It's super(conductive) and cool!
Superconductivity is one of the central themes for the CERN Open Day, and indeed for the LHC, since it is the principle on which the very operation of the LHC is based. At the heart of the LHC magnets lie 7000 kilometres of superconducting cables, each strand containing between 6000 and 9000 filaments of the superconducting alloy niobium-titanium in a copper matrix. These cables, cooled to a temperature close to absolute zero, are able to conduct electricity without resistance. 12000 amp currents - an intensity some 30000 times greater than that of a 100 watt light bulb - pass through the cables of the LHC magnets.
A range of activities and experiments will take place around the Meyrin site, in particular:
Superconductivity animations
See weird and wonderful experiments with your own eyes (CERN Meyrin, Building 163)
In the workshop where 7,000 km of superconducting cables for the LHC were tested, MaNEP (a research network focussing on new electronic materials and based at the University of Geneva) will carry out a host of different experiments on superconductivity.The most spectactular:
- The levitating scooter, which will take volunteers for a ride suspended in the air.
- A weird and wonderful miniature levitating vehicle floating above magnetic rails
- Kitted out with gloves, tongs and goggles, children will have fun making small superconducting disks levitate.
- Test the efficiency of superconducting cables and zero resistance yourself by pedalling on a superconducting bicycle connected to special lamps.
A light-hearted look at superconductivity (CERN Meyrin, Building 163)
Visit the exhibition by cartoonist Mix&Remix, tracing the adventure of superconductivity.“A short story of an enduring enigma (CERN Meyrin, Building 163)
This film by MaNEP will give you a look behind the scenes in the laboratories and review the main chapters of the story of superconductivity
Superfluidity animations
Welcome to the Cryolab, the kingdom of superfluidity! (CERN Meyrin, Building 165)
Superfluid helium is one of the strangest substances you can imagine, and it is used to cool the LHC's magnets to close to absolute zero (-271 C°) to keep the accelerator in the superconducting state. At this temperature helium becomes superfluid and escapes from the vessels holding it! In the Cryolab you will be able to see for yourself how helium passes from the liquid to the superfluid state, and observe its quantum behaviour demonstrated by the fountain effect, its infinite conductivity and zero viscosity.
Encounters with Nobel Prize winners
A crowning touch to the programme will be the presence of two Nobel Prize winners who discovered two phenomena essential to the LHC's operation: Georg Bednorz, who shared the 1987 physics Nobel prize with Alex Müller for an important breakthrough in the discovery of superconductivity in ceramic materials, and Anthony Leggett, who was awarded the 2003 Nobel physics prize with Vitaly Ginzburg and Alexei Abrikosov for their pioneering contributions to the theory of superconductors and superfluids.
Don't miss their lectures for the general public:
Forum Meyrin |
10:00 |
Round Table at Forum Meyrin with professors Legget and Bednorz, animated by Olivier Dessibourg, journalist with “Le Temps” |
French and English |
| Main Auditorium | 11h30-12h30 | Les super états: la superfluidité | Anthony J. Leggett (Nobel Price in Physics 2003) - In English with simultaneous translation into French |
| Main Auditorium | 14h30-15h30 | Les super états: la supraconductivité | J. Georg Bednorz (Nobel Prize in Physics 1987) - In English with simultaneous translation into French |
Shop BUY A REAL PIECE OF THE LHC ! Your unique souvenir of the day: A superconducting key ring! |
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