What discoveries has the LHC made besides the Higgs Boson?

In summary: It is possible that the higher energy will reveal new phenomena at those scales.In summary, the LHC has found evidence for the existence of particles that do not have a conventional explanation, and it is possible that the higher energy will reveal new phenomena at those scales.
  • #1
Vailanor
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Seeing as how the LHC is going to reboot soon, I am rather curious about what discoveries the LHC has made besides the Higgs Boson. I am also curious about what the LHC will be doing soon. I would also like more details about the Particle Physics field in a whole because it seems incredibly fascinating.
 
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  • #2
Well I think you should have a check in the wiki-article about the LHC projects and discoveries, as well as the CERN's page...
For the new run, in the case of ATLAS SOME things they will check:
1. The CP of the Higgs particle they discovered from eg the di-tau channel
2. Searches for new physics in those higher energies
 
  • #4
Don't worry if some of the answers you get in this forum seem a bit harsh.
This is what makes the forum better then the average woo type of sites.
The LHC has added confirmation to our present understanding of the 'standard model' of particle physics.
When it runs at higher energy levels it may confirm or it may discount what else there is beyond this standard model.
Is super symmetry just a pretty mathematical picture or is that how it is.?
If dark matter exists what might be the nature of it?
 
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  • #5
Apart from the Higgs-boson (discovery and measurement of its properties) and the non-discovery of SUSY so far, I think the most important observations are the hundreds of measurements to check the standard model. Less than 20 free parameters (not all neutrino parameters are relevant for the LHC) allow to make hundreds of predictions - and within the uncertainties which get smaller and smaller, all measurements agree with those predictions.

The LHC experiments discovered several composite particles (hadrons) and confirmed the observation of some which do not have a conventional explanation (tetraquarks or something else unusual).

There are a few measurements with slight deviations between experimental result and theory - they could be statistical fluctiations (most of them probably are), theory errors, measurement errors, or something new - more work is needed to see what happened.The next run will have a higher energy - 13 TeV instead of 8. That extends the discovery potential significantly towards higher particle masses, and it also makes many very rare processes easier to observe. We might discover something new within two months of data-taking if we are lucky (= if some particle is at a place where it is easy to find).
 
  • #7
What the LHC has not found is possibly as interesting as what it has found. The supersymmetric particles anticipated by some theories [nameless to protect the innocent] comes to mind. It can be [and has been] argued such particles are simply too massive to be produced by the LHC.
 
  • #8
Chronos said:
It can be [and has been] argued such particles are simply too massive to be produced by the LHC.
That could be possible, but if the particles are not found at 13 to 14 TeV, they lose their main motivation. Supersymmetry with particles around 1 TeV would answer some open questions, supersymmetry at a scale above 10 TeV would leave most of those unanswered.
Also, some precision measurements are sensitive to higher energy scales.
 

FAQ: What discoveries has the LHC made besides the Higgs Boson?

What is the LHC and what is its purpose?

The LHC (Large Hadron Collider) is the world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator, located at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Switzerland. Its purpose is to study the most fundamental building blocks of matter and the forces that govern them.

What is the Higgs Boson and why is it significant?

The Higgs Boson is a subatomic particle that was predicted by the Standard Model of particle physics and was finally discovered by the LHC in 2012. It is significant because it helps to explain how particles acquire mass, which is a fundamental property of matter.

What other discoveries has the LHC made?

Besides the Higgs Boson, the LHC has made several other important discoveries. These include the discovery of the pentaquark (a type of exotic particle), the observation of the rare decay of a B meson into two muons, and the confirmation of the existence of the W and Z bosons (particles that carry the weak force).

How has the LHC advanced our understanding of the universe?

The LHC has allowed scientists to study the behavior of particles at extremely high energies, which were previously inaccessible. This has helped to confirm and refine our understanding of the Standard Model of particle physics, and has also provided important insights into the origins of the universe and the nature of dark matter.

What future discoveries can we expect from the LHC?

The LHC is currently undergoing upgrades and is expected to produce even higher energy collisions in the future. This will allow scientists to search for new particles and phenomena that could further expand our understanding of the universe. Some of the potential discoveries include supersymmetric particles, evidence of extra dimensions, and the nature of dark energy.

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