Maltese scientist upbeat on Big Bang experiment

Although the largest and most expensive scientific experiment in history, conducted yesterday by the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (Cern), was a success, it may take months - even years - to discover the new fundamentals of physics, not yet accessible to mankind, that should emerge from the Large Hadron Collider, Nicholas Sammut told The Times from the hub of the action in the control centre outside Geneva.

Just after initial success was registered and in between further testing, Dr Sammut, a research engineer on the project that has attracted the world's attention, said he was "thrilled" at the results of the first LHC beam test that should unlock the secrets of the universe. However, that could take a while...

A beam of particles was successfully circulated around the 27-kilometre underground tunnel - the largest and most powerful scientific instrument ever constructed by mankind - to simulate the conditions of the so-called Big Bang that created the universe.

"We had no problems whatsoever; we reached our milestone in just 50 minutes, which was incredible. The machine worked perfectly, without any hitches, which was important for us because now we know it is on line."

The "milestone" referred to the transition from the machine's construction to its operational phase.

But yesterday also marked a personal milestone for Dr Sammut, who has been working at Cern for the last five years, contributing significantly to this global engineering effort.

It was a "big test" for him. He was the one to determine the settings for superconducting magnets that had to be powered to direct the particles around the whole machine, the scope of the experiment.

His was a sensitive and high-precision process that lasted years and culminated in his construction of a mathematical model that determined the setting of the whole machine.

"Had I got these settings wrong, the machine would never have worked, so it was a major, personal success".

Dr Sammut's "big adventure" was characterised by working weekends and sleepless nights, reaching a "peak" yesterday.

"You always question whether you really got everything right, but it seems like I got it spot on."

In the run-up, there were, of course, moments of tension. "But in the last days, we started seeing that we were in good waters and everyone was really excited. The test was to be carried out for the first time and under the world's scrutiny and you are never really sure that everything is going to work.

"I spent the entire weekend up to yesterday until 2 a.m. in the control room checking and rechecking. We were also a bit anxious. Deep inside, you always think you may have forgotten something..."

In the coming months, the particles would be injected at increased energy and intensity until they would be made to collide head on, Dr Sammut explained, adding that the collisions would result in the understanding of what matter is made of.

However, it was hard to predict when these collisions would take place, Dr Sammut said. No manual existed for the most complex machine, using unprecedented technology.

"It acts like a giant, massive microscope, except that it is looking at particles that are so minute that mankind has never probed into them. Even though we built it, now we really have to understand how it is working, and certain details we could not predict before.

"We do not expect to have any results before Christmas and, for all we know, not even by Christmas 2009. The LHC will be running for 10 years, mean-ing a decade of data and analysis...

We do not know exactly what we are going to find."

The concept of the "discovery machine" dates back to 1984 and was approved 10 years later, with its construction starting in 2000. Its cost is estimated at between €3 and €6 billion - €3 billion going towards the materials alone. The massive operation involves 10,000 scientists on site per year and the involvement of 500 institutions and universities.

"Calculating the cost is much more complex than that of the space shuttle programme," Dr Sammut said.

To the sceptics of the project's scope and cost, he makes a simple analogy, referring to scientist Michael Faraday, whose 1850s discovery of electromagnetic induction, the basis of electricity and a fundamental science, was initially questioned.

"This is the same kind of science. In fact, we are building on Faraday's work. Cern is discovering what lies at the bottom of all technology and science. So the applications are going to be tremendous," Dr Sammut envisaged.

He discards the "black hole" theories as the "exotic" ideas of "halfway scientists", insisting that Cern, set up to do science for peace, took these arguments seriously and repeatedly investigated in detail their scientific basis, finding no cause for concern.

"Personally, I sleep with a good conscience that the results we achieved are for the good of humanity."

The world may not yet have a better understanding of the laws of nature, particularly the composition of matter and the forces that act on it, as the experiment sets out to achieve. In fact, yesterday merely marked "the end of the beginning", according to Dr Sammut.

But to the man in the street, who may be walking at night and wondering what there is up in the sky - of which scientists today can only vouch for 10 per cent - "Cern is giving answers in that direction; it is going to show us what nature is really made of... and the man in the street will have a better idea of how to use it."