Large Hadron Collider Shatters Particles and World Record

On March 30, physicists in Geneva successfully smashed together two proton beams energized with seven trillion electron volts, breaking the previous world record by 350 percent and setting the stage for new insights into the forces of nature and full dimensions of space. The breakthrough marks an important step forward for Columbia physicists, who have played a significant role in carrying out the experiment. A U.S. research team of more than 500 physicists, led by Columbia physics professor Michael Tuts , has been responsible for operating ATLAS, one of four particle detectors that recorded and analyzed debris from the collisions. The U.S. physicists are part of an international team of some 2,500 researchers working on ATLAS. The data resulting from the detector will allow researchers to explore more deeply some of the most vexing mysteries of the physical universe, such as the nature of dark matter and the origins of mass. "We are all very excited to see these first collisions that mark the start of the real physics program and the culmination of more than a decade of effort in building the ATLAS detector and Large Hadron Collider," said Tuts. The Large Hadron Collider experiment began last November, when the first circulated beam—the width of a strand of hair—was launched with 450 billion electron volts of energy.