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Andreas

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Message 14498 - Posted: 7 Aug 2006, 7:51:15 UTC

Mayhap a stupid question: Would it be at all possible to use the LHC as a fusion reactor? It's a big torus designed to make particles collide...
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Message 14509 - Posted: 9 Aug 2006, 17:00:50 UTC - in response to Message 14498.  

Mayhap a stupid question: Would it be at all possible to use the LHC as a fusion reactor? I


No, the particles are so hot after collision that they have no chance to stay together. And for an exothermic reaction you would have to go from Deuterium to Helium and I wonder if they could accelerate deuteriom ions.

That is really another level of energy that what is needed for reactions between nuclei that means protons, neutrons and pions.

Here it is reaction between quarks and gluons.
The intermediary state of such a collision maybe a quark-gluon plasma deacaying mostly in 2 jets of baryons and mesons. Interesting would be any 3 jet- or 4 jet- event giving hint of very, very rare and heavy particles..

It is the most exciting experiment mankind has ever collaborated for.

If you want to know more look here:

http://www.seedmagazine.com/slideshow/seedshow.php?show_id=13

http://particleadventure.org/particleadventure/
http://www.interactions.org/cms/

hope this helps

Jochen from Old Germany

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JardaM

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Message 14563 - Posted: 17 Aug 2006, 16:16:11 UTC

And further to dr mabuse: For fusion you need hottest + densest plasma in smallest volume which are the conditions LHC can never fulfill, and it isn't constructed to.
To your satisfaction: EU + US + Russia + Japan after many years of negotioations made an agreement to construct such a reactor named ITER (correct?) in French Caradache (??).
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