© Salvatore Di Nolfi / Keystone via AP
Authorities believe the giant electromagnetic device will lead to new scientific breakthroughs in the field of physics.
Scientists and engineers at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) have unveiled the design for a new particle accelerator, expected to advance the center’s cutting-edge physical research. The new machine will replace the LHC (Large Hadron Collider), which runs underground along the western Franco-Swiss border.
The plans for the Future Circular Collider (FCC), to be installed in a nearly 91-kilometer tunnel beneath Lake Geneva, mark the culmination of a project CERN has been developing for nearly a decade.
The FCC will conduct high-precision experiments when it comes online in the mid-2040s to study “known physics” in detail. It would later enter a second phase—expected in 2070—featuring high-energy collisions between protons and heavy ions.
“This will open the door to the unknown,” says Giorgio Chiarelli, research director at Italy’s National Institute for Nuclear Physics. “The history of physics shows that when we have more data, human ingenuity is able to extract more information than initially expected,” adds Chiarelli, who was not involved in the machine’s design.
A Collider With 10 Times More Energy
For about a decade, CERN teams have been planning the successor to the Large Hadron Collider, an electromagnetic network that accelerates particles through a 27-kilometer underground tunnel, causing them to collide at near-light speeds. “Ultimately, what we want is a collider that can generate 10 times more energy than the current one,” explains Arnaud Marsollier, CERN spokesperson. “With more energy, you can create heavier particles.”
The preliminary project outlines the construction plan, environmental impact, scientific goals, and estimated costs. Independent experts will be able to review it before the 20+ member countries of CERN—all European except for Israel—decide in 2028 whether to proceed with the €15 billion investment (14 billion Swiss francs).
CERN officials foresee scientific discoveries that could drive innovation in fields like cryogenics, superconducting magnets, and vacuum technologies—developments that could benefit humanity. External experts highlight the potential to better understand the Higgs boson, the elusive particle nicknamed the “God particle,” which helped explain how matter formed after the Big Bang.
Experiments at the particle collider confirmed the existence of the Higgs boson in 2013, a central piece of the puzzle known as the Standard Model, which helps explain some of the universe’s fundamental forces.
An Exciting Opportunity for Quantum Physics
“The new collider offers an exciting opportunity for particle physics—and indeed all physics—for the entire international community,” says Dave Toback, professor of physics and astronomy at Texas A&M University. Toback is not affiliated with CERN but previously worked for years on the Tevatron collider at Fermilab in the U.S., which was shut down in 2011.
The CERN scientists, engineers, and partners behind the plans are considering around 100 construction scenarios for the new collider, which is expected to span 91 kilometers at an average depth of 200 meters. The tunnel would have a diameter of about 5 meters, according to CERN.