The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva switched off its Large Hadron Collider (LHC) on Monday morning to begin a planned major overhaul, aiming to boost its collision power and edge closer to solving the mystery of dark matter.
Physicists hope the upgraded collider will provide new insights into fundamental physics, including the nature of dark matter. Together with dark energy, it is believed to make up about 95% of the universe, yet has never been directly observed or detected.
The modernized machine, known as the HiLumi-LHC, is scheduled to enter service in June 2030.
"So long LHC and thanks for all the collisons! Let's follow the road to HiLumi LHC," CERN wrote in a post on its LHC status page shortly before shutdown.
Moments later, the webpage showed a blue bar reading "No beam," indicating the proton beam had been switched off.
Over the next four years, key components of the 27-kilometre particle accelerator will be upgraded to enable significantly more proton collisions and probe deeper into the universe’s mysteries.
