Large Hadron Collider Halted for 4 Years: CERN Prepares to Unlock Universe Secrets

The world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), has temporarily suspended operations for a comprehensive four-year modernization process. This project, carried out by CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research), is expected to open a new era in studying the most fundamental secrets of the universe, including dark matter and dark energy. This is reported by Ixbt.com news reports.

Located 100 meters deep on the border between Switzerland and France, this massive 27-kilometer ring-shaped facility revolutionized the scientific world in 2012 with the discovery of the famous Higgs boson. Now, specialists aim to elevate the device to an even more powerful level. After modernization, the complex will be renamed the High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC), and its updated version is scheduled to launch in June 2030.

Ten Times More Collisions

Project manager Markus Tserlauf emphasized that this stage is of decisive importance for the success of the entire program. The main goal of the modernization is to sharply increase the number of particle collisions, i.e., the "luminosity". According to the plan, this indicator will increase 10 times from the current level, allowing scientists to collect 100 times more data than today.

To achieve this goal, nearly 1.2 kilometers of the accelerator ring will be completely replaced. New superconducting magnets will be installed, allowing for more precise focusing of the particle beams. As a result, the number of collisions in each interaction act will increase from the current 60 to 200. For physicists, this means an unprecedented volume of raw material.

Artificial Intelligence to the Rescue

Such a massive increase in the data stream poses new technological challenges for engineers. It is physically impossible to store all the billions of events occurring every second. Therefore, CERN specialists plan to use artificial intelligence (AI) systems to filter out the most important and promising collisions in real time.

According to ixbt.com, artificial intelligence will not replace physicists but will act as a filter for them. AI systems will instantaneously identify rare events that could be signs of "new physics" and isolate them for further analysis. This will help scientists research dark matter and energy, which make up 95 percent of the universe but remain unknown to us.

The implementation of the HL-LHC project is important not only for theoretical physics but also for the development of high technologies. The CERN experience has always been a center of interest for young Uzbek scientists and researchers. This step toward finding answers to fundamental questions about the creation of the universe and the structure of matter could completely change humanity's perceptions of the laws of nature.