The world's biggest atom smasher, the Large Hadron Collider, began firing beams of protons in opposite directions yesterday, with scientists describing initial progress as an "enormous success."
The relaunch of the €3.9 billion collider, which was out of action for 14 months, had been a success, experts at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) said.
"The first three days have been in my opinion an enormous success, we've shown that the LHC machine is in superb condition from the beam quality viewpoint," said Steve Myers, CERN director of accelerators and technology.
"The breaking news is that we have two beams circulating simultaneously in the LHC," he told a press briefing.
The Large Hadron Collider, built in a 27-kilometre tunnel straddling the Franco-Swiss border near Geneva, was started with great fanfare in September 2008, but shut down nine days later when a failure in an electrical connection caused serious damage. Last Friday, scientists injected the first sub-atomic particles back into the collider and got the particle beams circulating in the accelerator again. With two beams now circulating at the same time, the machine is poised for its first collisions.
Planned during the 10-15 year operating life of the LHC, the collisions should generate masses of data that could unlock mysteries about the creation of the universe and the fundamental nature of matter. Scientists said they are aiming to get the LHC running at an energy of 1.2 teraelectronvolts or 1.2 trillion electronvolts by year end.
One teraelectronvolt is equivalent to the energy of a flying mosquito, said a CERN spokesman. It is also the maximum output of what is currently the largest functioning collider in the world, at the Fermilab near Chicago in the US.
By next year, the LHC should be ramped up to 3.5 teraelectronvolts, reaching "close to five" teraelectronvolts in the second half of next year, said Mr Myers.
The maximum power is seven teraelectronvolts.
"Already with 3.5 TeV, we can open new windows into physics. That can already happen next year," said CERN director-general Rolf-Dieter Heuer.