The European Laboratory of High Energy Physics has a new head who is determined to support the creation of a powerful particle accelerator that will surpass the current collider responsible for the discovery of the “particle of God.” Mark Thomson, a British physicist and the future general director of CERN starting in January 2026, stated at a press conference that the future circular collider (FCC) project is the optimal solution for scientific advancements.
The current accelerator at CERN, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), is a 27-kilometer ring located approximately 100 meters underground on the France-Switzerland border. It was at this collider that scientists confirmed the existence of the Higgs boson, also known as the “particle of God,” a critical breakthrough in understanding how particles acquire mass.
The LHC is scheduled to conclude its operations by 2040, prompting CERN to explore the construction of a new collider spanning 91 kilometers and costing around $17 billion. Thomson stressed the importance of comprehensively understanding the financial implications of the project, which necessitates consensus before a final decision is reached.
The FCC initiative also aims to further investigate dark matter and dark energy, enigmatic phenomena that continue to baffle scientists. Presently, it is estimated that visible matter, such as stars, gas, dust, and planets, constitutes only 5% of the universe’s mass, with dark matter and dark energy comprising the remaining 95%, the nature of which remains elusive.
Thomson expressed confidence that ongoing experiments will bring humanity closer to unraveling the mysteries surrounding dark matter, offering hope for significant advancements in our understanding of the universe.