Improving the Large Hadron Collider

CERN : Although the Large Hadron Collider has only been operating for a few months, CERN is preparing to significantly upgrade the infrastructure around 2020. After the upgrade, the LHC’s luminosity will be increased to 5–10 times its current design value. “With the LHC colliding hundreds of millions of particles each second, some of the processes we’re interested in will happen just a few times a day,” said CERN research director Sergio Bertolucci. “With processes so rare, extra luminosity makes a big difference to our ability to make precision measurements and discover new things."Upgrading the LHC will require new superconducting technologies in a wide range of fields, including high-field magnets, radiofrequency cavities, and electrical transfer lines. CERN launched the first design phase of this upgrade at a European Commission–sponsored workshop that brought together scientists from 14 European institutions, the Japanese-led KEK collaboration, and the US LHC Accelerator Research Program.