Posts tagged CMS

Howdy lovers,

Well, today’s the day!  The LHC people have decided, along with all the experimenters, that it’s time to collide some protons at 7 TeV.  Actually, the hoopla was originally scheduled to start this morning at 09h00 (CERN time).  That plan was amended several times, so that physicists I talked to all had different ideas of the actual start time for colliding the beams (I heard 03h00 at some point).  The initial attempts this morning to ramp the beam have both failed due to unforeseen errors in the quench protection system (QPS) and some other electronics, but they’re now saying they expect beam (and collisions!) to be ready around noon or 13h00.  So, that means that our early risers in the US might be privy to all the good shit.

For your viewing pleasure, we’ve compiled a list of links to various webcasts broadcasting the day’s activities:

• LHC First Physics Webcast (be sure to click around to the various webcams, at the bottom of the page)
• Our beloved OP Vistars (Page1 is often the most informative)
• CMS cameras: One Two Three
• ATLAS public page, home to a nice feed and some pretty pictures
• ATLAS event displays
• A pretty informative CERN Twitter feed
• The LHC Announcer (this dude talks to you about the LHC activities)

So, click away.  We’ll try to keep you updated, maybe copying some of the pretty photos of the day here for you to see.  Let us know if you find other interesting webcasts to link here, either by commenting or by e-mailing dipole@cernlove.org.

Happy collisions!

UPDATE: We have collisions!  At 13h22, the LHC people declared “STABLE BEAMS,” and we’ve been seeing 7 TeV collisions ever since.  The press release is here, and the champagne is everywhere.