The future of physics is on the Moon. In 150 years we could have a particle accelerator that fully encircles the Moon and provide us particles that have energies thousand times larger than provided by LHC. This may be just a dream but what a dream it is.
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Sometimes it is good to dream. So, let’s dream of a future that is about 150 years away. A megastructure has just been completed on the Moon as it will take physics to the next level. It is a gigantic particle accelerator that encircles the whole Moon.
Current particle accelerators accelerate particles to gigantic energies onto to collide them. From these collisions, scientists look for interesting particles and answers to the biggest questions of physics. The larger accelerators we build the more energy we can give to the accelerated particles. If we built the mega-accelerator on the Moon it could give particles about 14 quadrillion electronvolts – about a thousand times more than the king of earthly particle accelerators – the Large Hadron Collider – achieves.
As James Beacham – a particle physicist from Duke University – says: this ultimate machine would open completely new worlds of physics. And while building such a giant mega-accelerator seems impossible today there perhaps is a way.
Phase One
First, we would need to send expeditions to the Moon. And as the costs of delivering materials to the Moon are unlikely to drop that much even in 150 years we need to figure out where on the Moon we can get these materials the cheapest.
Phase Two
Secondly, we need to figure out where to put the accelerator. Hopefully, we could find some placements that is circular while not needing to deal with gigantic height drops.
Phase Three
After knowing where it’s going to be placed, infrastructure needs to be built. First, we will need mining that will provide us with the required materials. And luckily, the Moon seems to be full of iron which will be required for all the superconductors.
Phase Four
Dig all the tunnels required for the accelerator. As the temperatures change dramatically on the Moon it will need to be placed about a hundred meters beneath the Moon’s surface. Sadly, that means we will need to cool it down there but that is doable.
Phase Five
Provide energy for the particle accelerator. This may be the biggest problem from our point of view. The lunar mega-accelerator will require tenths of terawatts of energy to work. Currently, humanity produces only about 15 terawatts per day. We will need a different source of energy such as fusion or perhaps even a part of a Dyson swarm to provide the system with the needed energy.
Phase Six
The last phase is building the accelerator itself and the infrastructure needed to run it. Luckily, the majority of the people working with the mega-accelerator wouldn’t need to live on the Moon. But there would need to be a skeleton crew operating it and fixing any potential problem.
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