

Particle accelerators like the LHC require intricate beam dump systems to safely dispose of high-energy particles after each run.

07/21/20

Behind the scenes of the CMS experiment’s 1000th paper

What does it take to publish a scientific analysis in one of the world’s largest experiments?

03/30/20

10 years of LHC physics, in numbers

How do you measure a decade of LHC research?

03/10/20

Accounting for the Higgs

Only a fraction of collision events that look like they produce a Higgs boson actually produce a Higgs boson. Luckily, it doesn’t matter.

02/25/20

Seven views of work at the LHC

Symmetry chats with scientists working at the Large Hadron Collider to hear about differences between seven different rungs on the academic career ladder.

05/02/19

The unseen progress of the LHC

It’s not always about what you discover.

03/28/19

Why LHC physics is like ‘Starcraft’

Video games and physics have more in common than you might think.

12/04/18

LHC Noir

A proton describes its final moments in the Large Hadron Collider.

08/09/18

Tour du LHC

An intrepid Symmetry writer and communicator at CERN navigates the landscape above the Large Hadron Collider by bicycle.

06/26/18

The LHC-watcher’s field guide

These are the event displays of Large Hadron Collider physicists’ dreams.

05/15/18

Inside the Large Hadron Collider

If two protons collide at 99.9999991 percent the speed of light, do they make a sound?

03/30/18

The room where it happens

Symmetry goes inside the CERN Control Centre on restart day.

03/27/18

Keeping the LHC cold

The LHC is one of the coldest places on the planet.

11/28/17

LHC data: how it’s made

In the Large Hadron Collider, protons become new particles, which become energy and light, which become data.

07/03/17

When was the Higgs actually discovered?

The announcement on July 4 was just one part of the story. Take a peek behind the scenes of the discovery of the Higgs boson.

06/30/17

What’s really happening during an LHC collision?

It’s less of a collision and more of a symphony.

06/12/17

How to clean inside the LHC

The beam pipes of the LHC need to be so clean, even air molecules count as dirt.

04/27/17

Did you see it?

Boston University physicist Tulika Bose explains why there's more than one large, general-purpose particle detector at the Large Hadron Collider.

03/22/16

Why are particle accelerators so large?

CERN physicist Edda Gschwendtner explains why we need big machines to study tiny particles.

03/18/15

Inside the CERN Control Centre

Take a tour of one of the most important rooms at CERN.

02/24/15

Physics in fast-forward

During their first run, experiments at the Large Hadron Collider rediscovered 50 years' worth of physics research in a single month.

11/20/14

CERN frees LHC data

Anyone can access collision data from the Large Hadron Collider through the new CERN Open Data Portal.

02/26/13

Higgs-like particle

Early in the summer of 2012, excitement reached a peak as members of the CMS and ATLAS collaborations confirmed among themselves that they would soon announce the discovery of what looked like the Higgs boson.

02/04/13

What’s next for the Large Hadron Collider?

Experiments at the Large Hadron Collider made a major discovery, but the world’s highest-energy particle accelerator is just getting started.

11/26/12

Contributing to an LHC experiment, no transatlantic travel required

Scientists participate in the CMS experiment from afar using remote operations centers.

11/15/12

Physics never sleeps

Physicists from all over the world work the night shift to guide the Large Hadron Collider and its particle detectors from sunset to sunrise. Take a peek into two of the five CERN control rooms that are staffed 24 hours a day.

11/12/12

Passing along LHC know-how to future generations

Preserving expertise about how complicated detectors work is one of the Large Hadron Collider's biggest challenges.

12/01/07

Protecting the LHC from itself

Scientists at CERN have crafted the world’s most sophisticated machine protection system to save the LHC from itself.