Physics questions about the LHC.

[Docfeelgood]

I'm unable to find the answers to my questions from looking on the web and thought I would ask you guys for help.
This subject is really way over my head and may seem trivial to some of you but my questions are sincere.


The large Hadron Collider is working on the black-hole scenario and my questions.....

1. Why do it?

2. How will this experiment improve life on Earth?

3. How is it justified for this experiment, where the chances for an "improbable" catastrophe are so small but the stakes are so high?


Thank You
Docfeelgood

[Hauldren Collider]

1. To observe and discover new elementary particles so that we can confirm the Standard Model of quantum mechanics.
2. Opinions differ on this. Many say that it will not. Others insist that it will.
3. This is false, there is no danger whatsoever from the LHC. It is an urban legend. The various doomsday scenarios regarding the LHC are physically impossible and ludicrous.

I have never studied quantum mechanics; what I know about it is based on a basic overview at the end of a college-level physics class back in my junior year of high school. So you'll have to ask someone else to summarize what the Standard Model describes and how it is useful.

[Docfeelgood]

3. This is false, there is no danger whatsoever from the LHC. It is an urban legend. The various doomsday scenarios regarding the LHC are physically impossible and ludicrous.

They say the odds are 50 million to 1, highly unlikely but not impossible.

[Hauldren Collider]

No. The odds are zero. It is not likely. It is not even unlikely. It is actually impossible.

[Docfeelgood]

Not from all the info I've read.

[giblets]

The less mass a black hole has, the faster it loses mass through Hawking radiation. Even if the large hardon collider manages to create tiny black holes it won't affect us because the black holes will lose all of their mass instantly.

[Docfeelgood]

http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/09/10/black-hole-cern.html

Martin Rees, a U.K. physicist, has put the odds of a CERN black hole at one in 50 million.

[Docfeelgood]

I'm really more interested in these questions than the end of the world.

1. Why do it?

2. How will this experiment improve life on Earth?

[DaShi]

I'm unable to find the answers to my questions from looking on the web and thought I would ask you guys for help.
This subject is really way over my head and may seem trivial to some of you but my questions are sincere.


The large Hadron Collider is working on the black-hole scenario and my questions.....

1. Why do it?

2. How will this experiment improve life on Earth?

3. How is it justified for this experiment, where the chances for an "improbable" catastrophe are so small but the stakes are so high?


Thank You
Docfeelgood

1. Because it's not there.

2. Yes, improved waste disposal

3. I agree. If you want to destroy the world, you should go for a sure thing.

[Docfeelgood]

Good to see that I'm not the only one who does not understand.

[regexcellent]

The less mass a black hole has, the faster it loses mass through Hawking radiation. Even if the large hardon collider manages to create tiny black holes it won't affect us because the black holes will lose all of their mass instantly.

There's more to it than that. The energy level of the particle interactions in the LHC happen in the upper atmosphere every now and then and if it could create a world-ending apocalypse the world would already be destroyed.

[Hauldren Collider]

I'm really more interested in these questions than the end of the world.

1. Why do it?

2. How will this experiment improve life on Earth?

As I already stated, it is to confirm various theories regarding quantum mechanics. The existence (or nonexistance) of certain particles predicted by prevailing theories would let us know whether those theories are correct or need to be revised. Based on what I have read, they mostly relate to our understanding of the four fundamental forces of nature: Electromagnetism, gravity, the weak nuclear force, and the strong nuclear force. These four forces are responsible for all physical interactions, and other forces we experience are simply some combination of these forces. They are facilitated by special particles that exchange energy between other particles. An example of such a particle would be a photon, which carries electromagnetic energy in the form of light. Some of these particles have yet to actually be observed. We assume they exist because such assumptions correctly predict what we have seen in the universe. But if the LHC does not detect these particles, then we will know that the Standard Model is incorrect and a new theory will be needed.

[regexcellent]

The LHC, and particle physics in general, probably won't have any real practical applications for at least 50 years. Someone like KH or JM would know more about this of course.

[Felch]

Martin Rees, a U.K. physicist, has put the odds of a CERN black hole at one in 50 million.

Has he performed the experiment 50 million times to verify this, or is he just pulling a number out of his ass? How does he know it isn't 1:51,000,000 or 1:999,999,999,999,999?

[Jon Miller]

What ends up being useful isn't always clear.

Like anti-matter.

Which was first theoretical, then investigated for fundamental science reasons, and then turned out to be useful in cancer treatment and in imaging.

JM