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Apocalypse Never at the LHC
PUBLISHED APRIL 7, 2008
High energy physics might destroy the world. Or at least that’s the claim that has recently garnered a lot of press for the Large Hadron Collider, the new particle accelerator poised to start running in Switzerland this year. According to the plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed in Hawaii, the LHC might produce a miniature black hole that devours the earth. Or theoretical particles called “strangelets” might fly out of a collision and, with a Midas-like touch, turn the entire planet into strange matter. Or, as Princeton physicist Nima Arkani-Hamed (somewhat) sarcastically suggested to the New York Times, “The Large Hadron Collider might make dragons that might eat us up.”
To physics-philes like me, it is thrilling anytime particle accelerators make the front page of the New York Times, but impossible doomsday scenarios should not be the issue shining a spotlight on the LHC. It is infinitely more likely that the LHC will destroy our fundamental conception of the universe rather than the universe itself.
The LHC will begin colliding protons at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), the physics lab outside of Geneva, Switzerland, later this year in an effort to unravel some of the most exciting questions in science. Number one on the list is the Higgs boson, or what the Nobel Prize-winning Columbia physicist Leon Lederman called the “God particle.” The Higgs is believed to be the reason that other elementary particles have mass. According to the Standard Model, the reigning theory in high energy physics, the Higgs creates a field that permeates empty space and exerts drag on matter traveling through it. Photons, or particles of light, will zoom right through the Higgs field without being affected—therefore, they remain massless and are able to travel at 186,000 miles per second, the upper limit on velocity in our universe. A Z boson, a heavy particle that mediates the weak force, will experience tremendous drag when traveling through the Higgs field, ending up with a lot of mass and traveling slower than the speed of light.
The Higgs is the last particle predicted by the Standard Model that we have yet to observe. In a sense, it is the final piece of a puzzle 30 years in the making. But instead of tying a nice bow on top of the success of the Standard Model, its discovery (or lack thereof) might open up a Pandora’s box of new questions.
Currently, the Higgs is the only way to explain why particles have mass, since the equations of the Standard Model do not provide any information about the properties of particles. “The Standard Model is a theory of interactions, so it does a fantastic job of describing the interactions between the fermions, which are the quarks and leptons, but it doesn’t tell you anything about why the quarks and the leptons are what they are. Those are just inputs into the discussion,” explained Gustaaf Brooijmans, one of the many Columbia physics professors working on the LHC. Physicists have figured out the properties of known particles, like their masses and electric charges, with the help of accelerators like Fermilab’s Tevatron, but they have not hit upon the reason why certain particles have certain characteristics. The Tevatron and other accelerators have been extremely successful at showing us what matter is. The LHC, on the other hand, might provide our first look at why matter is what it is.
Brooijmans works on ATLAS, one of the LHC’s two multipurpose detectors designed to study the results of collisions. He hopes the LHC will find fewer new particles and “something more about how it all comes together.” The answers may lie in unification of the fundamental forces, supersymmetry (which predicts every particle has a much heavier partner that the LHC could help us observe), extra dimensions, or all/none of the above. “Is there a relationship between the fact that wee see three macroscopic spatial dimensions and there are three generations of quarks or leptons?” Brooijmans speculated. “That may be a little bit too much to ask. If we can get part of the answer, it would be very nice.”
Nobody knows exactly what data will come out of the LHC. Because of the probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics, it could produce virtually anything—hence Arkani-Hamed’s dragon comment. “Are we likely to open a wormhole? Well, no, because it would have happened already,” Brooijmans said, dismissing the several outrageous disaster scenarios by explaining that collisions with much higher energies than those at the LHC take place between cosmic rays in the earth’s upper atmosphere all the time.
This uncertainty may be unnerving to those looking to formulate doomsday scenarios, but it is also extremely exciting. If we do not observe the Higgs, for example, we will have to rethink our notion of quantum mechanics. If we find proof of extra dimensions or supersymmetry, it might bring us one step closer to experimentally testing string theory. Whatever happens, according to Brooijmans, we will probably “need a new paradigm in terms of thinking.” Now we just have to flip the switch and wait and see.
Elizabeth Wade is a Barnard senior majoring in comparative literature. Fear of Physics runs alternate Mondays.
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I think is better idea to put inside the LHC those physics that want find new paradigms, I belive they will have the GOD perception 100%
Dear All,
I have been following the work of several of the prominent scientists to come up with a theory of everything. It seems that in this search of everything, one most important thing has not been considered. Who am I? I am in this universe as much as it is in me.
Imagination is more important than knowledge for all that we know is just an imagination. Mind travels faster than light. It is not mind over matter, it is only mind that matters.
If universe is the meaning of understanding of one’s surroundings, then it is created with every birth and destroyed with every death. Universe is in a steady big bang state. The moment a thought arises the universe comes to existence. If one can still the mind to absoluteness then there will be absolutely nothing.
That absolute state of mind is the Soul (spirit) with in all of us. Relativity of thougths is what makes the physical world. Everything has a mind of its own, Nothing is mind itself. If life is the meaning of our relative existence on this planet then we were all dead even before we were born, so why fear death as we all have already experienced death.
According to E=MC2, mass gets converted to energy when it travels at squared the speed of light. Thoughts travel faster than light and are continually getting converted to Mass or reality. Reality as it seems can be termed delayed implementation of imagination. Human brain is one of the best particle accelerator nature has created, for we use it to contiuously convert mass (food we eat) to energy (thoughts we get). S=BM2 (S-Soul, B-Body, M-Mind). Create a body with a thought, destroy the body with a thought and find the innermost self, Soul. As light can not escape black holes gravity and time stops in a black hole, so does a dead man can’t see light or has no sense of time.
On this planet only one being, human, seems to care for Time dimension while all other species do not. If we only understand the perception of other beings dimensions sharing this planet would we appreciate the beauty of it all. There can be as many dimensions as we choose to have.
For every action there is equal and opposite reaction, there is also inaction at the point of their interaction.
Dark Matter / Dark Energy are only as dark as our thoughts. Lets weigh our thoughts in and we would have the total mass of the universe.
Truth is simple
accepting it is not.
Some think that universe is expanding
some think that universe is contracting
some think that universe is eternal
I know that universe is what we want it to be.
The theory of everthing is that there is absolutely nothing.
God is absolute state of mind, soul that is everything and nothing.
We are relative states of mind, bodies that are something in between.
Dear All,
I have been following the work of several of the prominent scientists to come up with a theory of everything. It seems that in this search of everything, one most important thing has not been considered. Who am I? I am in this universe as much as it is in me.
Imagination is more important than knowledge for all that we know is just an imagination. Mind travels faster than light. It is not mind over matter, it is only mind that matters.
If universe is the meaning of understanding of one's surroundings, then it is created with every birth and destroyed with every death. Universe is in a steady big bang state. The moment a thought arises the universe comes to existence. If one can still the mind to absoluteness then there will be absolutely nothing.
That absolute state of mind is the Soul (spirit) with in all of us. Relativity of thougths is what makes the physical world. Everything has a mind of its own, Nothing is mind itself. If life is the meaning of our relative existence on this planet then we were all dead even before we were born, so why fear death as we all have already experienced death.
According to E=MC2, mass gets converted to energy when it travels at squared the speed of light. Thoughts travel faster than light and are continually getting converted to Mass or reality. Reality as it seems can be termed delayed implementation of imagination. Human brain is one of the best particle accelerator nature has created, for we use it to contiuously convert mass (food we eat) to energy (thoughts we get). S=BM2 (S-Soul, B-Body, M-Mind). Create a body with a thought, destroy the body with a thought and find the innermost self, Soul. As light can not escape black holes gravity and time stops in a black hole, so does a dead man can’t see light or has no sense of time.
On this planet only one being, human, seems to care for Time dimension while all other species do not. If we only understand the perception of other beings dimensions sharing this planet would we appreciate the beauty of it all. There can be as many dimensions as we choose to have.
For every action there is equal and opposite reaction, there is also inaction at the point of their interaction.
Dark Matter / Dark Energy are only as dark as our thoughts. Lets weigh our thoughts in and we would have the total mass of the universe.
Truth is simple
accepting it is not.
Some think that universe is expanding
some think that universe is contracting
some think that universe is eternal
I know that universe is what we want it to be.
The theory of everthing is that there is absolutely nothing.
God is absolute state of mind, soul that is everything and nothing.
We are relative states of mind, bodies that are something in between.
CERNs web site states that we have not been destroyed by effects of cosmic rays and micro black holes will evaporate.
However, cosmic rays strike relatively stationary objects and results travel too fast to be captured by Earths gravity, while colliders smash particles head on, may focus all energy to a single point and can be captured by Earths gravity. Einsteins relativity theory predicts that micro black holes will not decay but instead only grow, and Hawking Radiation contradicts relativity, is unproven and is disputed by at least 3 peer reviewed studies that find no basis in science to support it.
The LHC Safety Assessment Group has been trying for months to prove safety without success. However science may still be a few years away from being able to provide reasonable assurance of safety or not at least with respect to creation of micro black holes on Earth.
Professor Dr. Otto E. Rössler (winner University of Liège Chaos Award and René Descartes Award), Dr. Raj Baldev (Director of the Indira Gandhi Center for Atomic Research) and others are warning of a very real, very possible, very present danger to the planet from the Large Hadron Collider. Dr. Rössler predicts that a single microblackhole could destroy the planet in as little and 50 months. His calculations have been released for peer review.
If this experiment is so safe, why arent CERN scientists allowed to express any personal fears they might have about this Collider?
Alleged in the legal action: Chief Scientific Officer, Mr. Engelen passed an internal memorandum to workers at CERN, asking them, regardless of personal opinion, to affirm in all interviews that there were no risks involved in the experiments, changing the previous assertion of minimal risk. (Statisticians generally consider minimal risk as 1-10%).
Previous safety studies ruled out any possibility of creating microblackholes in a collider. But predictions have changed and CERN has estimated the possibility of creating 1 microblackhole per second in the Large Hadron Collider. No peer reviewed safety study has ever been produced that I am aware of that speaks to the safety of creating microblackholes on Earth.
If we delay for a safety study, some scientists at CERN may not be the first to discover some new science, and some Nobel prizes may be at stake.
But which would more wise, conduct a full and independent adversarial peer reviewed safety study first, or just turn it on now and discover science as quickly as humanly possible?
JTankers
LHCConcerns.com
The concerns I read about micro black holes (that, among other concerns) is that they'll be produced continuously, and will have low velocities. Thus if the Hawking black hole evaporation theory/scenario proves incorrect they could become trapped in the Earth and start gobbling it up at exponentially increasing rates, cosmic mbh occurrences notwithstanding.
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