The new proton collision data, the first recorded since 2012, will give an international collaboration of researchers its best chance yet to study the Higgs boson, search for dark matter, and develop a more complete understanding of the laws of nature. The team of researchers includes more than 1,700 US physicists.
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The ALICE detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Photo credit: CERN

With the world’s largest science project now smashing particles again after a two-year pause, UT researchers will play a role in experiments that could challenge the accepted understanding of the universe.

The Large Hadron Collider at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) in Geneva, Switzerland, is the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator. The collider received a two-year upgrade after it captured the world’s attention in 2012 with the discovery of the Higgs boson. The Higgs boson is an elementary particle that completes the Standard Model of particle physics. Its discovery allows scientists to further explore fundamental forces at work in nature. Continue reading →