A hadron collider’s energy reach is defined by the circumference of its tunnel and the strength of its dipole magnets. Next-generation hadron colliders look set to have tunnels more than three times longer than the LHC. Further expansion of the energy frontier depends on the ability of accelerator physicists to increase the strength of the magnets.
This is one of the hardest problems in applied superconductivity – and exactly the sort of challenge that can inspire spinoff applications, from energy-efficient power transmission in cities to sustainable air travel. This edition’s cover illustrates a high-temperature superconducting cable developed by Amalia Ballarino’s team at CERN in collaboration with Airbus.
Elsewhere in these pages: meet Fermilab’s new director, Norbert Holtkamp; boost into the rest frame of charged particles in a bent crystal; the most important tool you’ve never heard of; a milestone for the HiLumi LHC; an Eiffel honour for women physicists; all you need to know about little red dots; Michael S Turner on the coming revolutions in high-energy physics and cosmology; and much more.