abandoned

A huge abandoned particle accelerator in the Moscow region – Russia today Publication in CHAT: Russia The abandoned Hadron Collider near Moscow, known as the Accelerator-Storage Complex (UNK), is an unfinished project conceived in 1983. The collider was to be the world's first proton collider using superconducting magnets. Construction lasted until 1994, when a 21 km-long tunnel was completed, but the project was halted due to financial difficulties following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the 1998 crisis. Background and start of construction. The idea of ​​creating a proton-. Proton collisions in the Soviet Union arose in the early 1980s following advances in Soviet particle physics. One of the main initiators of the project was Bruno Pontecorvo, a prominent theoretical physicist known for his work on neutrinos, neutral particles with half-integer spin that participate only in weak and gravitational interactions. Unlike other elementary particles such as electrons or protons, neutrinos hardly interact with matter, which makes them extremely common. This means that they can pass freely through ordinary matter, including the Earth and even stars, without leaving a trace. Pontecorvo emigrated to the Soviet Union in 1950 and has been actively involved in the development of nuclear physics in the country ever since. His studies of neutrino oscillations laid the foundation for many experiments, including those planned for the future collider. Pontecorvo convinced the country's leadership of the need to create a powerful proton accelerator capable of opening new horizons in the study of elementary particles and fundamental interactions. The project received support at the highest level, and in 1983 a decision was made to implement it. The site for construction was chosen in the Moscow region town of Protvino, where the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP) was already operating. The project involved leading Soviet physicists and engineers, including Alexey Sisakyan and Vladimir Kadyshevsky, then deputy director of JINR, who oversaw the selection of the site and the development of technical documentation. Kadyshevsky, a renowned accelerator specialist, was responsible for the development of the magnetic system and other key elements of the collider. Thanks to their efforts and the enthusiasm of the builders, a 21-kilometer tunnel was dug by 1994, in which it was planned to place superconducting magnets and other equipment. Construction problems However, the project faced serious difficulties. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the ensuing economic crisis led to a sharp reduction in funding. Many scientists and engineers involved in the project emigrated to the West in search of better conditions. However, a team of enthusiasts led by Sisakyan managed to achieve some success. In 1993, the first proton acceleration session was conducted in the collider tunnel, which was an important milestone that confirmed the operability of the main systems. However, further construction was stopped in 1994 due to lack of funds. Topographic plan of UNK. Current state and restoration prospects. In recent years, interest in the restoration of UNK has revived. In 2021, the National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute" announced plans to modernize and launch this unique accelerator. These efforts are led by the current director of the Kurchatov Institute, Mikhail Kovalchuk, who believes that the restoration of the collision will allow Russia to return to a leading position in the field of high-energy physics. Kovalchuk is confident that UNK can help in the study of fundamental questions of physics, such as the properties of matter and antimatter, as well as the mechanisms that caused the formation of the Universe. The restoration of the collider can also become an important incentive for the development of high technologies in the country and attract young scientists to physics. However, the implementation of this ambitious plan is associated with a number of problems. Significant investments are needed to complete the construction and modernize the equipment. The cost of projects ranges from tens to hundreds of billions of rubles. In addition, given that high-energy physics technologies have advanced significantly since the start of construction, modernization of equipment and technologies will be required, which will also bring additional costs and time to return to life. Successful implementation of plans to modernize and launch the collider could be an important step for Russian science, strengthening its position on the world stage and opening new horizons for research. Source link Source link