Physicists Upgrade World's Biggest Atom Smasher to Probe Dark Photons
The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) ongoing Run 3 experiment has presented its initial findings about the elusive dark photons.
The Ongoing Run 3 Experiment
The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has presented its initial findings about the elusive dark photons.
Dark photons are described as 'exotic and long-lived particles,' which are not predicted by the standard model of particle physics. They are classified as long-lived due to their extraordinary average lifespan of more than a billionth of a second.
Scientists hunt for these particles because they may hold the key to solving some of the universe's most baffling mysteries, such as invisible dark matter.
The Ongoing Run 3 Experiment
According to the official release, the current CMS experiment focuses on the prospect of dark photon creation during Higgs boson decay within the detector.
Higgs bosons, popularly known as the 'God particle,' play an important role in the standard model, and any variations in their behavior could signal the presence of new, hitherto unknown particles.
'In theory, dark photons would travel a measurable distance in the CMS detector before they decay into 'displaced muons.' If scientists were to retrace the tracks of these muons, they would find that they don't reach all the way to the collision point because the tracks come from a particle that has already moved some distance away, without any trace,' explained the release.
Addressing the Data Deluge Issue
The Large Hadron Collider, located at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) near Geneva, Switzerland, is the world's most powerful and biggest particle accelerator.
It is made up of a 27-kilometer ring of superconducting magnets and accelerating structures that accelerate protons and other heavy particles to near-light speeds. The LHC is meant to smash these particles, allowing scientists to investigate the fundamental features of matter as well as the forces that govern the universe.
The LHC's Run 3 experiment began in July of last year.
Addressing the Data Deluge Issue
One notable improvement in Run 3 is the 'higher instantaneous luminosity' compared to previous LHC runs. In simpler terms, higher luminosity means more collisions are happening at any given moment.
The sheer amount of collisions offers a practical issue. 'The LHC produces tens of millions of collisions every second, but only a few thousand of them can be stored, as recording every collision would quickly consume all the available data storage,' mentioned the release.
To solve this challenge, the LHC has a real-time data selection algorithm called the 'trigger.' The trigger mechanism is intended to swiftly determine whether a particular collision is noteworthy enough to be recorded for later investigation.
