LHC Research Program Gets Underway

March 31, 2010 (HE44).  Less than two weeks ago we reported on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) reaching half (3.5 TeV) of the maximum design energy of the proton beam (see HE42).  On March 30th, the LHC research program was started by for the first time colliding the two beams at 7 TeV and observing the collision effects. Particle physicists around the world are looking forward to a potentially rich harvest of new physics as the LHC begins its first long run at energy significantly higher than previously achieved by any particle accelerator.  However, the full collision energy of 14 TeV, which might be required to elucidate the existence of the Higgs boson, won’t be attained until 2013 due to the necessary overhaul of the 13 kA splices between the magnets (HE42).