CERN: Ion and proton particles from CERN’s Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) were successfully injected into the Large Hadron Collider last weekend (23-25 October). It was the first time since September last year that particles were injected into the LHC.
The first ion beam entering point 2 of the LHC, just before the ALICE detector (23 October 2009. Image credit: CERN)
The particles did not travel along the whole circumference of the LHC because CERN is cautiously testing the new quench system—which will protect the magnets from similar damage to that experienced last year.The LHC will operate at 450 GeV per beam when the machine becomes operational on 23 November, and eventually ramp up to 1.1 TeV per beam in December.Using lower energies requires less current in the superconducting magnets and will get CERN some experience with the new safeguards before increasing the power output next year to 3.5 TeV per beam in February.As Peter Woit at Columbia University points out on his blog.
This means that 2009 will not see physics collisions, but will perhaps see collisions at energies marginally higher than that of the Tevatron...
