The development of particle accelerators was previously discussed (see Part 1 and 2 on Vacuum Technology at CERN). The use of the large hadron collider (LHC) located at CERN with its enormous, multiple vacuum systems is intended to investigate the fundamental particles of the universe and one of the most exciting in recent years being the search for the Higgs boson. Here we also take a closer look into the technologies used in the LHC, discussing some of the other discoveries it has led to, as well as reviewing past contributors to the field of vacuum technology whose innovations made the LHC possible.
The Standard Model of Particle Physics – Developed in its current form in the 1970’s, the so-called “Standard Model” of particle physics is a theory of fundamental particles and how they interact. It integrated all that was known about subatomic particles at the time and predicted the existence of additional particles as well. The Standard Model describes three of the four known fundamental forces in the universe – electromagnetic forces, weak nuclear, and strong nuclear interactions.