Narrator:
THE LARGE HADRON COLLIDER
HAS BEEN HUNTING FOR PARTICLES
SINCE 2009.
AS YOU CAN SEE, THERE'S A HUGE
AMOUNT OF STUFF DOWN HERE.
THERE'S BIG SYSTEMS --
COOLING, VENTILATION,
CRYOGENICS, ET CETERA.
AND THIS STUFF NEEDS A BIT
OF PERIODIC TENDER, LOVING CARE.
Narrator:
WITH OVER 4,000 MILES OF CABLING
AND 100,000 PROCESSOR CORES,
THE LHC IS
ONE OF THE MOST COMPLICATED
MACHINES IN THE WORLD.
Lamont:
WE NEED VERY POWERFUL MAGNETS
TO BEND THE BEAM
AROUND IN A CIRCLE.
SO, BASICALLY, THESE ARE
SUPERCONDUCTING MAGNETS.
THEY'RE COOLED
WITH SUPERFLUID HELIUM
AT 1.9 "K."
THE FACT THAT THIS
ACTUALLY WORKS AT ALL IS
A REAL TESTAMENT
TO AN AWFUL LOT OF HARD WORK,
MODERN TECHNOLOGY, PLANNING,
PRECISION ON A COMPLETELY
REMARKABLE SCALE.
Charlton: I COME INTO THE CAVERN
HUNDREDS OF TIMES IN YEAR,
AND EVERY TIME I WALK IN,
MY JAW STILL DROPS A LITTLE BIT
WHEN I SEE ATLAS.
IT'S REALLY --
WE BUILT THIS THING.
WE REALLY BUILT THIS THING.
Narrator: DAVE CHARLTON RUNS
THE CLEVERLY NAMED
"A" TOROIDAL
LARGE HADRON COLLIDER APPARATUS,
KNOWN AS ATLAS.
IT'S THE LARGEST
PARTICLE DETECTOR
ON THE LHC CIRCUIT.
THE COLLISIONS TAKE PLACE
RIGHT IN THE CENTER
OF THE EXPERIMENT,
ABOUT 30 METERS AWAY
FROM WHERE WE'RE STANDING.
Narrator: ATLAS HAS SEVEN
DIFFERENT DETECTING SYSTEMS
ARRANGED IN LAYERS
AROUND THE COLLISION POINT.
THEY'RE
STRATEGICALLY POSITIONED
TO CAPTURE ANY EVIDENCE
OF PARTICLES
THAT HAVE BEEN PRODUCED.
THERE'S ANOTHER MASSIVE DETECTOR
ON THE LHC CIRCUIT,
THE COMPACT MUON SOLENOID,
KNOWN AS CMS.
IT'S RUN BY ITALIAN PHYSICIST
TIZIANO CAMPORESI.
TIZIANO'S MACHINE, CMS, IS
VERY SIMILAR TO DAVE'S.
BUT ATLAS IS SLIGHTLY BIGGER.
Charlton:
LOOK AT THE SIZE OF IT.
AS YOU CAN SEE,
IT'S REALLY A HUGE EXPERIMENT --
25 METERS HIGH, 45 METERS LONG.
Narrator: THESE DETECTORS ARE
PURPOSEFULLY DESIGNED
TO DO THE SAME THING
IN TWO DIFFERENT WAYS.
Camporesi: YOU COULD SAY
IT IS AN OVERSIZED CAMERA,
SOMETHING LIKE
A 100-MEGAPIXEL CAMERA.
Charlton:
NOWADAYS, A DIGITAL CAMERA
MIGHT BE 25 MEGAPIXELS,
25 MILLION CHANNELS.
BUT WE'RE ABLE TO READ OUT
OUR 100 MILLION CHANNELS
40 MILLION TIMES A SECOND.
Narrator: THE IDEA IS
THAT NEW PARTICLES WILL BE SEEN
BY BOTH DETECTORS INDEPENDENTLY.
IT CAN HELP ENSURE
THEIR FINDINGS ARE VALID.
BUT THAT DOESN'T STOP BOTH TEAMS
FROM WANTING TO BE FIRST
TO MAKE A DISCOVERY.
