The Large Hadron Collider

Our understanding of the Universe is about to change...

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is a gigantic scientific instrument near Geneva, where it spans the border between Switzerland and France about 100 m underground. It is a particle accelerator used by physicists to study the smallest known particles – the fundamental building blocks of all things. It will revolutionise our understanding, from the minuscule world deep within atoms to the vastness of the Universe.

Two beams of subatomic particles called 'hadrons' – either protons or lead ions – will travel in opposite directions inside the circular accelerator, gaining energy with every lap. Physicists will use the LHC to recreate the conditions just after the Big Bang, by colliding the two beams head-on at very high energy. Teams of physicists from around the world will analyse the particles created in the collisions using special detectors in a number of experiments dedicated to the LHC.

There are many theories as to what will result from these collisions, but what's for sure is that a brave new world of physics will emerge from the new accelerator, as knowledge in particle physics goes on to describe the workings of the Universe. For decades, the Standard Model of particle physics has served physicists well as a means of understanding the fundamental laws of Nature, but it does not tell the whole story. Only experimental data using the higher energies reached by the LHC can push knowledge forward, challenging those who seek confirmation of established knowledge, and those who dare to dream beyond the paradigm.

A few more Blog topics for students of Class XI B for First Term Project

 Delight !! You have more options

As per the response received from students, String Theory is of a little bit higher level and the understandable components and content available is limited. Therefore it has been decided to include a few more topics so that students can post a blog on the topic of their choice.

1. Special Theory of Relativity
2. General Theory of Relativity
3. Superconductivity
4. LHC - Large Hadron Collider
5. Big Bang Theory
6. String Theory and GUT

The blogs must be posted on or before 15 July 2010 midnight. A student can add any number of posts. i.e, instead of waiting for the entire project to be completed, he/she can post the draft. You will be able to edit your own entries any time you want. The evaluation will be done from midnight of 15 July 2010 onwards.

The grades obtained will not be published on the blog, but it will be entered into your Progress Report against first term project.

Please keep the following points in mind while submitting your project

• The content should not be a copy-paste version of articles or information posted anywhere on the net. Read as many as you can and post what you understood in your own words
• Include photos, videos etc related to the project topic, but the source must be declared and due credit must be given to the author. If you are interested in using some copyrighted material, seek permission from the person holding copyright (You can request via email, usually available at the site which displays the copyright information)
• The entry can also be a fiction /story based on any one or more of the topics mentioned above.
• Give special attention in formatting your articles properly. Use bold for highlighting important points.
• Give suitable heading for paragraphs.
• Give a short overview of the entry as the first paragraph.

(Also read the Guidelines published earlier)

All the Best