China Set to Build World's Largest Particle Accelerator

0:00

/1861

1×

Facts

• A proposal before the Chinese government could see the country start building a $5B, 100 km (62 mi) Circular Electron Positron Collider (CEPC) to study the Higgs boson particle and explore questions of the universe and how particles interact.¹
• CEPC, which is reportedly 'a circular Higgs factory comprising four accelerators,' may be fully built by 2035 and would become the world's top particle collider.²
• Last December, Wang Yifang, head of the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, published its technical design report. Construction could start as early as 2027 if approved.³
• The construction of CEPC was proposed after the European Organization for Nuclear Research's (CERN) Large Hadron Collider led to the discovery of Higgs bosons in 2012.⁴
• CEPC is likely to study the Higgs boson — the mysterious particle that reportedly gives mass to all atomic matter — in greater detail than ever. The Higgs boson lies at the center of unanswered questions in the Standard Model of physics.¹
• While CERN's particle collider uses protons and heavy ions, CEPC is likely to smash electrons and positrons to create millions of Higgs bosons. The technical design report for the project involved over 1K scientists from 24 countries.⁴

Sources: ¹Nature, ²CERN Courier, ³Asia Times and ⁴Interesting Engineering.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by #SixthTone. China's $5B CEPC will involve exorbitant costs but limited scientific benefits. The funds would be better spent on social issues and other scientific research. Its high expense and the minimal involvement of Chinese scientists in high-energy physics will likely be a 'bottomless pit.' Instead, investment ought to be channeled towards broader endeavors that directly benefit the country's people.
• Narrative B, as provided by Economist. China should build the super-collider to push the boundaries of particle physics further. The Higgs boson's discovery was groundbreaking, but many questions remain unanswered. China's larger collider could uncover new particles — supporting or debunking existing theories and providing invaluable negative results. It also would foster high-tech industry growth in China and attract global scientific talent, invigorating its scientific community. Given its scale and technological demands, this collider could be the last of its kind.

Predictions