Within an international project, scientists of Riga Technical University (RTU) and the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) will develop technologies and materials for a new hadron collider that in the future could help scientists to explain structure of the universe and its emergence.
The Large Hadron Collider, with which Higgs boson was discovered, is the biggest and most complicated scientific tool on the planet. Currently, it has reached the limits of technical possibilities; therefore, European scientists and also RTU researchers have joined a project to develop technologies for the construction of a more powerful, reliable and efficient collider.
Scientists from the Institute of Technical Physics of the Faculty of Materials Science and Applied Chemistry under the leadership of Professor Artūrs Medvids will study niobium superconductor that is used for coating of resonators of hadron collider. Niobium properties provide the required conditions to achieve acceleration of particle stream at the speed of light. The task of RTU scientists is to elaborate the technology for reduction of energy loss and improvement of coating durability.
Researchers from the Institute of Industrial Electronics and Electrical Engineering of the Faculty of Power and Electrical Engineering under the leadership of scientist Pēteris Apse-Apsītis will build a unique power modulator, with which it will be possible to regulate power and concentration of particle beam in the electron gun, by modifying the width and focus of the beam. Within the framework of the project, the Distance Education Study Center of RTU will prepare informative e-learning materials about the CERN to users of different levels of preparedness. Interested persons will have the opportunity to obtain general information about CERN and the research conducted there, but scientists will be provided with information on the availability of CERN resources to be used in their research activities.
«We are one of the few research institutions in the Baltic States, which launched such scale research project in cooperation with the CERN. It is great that our researchers’ scientific potential is evaluated and used in Europe to develop the most important research center. This is a good start and I hope that in the future we will have even more such joint projects», states RTU Vice-Rector for Research, Professor Tālis Juhna.
The Large Hadron Collider is the 27 km long vacuum tunnel built in the mountains (100 m underground) on the border between Switzerland and Italy . Causing the collision of two beams of hydrogen particles moving at the speed of light, it is possible to model the Big Bang. In 2012, carrying out the experiments in the outstanding device, scientists recorded the God particles – so far experimentally unproven existence of Higgs boson. Conducting experiments in the new colliders, scientists hope to find out the forces that determine particle fusion to form mass. Becoming aware of these processes, scientists could explain the structure of the universe and its emergence.
