High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC)

The High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC) project aims to crank up the performance of the LHC in order to increase the potential for discoveries after 2028. The objective is to increase luminosity by a factor of 10 beyond the LHC’s design value. The project is led by CERN with the support of an international collaboration of 44 institutions in 20 countries.
 
Luminosity is an important indicator of the performance of an accelerator: it is proportional to the number of collisions that occur in a given amount of time. The higher the luminosity, the more data the experiments can gather to allow them to observe rare processes.

Beam Gas Curtain installed in the Large Hadron Collider

Non-invasive beam profile monitor using supersonic gas jet furthers our understanding of the beam dynamics and supports new discoveries.

Issue 43
14 March, 2023

54 magnets: The High-Luminosity LHC receives its first in-kind contribution

The completion of the High Order Corrector Magnet project was only made possible by the collaborative efforts of INFN, CERN, and industry.

Issue 43
14 March, 2023

Cryogenic Distribution Line, Demineralised Water System, Circuit Disconnector Boxes... The HL-LHC IT String is taking shape

With its first major equipment now in place and infrastructure nearly installed, HL-LHC’s test bed is on track to start operation in 2024.

Issue 42
07 December, 2022

The HL-LHC’s IT String home gets ready

The new metallic structure, installed in SM18, will be part of the IT String Test Stand. It will house the main components of the HL-LHC powering systems, due for arrival at the end of 2022

Issue 40
03 June, 2022

United States crab cavity program springs forward into production after successful test of prototypes

Crab cavities are critical to increase the number of interactions. After successful prototyping and testing, the US programme has entered series production.

Issue 38
01 December, 2021

QUACO at the finish line

Two 90-mm Niobium-titanium (NbTi) double-aperture quadrupole magnets, also called MQYY in the LHC vernacular, have been developed and manufactured by the companies Elytt Energy and SigmaPhi under the QUACO project for the High-Luminosity LHC upgrades.

Issue 37
22 July, 2021

Bringing Superconducting Power Transmission for HL-LHC from concept to reality

Nb-Ti, MgB2 and ReBCO: a combination of conventional and novel superconductors for the powering of the HL-LHC magnets. Demo 2 and Demo 3 demonstration systems were successfully qualified at CERN in 2020.

Issue 36
06 April, 2021

High-Precision Digitizer for High Luminosity LHC

CERN developed a digitizer to ensure the high-precision measurement of the current delivered to the superconducting magnets of the HL-LHC.

Previous Issues
25 March, 2020

Increased cryogenic power at LHC Point 4

At LHC Point 4, a refrigerator that cools helium from room temperature to 4.5 K (-268.65 °C) has undergone major improvements in preparation for the HL-LHC

Issue 35
14 October, 2020

Cold diodes for the inner triplet circuit of the High Luminosity LHC

The cold diodes of the new triplet circuits will be installed in a dedicated cryostat in the LHC tunnel downstream of the triplet magnets and close to the LHC beam pipe.

Issue 34
20 October, 2020