After three years of very successful operation that led to the discovery of a new boson in 2012, the LHC is scheduled for a series of upgrades that will enhance the experimental potential to study the nature of the new particle, and to extend the searches for new physics beyond the Standard Model.

The LHC upgrades will develop in three long shutdowns, designated LS1, LS2, and LS3. In the period 2013–2014 (LS1), the collision centre-of-mass energy will be increased to 14 TeV (or slightly lower). The original performance goal for the LHC to operate at an instantaneous luminosity of 1x1034 Hz/cm2 with 25 ns bunch spacing is likely to be achieved soon after LS1. This is the scenario for which CMS was designed, with an average number of inelastic interactions per crossing (event “pile-up”) of about 25. In the period through LS2 in 2018 the injector chain will be improved to deliver very bright beam bunches into the LHC. It is anticipated that a significant increase in luminosity can be achieved, with a resulting increase in pile-up.

Read more: "CMS prepares for Pixel and HCAL upgrades"