{"id":332597,"date":"2026-03-06T20:26:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T20:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/332597\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T20:26:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T20:26:09","slug":"hilumi-magnets-face-full-scale-test-cern-courier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/332597\/","title":{"rendered":"HiLumi magnets face full-scale test \u2013 CERN Courier"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Cool<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCool magnets CERN has begun the cooldown of a 95\u2009m-long test stand that reproduces the underground configuration of technologies for the Large Hadron Collider\u2019s high-luminosity upgrade. Credit: CERN
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

CERN has reached a crucial milestone in the advancement of the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HiLumi LHC) project with the start of the cryogenic cooldown to 1.9\u2009K of its 95-metre-long test stand \u2013 a full-scale replica of the innovative equipment that will transform the LHC in the coming years. The test stand is designed to validate the novel magnet system (the inner triplet beam-focusing magnets) and its complex infrastructure, which is a key element in a major upgrade of the LHC that is set to enter operation in 2030.<\/p>\n

This summer will mark the start of a four-year-long intensive work period to transform the LHC into the HiLumi LHC \u2013 a groundbreaking accelerator that will usher in a new era for high-energy physics. The HiLumi LHC will increase the number of particle collisions by a factor of 10, increasing the volume of physics data available for researchers. This leap forward will allow physicists to explore the behaviour of the Higgs boson and other elementary particles with unprecedented precision and to uncover rare new phenomena that might reveal themselves.<\/p>\n

Exploring the unknown<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it is possible to overstate the importance and excitement of the High-Luminosity LHC, which is the largest project undertaken by CERN for the past 20 years,\u201d explains Mark Thomson, CERN Director-General. \u201cCoupled with advanced new data tools and upgraded detectors, it will allow us to understand, for the first time, how the Higgs boson interacts with itself \u2013 a key measurement that will shed light on the first instants and possible fate of the universe. The HiLumi LHC will also explore uncharted territory and could reveal something completely new and unexpected. That\u2019s the whole point of exploring the unknown: you don\u2019t know what\u2019s out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many of the technologies developed for the HiLumi LHC \u2013 such as super\u00adconducting crab cavities that tilt the particle beams before they collide, crystal collimators designed to remove errant particles and high-temperature superconducting electrical transfer lines to power the HiLumi magnets as efficiently as possible \u2013 have never been used in a proton accelerator before. Among these new key technologies, the inner triplet beam-focusing magnets are made of a superconducting compound based on niobium and tin (Nb3Sn), enabling magnetic fields higher than those achieved with the current LHC niobium\u2013titanium (NbTi) magnets (see \u201cSuperconductors for the energy frontier<\/a>\u201d). These new magnets will be deployed on both sides of the ATLAS and CMS experiments, alongside new cryogenic, powering, protection and alignment systems, and will operate at a temperature of 1.9\u2009K, just like the LHC magnets.<\/p>\n

The entire accelerator complex and associated experiments will benefit from the improvements<\/p>\n

To ensure seamless integration, CERN has built, in an above-ground test hall, a full-scale test stand called the Inner Triplet String (IT String), which mirrors the underground configuration (CERN Courier March\/April 2025 p8<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the systems have already been tested individually. The goal of the IT String is to validate their integration and their collective performance under operational conditions,\u201d explains Oliver Br\u00fcning, CERN Director for Accelerators and Technology. \u201cThe connection and operation of all the equipment in the IT String give us a chance to optimise our procedures before the actual installation in the tunnel, so that we will be prepared and ready for an efficient and smooth installation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harnessing potential<\/p>\n

The large LHC experiments ATLAS and CMS will also undergo a major upgrade to enable them to harness the full scientific potential of the HiLumi LHC collisions \u2013 work that is being carried out in close coordination with hundreds of institutes worldwide. Additionally, the entire accelerator complex and associated experiments will benefit from improvements, says the lab, solidifying CERN\u2019s leadership in high-energy physics.<\/p>\n

The cooldown of the HiLumi LHC test string, which is achieved using a liquid-helium refrigeration and distribution system, is expected to take several weeks to complete.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cool magnets CERN has begun the cooldown of a 95\u2009m-long test stand that reproduces the underground configuration of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332598,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[61,60,80],"class_list":{"0":"post-332597","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}