Geneva, March 01: Operators of the world’s largest atom smasher say they have restarted their massive machine near Geneva in a preparation for experiments probing secrets of the universe.
Spokeswoman Christine Sutton says low energy beams of protons were sent in both directions around the 17-mile (27-kilometer) tunnel housing the Large Hadron Collider.
Sutton said Sunday the European Organization for Nuclear Research plans a cautious trial period of two to four weeks on the machine under the Swiss-French border.
Then it plans to ramp up the energy of the beams to unprecedented levels and start record-setting collisions of protons by late March.
During a winter shutdown scientists made improvements and checked out the LHC’s ability to operate at higher energy.
–Agencies