What happens when particles collide at high energies?

When particles collide at high energies, they can break apart into smaller particles or create new ones.

When particles collide at high energies, they can release a tremendous amount of energy. This energy can be converted into mass, creating new particles that did not exist before the collision. For example, when two protons collide at high energies, they can create a Higgs boson, which was first observed at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in 2012.

In addition to creating new particles, collisions can also cause particles to break apart into smaller pieces. This process is known as particle decay. For example, when a proton collides with an antiproton, they can annihilate each other, creating a shower of particles that includes pions, kaons, and other mesons.

The study of high-energy particle collisions is important for understanding the fundamental nature of matter and the universe. By colliding particles at high energies, physicists can probe the structure of matter at the smallest scales and test theories of particle physics. The LHC, located at CERN in Switzerland, is currently the world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator, capable of colliding protons at energies of up to 14 TeV (tera-electronvolts).

In conclusion, when particles collide at high energies, they can create new particles or break apart into smaller pieces. These collisions are important for understanding the fundamental nature of matter and the universe, and are studied using particle accelerators such as the LHC.