What does a particle accelerator do and what can we learn from using one?
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It gets particles like atoms or even single quantum particles to extremely high speeds and then crashes them together
By monitoring with complex instrumentation the motion of the particles and radiation that are generated by the collision we can better understand how quantum mechanics works and how particles react together
The short answer is particle accelerators make small, subatomic particles go REALLY REALLY FAST, then they smash them into each other. When I say really fast, I mean like unbelievably fast. The LHC, takes a proton and gets it moving 99.9999991% of the speed of light. Then it takes another proton, and gets that one going 99.99999991% of the speed of light in the opposite direction of the first. Then both of the protons are smashed into each other and the results recorded.
The reason for this is to create small, localized areas of TREMENDOUS energy. We are recreating the energy levels that existed in the few moments following the big bang. This area of study is called high energy physics, and by getting a better idea of how those energies work we can gain a better understanding of the underlying rules of the universe. Think of it as getting a quick peak under the hood of the universe.
Particle colliders are one use of accelerators, but the other use is as a high-energy light source. When you accelerate electrons using magnets (and turning them counts as acceleration), they give off very high energy x-rays. These x-rays aren’t affected by the magnets of the accelerator, and can be channeled and focused to be used as an incredibly powerful microscope. These get used in all sorts of research, from materials science to biology. In fact, a fair bit of imaging data for SARS-CoV-2 came from these, such as the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory.
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