I recall a documentary discussing the large Hadron collider, the study of the first moments following the big bang, and the potential concern for the creation of black holes. Is it theoretically possible for an amateur physicist to build their own on a smaller scale?
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On top of what others have said, I want to mention the typical LHC particle collision has the same energy that a mosquito uses to fly for a few seconds. Basically nothing.
On the other hand, the universe is constantly showering you with particles which are tens of thousands, maybe millions, of times more energetic. If nature hasn’t managed to swallow the Earth in a black hole yet, I doubt CERN ever will!
On top of what others have said, I want to mention the typical LHC particle collision has the same energy that a mosquito uses to fly for a few seconds. Basically nothing.
On the other hand, the universe is constantly showering you with particles which are tens of thousands, maybe millions, of times more energetic. If nature hasn’t managed to swallow the Earth in a black hole yet, I doubt CERN ever will!
> and the potential concern for the creation of black holes
This was never really a serious concern. When cosmic rays (high-energy particles from the sun or elsewhere) hit the upper atmosphere, the collisions sometimes have higher energies than those produced in the LHC, so any particles that are made in the LHC should regularly appear naturally in earth’s atmosphere. This fact sometimes leads people to question why it was necessary to build the LHC – well, unfortunately, vast machines are needed to observe the particle collisions, and it’s much easier to study collisions that are created under controlled conditions than ones that happen at random places and times.
It has been hypothesized that tiny black holes can be created in high-energy collisions, but if so, again, there must be loads of them being created in the upper atmosphere, and evidently they don’t swallow the earth – either they remain tiny, or they disappear. And nobody really knows for sure if tiny black holes are even a thing – it’s little more than a guess.
> Is it theoretically possible for an amateur physicist to build their own on a smaller scale?
There are plenty of simpler particle physics experiments you can do by yourself. For example, it’s possible to build your own cloud chamber. Or you could play around with a cathode ray tube (the thing that makes old TVs work), which is essentially a very basic particle accelerator. Obviously make sure to carefully research the appropriate safety precautions first, though.
> and the potential concern for the creation of black holes
This was never really a serious concern. When cosmic rays (high-energy particles from the sun or elsewhere) hit the upper atmosphere, the collisions sometimes have higher energies than those produced in the LHC, so any particles that are made in the LHC should regularly appear naturally in earth’s atmosphere. This fact sometimes leads people to question why it was necessary to build the LHC – well, unfortunately, vast machines are needed to observe the particle collisions, and it’s much easier to study collisions that are created under controlled conditions than ones that happen at random places and times.
It has been hypothesized that tiny black holes can be created in high-energy collisions, but if so, again, there must be loads of them being created in the upper atmosphere, and evidently they don’t swallow the earth – either they remain tiny, or they disappear. And nobody really knows for sure if tiny black holes are even a thing – it’s little more than a guess.
> Is it theoretically possible for an amateur physicist to build their own on a smaller scale?
There are plenty of simpler particle physics experiments you can do by yourself. For example, it’s possible to build your own cloud chamber. Or you could play around with a cathode ray tube (the thing that makes old TVs work), which is essentially a very basic particle accelerator. Obviously make sure to carefully research the appropriate safety precautions first, though.
> and the potential concern for the creation of black holes
This was never really a serious concern. When cosmic rays (high-energy particles from the sun or elsewhere) hit the upper atmosphere, the collisions sometimes have higher energies than those produced in the LHC, so any particles that are made in the LHC should regularly appear naturally in earth’s atmosphere. This fact sometimes leads people to question why it was necessary to build the LHC – well, unfortunately, vast machines are needed to observe the particle collisions, and it’s much easier to study collisions that are created under controlled conditions than ones that happen at random places and times.
It has been hypothesized that tiny black holes can be created in high-energy collisions, but if so, again, there must be loads of them being created in the upper atmosphere, and evidently they don’t swallow the earth – either they remain tiny, or they disappear. And nobody really knows for sure if tiny black holes are even a thing – it’s little more than a guess.
> Is it theoretically possible for an amateur physicist to build their own on a smaller scale?
There are plenty of simpler particle physics experiments you can do by yourself. For example, it’s possible to build your own cloud chamber. Or you could play around with a cathode ray tube (the thing that makes old TVs work), which is essentially a very basic particle accelerator. Obviously make sure to carefully research the appropriate safety precautions first, though.
You mentioned black holes in the title and post and I just wanted to swoop in and address that.
The black hole fear with the LHC was that some of the high-energy collisions *could* throw off black holes from those interactions. But the thing is that these black holes would be commensurate in mass with the energies of those collisions, by which I mean that these black holes would be very, *very* tiny. Even if we made them in the LHC (and it’s not at all clear that that happens), they evaporate almost instantly, and they are practically too tiny to interact with anything. The amount of time that such black holes would exist is generally not long enough for something to fall in, so it’s just never going to grow.
You mentioned black holes in the title and post and I just wanted to swoop in and address that.
The black hole fear with the LHC was that some of the high-energy collisions *could* throw off black holes from those interactions. But the thing is that these black holes would be commensurate in mass with the energies of those collisions, by which I mean that these black holes would be very, *very* tiny. Even if we made them in the LHC (and it’s not at all clear that that happens), they evaporate almost instantly, and they are practically too tiny to interact with anything. The amount of time that such black holes would exist is generally not long enough for something to fall in, so it’s just never going to grow.
You mentioned black holes in the title and post and I just wanted to swoop in and address that.
The black hole fear with the LHC was that some of the high-energy collisions *could* throw off black holes from those interactions. But the thing is that these black holes would be commensurate in mass with the energies of those collisions, by which I mean that these black holes would be very, *very* tiny. Even if we made them in the LHC (and it’s not at all clear that that happens), they evaporate almost instantly, and they are practically too tiny to interact with anything. The amount of time that such black holes would exist is generally not long enough for something to fall in, so it’s just never going to grow.
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