We are all familiar with CERN to some extent, especially its infamous Large Hadron Collider (LHC) that gets our minds whizzing with particle physics and the key it holds to unlocking so many of the universe’s mysteries. In what is undoubtedly a moment of immense pride for the country, Pakistan has started contributing significantly to the LHC.
The LHC is the world’s most powerful and largest particle collider, and easily the largest and most complex experimental facility ever built. Generally used to conduct particle experiments and attempt to trace the answers to complex questions about the origins of our universe, the LHC made waves back in 2012 when it discovered the sub-atomic particle we have come to identify as the Higgs-Boson.
According to details, a high-rate Resistive Plate Chamber (RPC) installed in the LHC was designed at the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) and the National Centre for Physics (NCP) Islamabad while it was manufactured at the Heavy Mechanical Complex (HMC) Taxila.
There are 300 RPCs installed in the LHC, of which 245 were designed and built in Pakistan.
Pakistan had won the contract for manufacturing 288 RPCS by beating top Chinese and Japanese companies, including Kawasaki Heavy Industries.
Accordingly, our nation has been a major contributor to the LHC in the following ways:
- Detector construction
- Detector simulation
- Physics analysis
- Grid computing
- Development of different mathematical software
- Manufacturing of mechanical equipment
- Alignment of the CMS tracker using lasers
- Testing of electronic equipment
- Construction of Barrel Yoke, each of which weighs 35 ton
- Assembling of CF Fins for the Silicon Trekker’s TOB
- Construction of 245 out of the 300 chambers of Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS)
