Particle Accelerators: Smashing Atoms to Unlock Secrets

Particle accelerators speed up subatomic particles to near light speed before colliding them.
These collisions recreate conditions similar to the early universe, moments after the Big Bang.
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) near Geneva is the world’s most powerful accelerator.
Particle accelerators confirmed the Higgs boson’s existence in 2012.
They help scientists discover new particles and test the limits of the Standard Model.
Accelerators also produce medical isotopes for cancer treatment and imaging.
Some accelerators are small enough to fit in hospitals, while others stretch for miles underground.
Magnetic fields guide and focus the speeding particles along their tracks.
Collisions create showers of exotic particles that are detected by giant sensors.
Particle accelerators are humanity’s microscopes for probing the deepest secrets of matter and energy.