How the LHC works

Click on the accelerators and experiments to find out how a whiff of gas turns into a fireball that mimics the creation of the universe.

( 9 September 2008 )

LHC plans for open data future

Researchers share results to keep them accessible.

( 26 November 2013 )

Physicists plan to build a bigger LHC

Accelerator ring would be 100 kilometres around and run at seven times the energy of the Large Hadron Collider.

( 12 November 2013 )

Higgs theorists amass physics prize

François Englert and Peter Higgs rewarded with Nobel 50 years after hunt for boson began.

( 08 October 2013 )

LHC set to halt for upgrades

Maintenance, improvement work and data analysis will keep scientists busy as collider's planned closure begins.

( 06 February 2013 )

Theorists feast on Higgs data

But usurpers of 'standard model' have little to chew on.

( 18 July 2012 )

Higgs triumph opens up field of dreams

Experimentalists now hope to pin down the properties of the fabled particle.

( 10 July 2012 )

Physicists declare victory in Higgs hunt

Researchers must now pin down the precise identity of their new particle.

( 04 July 2012 )

Live blog: the Higgs announcement

Geoff Brumfiel reports live from CERN on the latest results from the Large Hadron Collider.

( 03 July 2012 )

Physicists find new particle, but is it the Higgs?

LHC data confirm discovery, but not identity, of Higgs-like entity.

( 02 July 2012 )

Higgs signal gains strength

Latest analyses from the Large Hadron Collider boosts case for particle.

( 07 February 2012 )

Live Q&A: The hunt for the Higgs

Your chance to chat with researchers about the latest Higgs findings.

( 13 December 2011 )

Detectors home in on Higgs boson

Hunt gathers momentum as range narrows and hints of a possible signal emerge.

( 13 December 2011 )

The highs and lows of the Higgs hunt

The search for the Higgs boson, as seen through Storify.

( 12 December 2011 )

Where's my Higgs?

LHC physicist Joe Lykken speaks.

( 09 December 2011 )

CERN manages expectations around Higgs rumours

Rumours of a Higgs signal at ATLAS and CMS intensify ahead of 13 December seminar.

( 04 December 2011 )

Higgs hunt enters endgame

Large Hadron Collider could soon deliver a clear verdict on missing boson.

( 18 November 2011 )

Hunting season for Higgs ends

But researchers confident that the existence of the Higgs boson will be decided in 2012.

( 28 October 2011 )

Higgs signal sinks from view

Early hints of the boson grow weaker with fresh data.

( 22 August 2011 )

Higgs hunting at 144GeV

Today, the two big detectors at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) delivered a plenary at the Europhysics Conference on High-Energy Physics in Grenoble. The results were largely the same as those given on Friday, but there was also a taste of what's to come.

( 27 July 2011 )

Hint of Higgs, but little more

No signs of exotic new physics have yet emerged from Europe's giant particle accelerator.

( 25 July 2011 )

Asymmetric quarks defy standard model of physics

Particle collisions hint at existence of undiscovered gluon.

( 23 July 2011 )

Collider sees tantalizing hint of Higgs

Excess events suggest LHC is homing in on elusive particle.

( 22 July 2011 )

The collider that cried 'Higgs'

Data leaks from particle hunters raise questions about scientific trust.

( 10 May 2011 )

Beautiful theory collides with smashing particle data

Latest results from the LHC are casting doubt on the theory of supersymmetry.

( 28 February 2011 )

Did design flaws doom the LHC?

Catastrophic failure that caused accelerator shutdown was not a freak accident, says project physicist.

( 23 February 2010 )

LHC sees particles circulate once more

Proton beams are zipping around the world's largest particle collider after more than a year of repairs.

( 23 November 2009 )

LHC students face data drought

Computer simulations are the only option when the world's largest particle accelerator isn't working.

( 29 July 2009 )

LHC further delayed

Giant accelerator won't smash protons before July 2009.

( 5 December 2008 )

How to repair the biggest science experiment in the world

Physicists get CSI on the LHC.

( 29 October 2008 )

Eight-month delay for LHC

Broken magnets put particle collider in limbo.

( 17 October 2008 )

LHC meltdown before first collision

Europe's largest particle accelerator might not produce data until 2009.

( 22 September 2008 )

LHC switches on

Giant accelerator sees first beam circulate successfully.

( 10 September 2008 )

Voices from the collider

Nature talks to physicists about their hopes for the Large Hadron Collider.

( 10 September 2008 )

Physicists flock to Geneva

The start up of the world's biggest particle collider lures researchers from around the world.

( 9 September 2008 )

Double first for Large Hadron Collider

Counter-clockwise beam test produces historic particle collisions.

( 25 August 2008 )

Higgs boson: The need for new physics

Regardless of whether the Higgs detection is confirmed, the standard model is incomplete, says John Ellis.

( 18 December 2011 )

Particle physics is at a turning point

The discovery of the Higgs boson will complete the standard model - but it could also point the way to a deeper understanding, says Gordon Kane.

( 16 December 2011 )

LHC by the numbers

The Large Hadron Collider — the largest particle accelerator in the world — just oozes numerical hyperbole.

( 9 September 2008 )

In the Field

Join our reporter Geoff Brumfiel as he blogs from the LHC's start-up.

( 9 September 2008 )

The LHC switches on

The Large Hadron Collider is finally ready to go. Geoff Brumfiel talks to CERN theorist John Ellis about his hopes for the project — and what happens if there are no Higgs bosons.

( 9 September 2008 )

Nobel perspective

At this year's Nobel Laureate Meeting in Lindau, David Gross (Nobel Prize for Physics 2004) told Nature what the LHC means to the physics community and shared his hopes for the collider.

Large Hadron Collider: The big reboot

As the Large Hadron Collider prepares to come back to life after a two-year hiatus, physicists are gearing up to go beyond the standard model of particle physics.

( 08 October 2014 )

High-energy physics: Down the petabyte highway

For scientists, collisions at the world's most powerful particle collider are just the start. Nature follows the torrent of data on its circuitous journey around the world.

( 19 January 2011 )

Physics: The Large Human Collider

Social scientists have embedded themselves at CERN to study the world's biggest research collaboration. Zeeya Merali reports on a 10,000-person physics project.

( 24 March 2010 )

After the Higgs: The new particle landscape

Physicists are planning the powerful accelerators they will need to study the Higgs boson and its interactions in detail.

( 17 December 2008 )

Newsmaker of the year: The machine maker

He did more than anyone to build the Large Hadron Collider. This year he saw it finished -- and then break down. Geoff Brumfiel profiles the LHC's project leader, Nature's newsmaker of the year.

( 17 December 2008 )

The race to break the standard model

The Large Hadron Collider is the latest attempt to move fundamental physics past the frustratingly successful 'standard model'. But it is not the only way to do it. Geoff Brumfiel surveys the contenders attempting to capture the prize before the collider gets up to speed.

( 10 September 2008 )

Big data: Welcome to the petacentre

What does it take to store bytes by the tens of thousands of trillions? Cory Doctorow meets the people and machines for which it's all in a day's work.

( 3 September 2008 )

Particle physics: Let the games begin

A series of mental challenges is helping physicists to prepare for the strange data they may get when the next particle accelerator goes live. Jenny Hogan joins the work-out.

( 16 March 2006 )

Paris 1951: The birth of CERN

François de Rose chaired the meeting that founded Europe's premier facility for experimental nuclear and particle research. Here he relives the five days of drama that changed the world of physics.

( 9 September 2008 )

Collision course

What will scientists do if they fail to find the Higgs boson?

( 03 November 2011 )

Cool philosophies

High-energy physicists should not gloss over fundamental conundrums.

( 10 September 2008 )

A unifying force

The questions to be explored at the Large Hadron Collider offer a chance to rekindle public interest in the fundamental principles of the Universe in which we live.

( 19 July 2007 )

Here we go...

After almost three decades of preparation, CERN's Large Hadron Collider is turning on.

( 9 September 2008 )

Collision course

This month, all eyes in the high-energy-physics community will be on the long-awaited launch of CERN's new particle collider. But US budget cuts and an uncertain job market mean the field has little else to celebrate.

( 10 September 2008 )

The Large Hadron Collider

The highest-energy accelerator ever built heralds a new era in particle-physics research, in which we hope to complete the standard model and even go beyond, into a new realm of physics.
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( 18 July 2007 )

Nobel 2013 Physics: Endowing particles with mass

As the recipients of the 2013 science Nobel prizes gather in Stockholm to celebrate and be celebrated, News & Views shares some expert opinions on the achievements honoured.

( 04 December 2013 )

Particle physics: Higgs on the big screen

Alexandra Witze savours a behind-the-scenes look at physics's most famous arrival.

( 12 March 2014 )