Tevatron Powers Up

TikkaMassala writes: "It seems the most powerful particle accelerator in the world has been fired up and accelerating particles. Maybe Tevatron will find the Higgs boson? Only time will tell. Due to its size and power, great things are expected from this PA. Check it out at the BBC. Fermilab's website is here."

Re:Tevatron's not exactly new

[krlynch]

Their page isn't too clear about which aspect of the accelerator is improved by the new injector, but I suspect it's intensity, not energy.

Actually, both are enhanced in the new machine, but the Main Injector was built to increase the number of anti-protons that can be pushed into the main ring. This increases the intensity (or luminosity in physicspeak) of the antiproton beam. (The proton beam was already much more intense than the anti-proton beam, which you would expect, since protons are abundant, but antiprotons are not and have to be manufactured before they can be used). The energy of the machine has also been increased roughly 10% over the last run.

Tevatron's not exactly new

[caffeinated_bunsen]

The Tevatron has been throwing particles at each other since 1983. The detectors are new, having been constructed during a long period of downtime, and the experiments are new. There's also a new particle injection system, which will allow higher particle energies and/or beam intensities than before. Their page isn't too clear about which aspect of the accelerator is improved by the new injector, but I suspect it's intensity, not energy. Still, they're probably having fun with their new toys. I have a feeling that the RHIC will be even more fun, though.

LAST POST!!!!

[3-State Bit]

Last post.

However, this is not off-topic, since I do mention that this accelorator was originally planned to be 2.4 miles longer in circumference, but then the economy went down and they couldn't hire enough carpenters.

TopQuark and Higgs boson

[Bug2000]

Apparently, they plan to discover the Higgs boson using the top quark which they discovered in 1995 due to the fact that Higgs boson should interact best with the heaviest particles (top quark is as heavy as a Gold atom). If it's not at the Tevatron, it will be at the Cern in 2004 where the new cyclotron should theoretically have enough energy to detect it. So it's just a question of time now!