New Colossal Particle Accelerator Aims for Future Breakthroughs
Europe is working on an ambitious successor to the world’s largest particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) near Geneva. This new accelerator, the Future Circular Collider (FCC), is set to have a circumference of over 90 kilometers — more than three times the size of the LHC (27 km). The CERN Council has recently decided to fully commit to this project, which will extend until the end of the century.
The Discovery of the Famous Higgs Particle
The LHC collides protons at enormous energies, producing new particles. The most significant discovery to date was the Higgs boson in 2012, a particle predicted fifty years earlier by Peter Higgs and others. The LHC will definitively cease operations in 2042 after thirty years of service.
The FCC: Larger, More Powerful, and Different
The FCC is not simply a scaled-up version of the LHC. Initially, it will collide electrons and positrons (light, charged particles) instead of protons. These collisions will occur at four points in the tunnel, where advanced detectors will analyze the results. Collisions producing two Higgs particles are particularly interesting, as they could provide deeper insight into the Higgs field, which gives particles mass. In theory, an unstable Higgs field could lead to a sudden change in particle masses, with catastrophic consequences for the universe.
Financing and Challenges
The FCC comes with a price tag of 15 billion euros. CERN’s member states collectively contribute about 1 billion euros annually, and construction is expected to take twelve years. Additionally, 1 billion euros has been raised from private investors. France and Switzerland, as host countries, are likely to cover part of the costs as well. If the full funding is not secured, there is a Plan B: a cheaper version with lower energy and only two collision points, saving about 15%. This could later be expanded to the original design.
If the FCC does not proceed at all, China might take the lead with its own accelerator, the CEPC, which was previously put on hold.
Future Vision: From FCC-ee to FCC-hh
If the FCC is built, there is a long-term plan. Around 2063, the FCC-ee (electron-positron collider) will be dismantled and replaced by the FCC-hh, which will collide protons at an energy six times higher than the LHC. This machine is expected to become operational around 2073 and will run for 25 years, with the hope of discovering entirely new particles.