CERN Accelerating science

After the PS, it is now time for the SPS to return to the Operations group’s hands. Beam commissioning in the accelerator is scheduled for 12 April 2021

The schedule for the current long shutdown (LS2) has had to be modified due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Sector 4-5 of the LHC has now been cooled with superfluid helium to a temperature of 1.9 K (−271.3 °C)

Linac3 is already producing lead-ion beams to test some crucial new equipment that could significantly increase beam intensity and quality

Upgrades and repairs of the HIE-ISOLDE linear accelerator will enable experiments to delve deeper than ever into the physics of radioactive isotopes

The final pressure test in the LHC took place in sector 6-7 on 27 October. The pressure tests are the last step before the cooling of each sector

On 23 October, the PS returned to the Operations group’s hands. Beam commissioning in the accelerator is scheduled for 1 March 2021

In the AD hall, a beam of H- ions has reached the GBAR and ALPHA experiments, marking the end of the installation of new transfer lines from the ELENA deceleration ring

At LHC Point 4, a refrigerator that cools helium from room temperature to 4.5 K (-268.65 °C) has undergone major improvements in preparation for the HL-LHC

The DISMAC project is coming to an end: the last of the 1232 interconnections was closed in August and the cool-down of the machine will now begin

Linac 4 has taken over from the retired Linac 2 as the first accelerator in the LHC injection chain