3 ms·

This might be an extremely laymen-level question, but have any discoveries from the LHC trickled down into consumer/commercial/industrial level technologies so

This might be an extremely laymen-level question, but have any discoveries from the LHC trickled down into consumer/commercial/industrial level technologies so far?

jfoutz 5y ago
The information sharing tools they developed back at the start got some popularity. I imagine you're wondering about newer things and actual discoveries. I just couldn't resist the setup.
anfilt 5y ago
Lots of the designs used by CERN are basically open source hardware some more useful than other depending on how niche it is. Heck CERN helps with KiCADs development which has benefited numerous hobbyists. Like here is a voltmetere someone built using designs from CERN. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=D28uSzCs7-k https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=D28uSzCs7-k
- King-Aaron 5y ago
  That was an extremely satisfying video to watch. Thanks for that!
magicalhippo 5y ago
As others pointed out, the work done to build and support the actual machine has led to a lot of positive contributions back to society. However you asked for discoveries, so I imagine you were thinking of the stuff the LHC has been searching for. And I think in that regard it's safe to say no. And from what I understand, there's not a huge expectation for that to happen. The reason being that the LHC is a high-energy particle physics search, while almost everything we make or use is made of condensed matter[1] and low-energy particles, an area where we know pretty good how individual particles behave. In the condensed matter field though, where many-body particle interactions dominate, there's a lot of interesting work that might have applications. As an example, a relatively recent discovery is superconductivity in twisted graphene layers[2]. I still think LHC and similar should be built. After all, a lot of good comes out of the technology required to build and operate them, and there is a chance we'll learn something with significant impact. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condensed_matter_physics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condensed_matter_physics [2]: https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-twisted-graphene-became-the-big-thing-in-physics-20190430/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-twisted-graphene-became-t...
- achillesheels 5y ago
  How much of their research occurs naturally versus through man-made experimentation? Which is to say, do their collisions they cause occur without any man-made instrumentation?
  - magicalhippo 5y ago
    From what I've gathered, cosmic rays hitting[1] the atmosphere produce the same or similar collisions that the LHC and similar accelerators do. These collisions can be detected, and properties measured[2]. The main difference is that with accelerators like the LHC you control exactly where and when collisions happen, making precise measurements of a vast number of events possible. If I did my math right the Higgs required over 10^15 collisions before detection was claimed. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_shower_%28physics%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_shower_%28physics%29 [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_ray#Detection_methods https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_ray#Detection_methods

This might be an extremely laymen-level question, but have any discoveries from the LHC trickled down into consumer/commercial/industrial level technologies so far?

jfoutz 5y ago

The information sharing tools they developed back at the start got some popularity. I imagine you're wondering about newer things and actual discoveries. I just couldn't resist the setup.

anfilt 5y ago

Lots of the designs used by CERN are basically open source hardware some more useful than other depending on how niche it is. Heck CERN helps with KiCADs development which has benefited numerous hobbyists. Like here is a voltmetere someone built using designs from CERN. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=D28uSzCs7-k https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=D28uSzCs7-k

King-Aaron 5y ago
That was an extremely satisfying video to watch. Thanks for that!

magicalhippo 5y ago

As others pointed out, the work done to build and support the actual machine has led to a lot of positive contributions back to society. However you asked for discoveries, so I imagine you were thinking of the stuff the LHC has been searching for. And I think in that regard it's safe to say no. And from what I understand, there's not a huge expectation for that to happen. The reason being that the LHC is a high-energy particle physics search, while almost everything we make or use is made of condensed matter[1] and low-energy particles, an area where we know pretty good how individual particles behave. In the condensed matter field though, where many-body particle interactions dominate, there's a lot of interesting work that might have applications. As an example, a relatively recent discovery is superconductivity in twisted graphene layers[2]. I still think LHC and similar should be built. After all, a lot of good comes out of the technology required to build and operate them, and there is a chance we'll learn something with significant impact. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condensed_matter_physics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condensed_matter_physics [2]: https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-twisted-graphene-became-the-big-thing-in-physics-20190430/ https://www.quantamagazine.org/how-twisted-graphene-became-t...

achillesheels 5y ago
How much of their research occurs naturally versus through man-made experimentation? Which is to say, do their collisions they cause occur without any man-made instrumentation?
- magicalhippo 5y ago
  From what I've gathered, cosmic rays hitting[1] the atmosphere produce the same or similar collisions that the LHC and similar accelerators do. These collisions can be detected, and properties measured[2]. The main difference is that with accelerators like the LHC you control exactly where and when collisions happen, making precise measurements of a vast number of events possible. If I did my math right the Higgs required over 10^15 collisions before detection was claimed. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_shower_%28physics%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_shower_%28physics%29 [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_ray#Detection_methods https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_ray#Detection_methods