The European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) has published a feasibility study for the construction of a new particle accelerator, but has not decided on the sources of funding.
It is noted, that new ring supercollider will be 91 km long, but there are other options as well. The study will be taken into account as part of the revision of CERN’s long-term strategy, which is due to be completed in 2026.
The three-volume study on the construction of a new superaccelerator involved 1.5 thousand physicists and engineers. It is expected that by the mid-2040s, funding of $17.4 billion will be needed to dig a ring 91 km long tunnel and build a device for colliding electrons and positrons. This will allow conduct a more in-depth study particles such as Higgs boson and others.
The second stage of the project will involve the use of this a tunnel for the collision of two proton beams. However, the implementation of this project will begin no earlier than 2072, and the construction of the relevant technical base will cost more than $21 billion. The relevant estimates are based on the fact that energy required for the operation of the proton colliderwill amount to 85 teraelectron volts
One teraelectron volt is equivalent to 1 trillion electron volts and is roughly equal to the energy of a flying mosquito in terms of kinetic energy. However, for a single proton, this is an incredible amount of energy. (TeV), which is 6 times higher than the current hadron collider.
According to CERN Director General Fabiola Gianotti, these estimates are conservative and based on the use of superconducting magnets to control protons in the ring tunnel. Existing research on promising superconducting materials could pave the way for higher energies in the 91-kilometer tunnel, possibly reaching 120 TeV.
In addition, Gianotti added that CERN is able to finance 65% of the construction costs in the first phase, but more than $5.6 billion, which they hope to receive through numerous contributions. CERN representatives also told Nature that the cost of the project feasibility study was $128 millionAt the same time, a number of scholars criticize the high cost of the project and insist that the stated goals at the first stage can be achieved at a much lower cost.
«Both Member States and the scientific community will feel that they are being forced into a 70-year mortgage if they agree to this Almost no one I’ve talked to thinks it’s a good idea», — notes Special Advisor to the University of Edinburgh, former UK delegate to the CERN Council, John Womersley.
Source: Nature
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