LHC Powers Up To 4 TeV

An anonymous reader writes "Due to a decision made at Chamonix, the LHC will operate with a 4 TeV beam energy in 2012. This will allow them to collect as much data as possible (15 inverse femtobarns for ATLAS and CMS) before the whole accelerator complex gets shut down for about 20 months to prepare for even higher energies. 'By the time the LHC goes into its first long stop at the end of this year, we will either know that a Higgs particle exists or have ruled out the existence of a Standard Model Higgs,' said CERN's Research Director, Sergio Bertolucci. 'Either would be a major advance in our exploration of nature, bringing us closer to understanding how the fundamental particles acquire their mass, and marking the beginning of a new chapter in particle physics.'"

Comments

Re:Hyperbole

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

Given that we don't "Know" anything of note for sufficiently rigorous definitions of the word(arguably, capital 'K' "knowledge" seems to alternate between being a philosopher's dream and being a straw man...), 'know' makes pretty decent shorthand for the somewhat unwieldy long-form account of the precise flavor of the information provided by science.

Good timing

[Anonymous Coward]

By the time the LHC goes into its first long stop at the end of this year, we will either know that a Higgs particle exists or have ruled out the existence of a Standard Model Higgs

If the scientists have any sense of humour at all, they will schedule the final test at maximum power for December 21st, 2012.

He didn't say that

[Kupfernigk]

Nowhere in the source does it say "know with 100% certainty". Talk about a straw man argument. The difference between "know" and "believe" is that belief exists independent of evidence, whereas knowledge is somehow grounded in experience. We "know" how to ride a bicycle, but that didn't stop me falling off one a few weeks ago. Although clearly I do not know how to ride a bicycle with 100% reliability in all conditions, only the ultimate picker of nits would argue that occasional falling off means I do not know how to ride a bicycle.

And in any case it wouldn't be hyperbole. If I've told you once, I've told you a million times, hyperbole is wild exaggeration for rhetorical effect. Claiming that something is 100% reliable rather than, say, 99.5%, is not hyperbole. It is just slight overstatement.

Now please remove yourself from my philosophical lawn.

Re:He didn't say that

[Anonymous Coward]

The difference between "know" and "believe" is that belief exists independent of evidence, whereas knowledge is somehow grounded in experience.

Knowledge is justified true belief. ~Socrates

Most people's beliefs - be they religious, political, ideological or just mere opinion - are somehow grounded in some sort of experience. It's not like most believers in XYZ religion are want to take a Kiergegaardean leap of faith. They usually will give you reasons why they think their beliefs are true. It's not like YEC think there is no evidence the world is only 6-10k years old. In fact, the will try and argue that the science really supports them. Same with Global Warming denialists, ancient alien buffs, and alternative medicine promoters.

It would be strange indeed if a person's beliefs had nothing to do with experience. They may be wrong about what their experience constitutes, but it is a ground for believing nonetheless.

It's almost certainly there

[grimJester]

The bump around 125 is fairly close to a discovery already. The first time they release fully analyzed data at all this year will be enough for a five sigma discovery. After seeing what kind of lag they have between data gathering and release, I'd say the discovery will be announced in August.