Lanl.arxiv.org e-Print archive mirror. CERN | Accelerating science. Encyclopedia of physics. Wolfram|Alpha: Computational Knowledge Engine. The Large Hadron Collider. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator. It first started up on 10 September 2008, and remains the latest addition to CERN’s accelerator complex. The LHC consists of a 27-kilometre ring of superconducting magnets with a number of accelerating structures to boost the energy of the particles along the way. Inside the accelerator, two high-energy particle beams travel at close to the speed of light before they are made to collide. The beams travel in opposite directions in separate beam pipes – two tubes kept at ultrahigh vacuum.
Thousands of magnets of different varieties and sizes are used to direct the beams around the accelerator. All the controls for the accelerator, its services and technical infrastructure are housed under one roof at the CERN Control Centre. How many kilometres of cables are there on the LHC? Download the LHC guide [PDF] CERN takes safety very seriously.
Read about the safety of the LHC. Accelerating science.