Practical information
What is the date of the First Physics at the LHC event?
The first attempt to collide beams at 3.5 TeV per beam will happen on 30 March 2010. Please see the 'Schedule' page for more information.
How can I follow the webcast / satellite broadcast?
The webcast will be available here: webcast.cern.ch/lhcfirstphysics. A schedule for the webcast can be found here.
Live satellite broadcast information.
What's the news?
Collisions at 7 TeV mark the start of the physics programme of the LHC - at these energies scientists will be able to cross-check data and predictions from previous experiments and potentially discover predicted or unpredicted particles that will help us understand how the universe works. Discoveries will not be made on the first day - science is a long process, and the First Day day marks the start of an exciting new era in particle physics.
What will happen on the First Physics day?
Registration will start at 7 a.m. at the CERN Reception. Accredited journalists will receive a badge and take a shuttle to the media centre on the CERN campus.
From 8:30, shuttle buses with pre-assigned spaces will start circulating between the media centre and the control rooms of the four LHC detectors. There will be a live transmission from all control rooms to the media centre in the morning, and as soon as the first 7 TeV collisions are recorded we will hold a press conference in the media centre.
There will be opportunities to interview scientists in the media centre or in the control rooms. You will also have a quiet working room at your disposal.
What if I can't come?
Please let us know if you will not be able to attend the event as this means that we can accredit people from the waiting list. There may be a local media event near you: a number of scientists from the ATLAS and CMS collaborations are available at various locations around the world to help with local press and media coverage of the LHC First Physics event. Send an email to press.office@cern.ch to find out more.
What will happen before the First Physics event?
On 28 February, the first proton beams of 2010 circulated in the Large Hadron Collider. Over the next few weeks, the LHC operators will follow a careful, step-by-step procedure as they ramp the beams up in energy toward the goal for the first long run of the world's largest particle accelerator: collisions at an energy of 7 TeV (3.5 TeV per beam). The date for the first attempt to collide beams at 7 TeV will be announced by press release approximately one week in advance. Since this is a very difficult procedure, however, it is possible that several days will be required before collisions are actually produced. Follow CERN's twitter feed (twitter.com/cern) for regular updates.
What will we be able to see on the First Physics day?
On 28 February, the first proton beams of 2010 circulated in the Large Hadron Collider, and on 19 March, the beams reached an energy of 3.5 TeV. Until 30 March, the LHC team will be working with 3.5-TeV beams to commission the beam control systems and the systems that protect the particle detectors from stray particles. All these systems must be fully commissioned before collisions can begin. It is possible that several days will be required before collisions are actually produced. Follow CERN's twitter feed (twitter.com/cern) for regular updates. If we are aware of a delay of 24 hours or more we will of course inform accredited journalists as soon as possible.
What will we be able to film?
The atmosphere in the control rooms, interviews with scientists, the press conference and the CERN site. It will not be possible to see the detectors or the collider itself.
What are the facilities that will be available in the media centres?
You will have wireless internet, telephones, audio and video feeds and four ISDN lines in the media centre. Please bring your own laptops and equipment. There will be vending machines for snacks and the CERN restaurant is a short walk away.
What if nothing happens on the first day?
It is a normal part of running a large and unique research facility such as the LHC that periods of downtime occur. It is possible that a technical glitch on the day will delay proceedings. If this is the case, the schedule of the previous day will be repeated with minor modifications.
How do I get to CERN and where can I stay?
You may find these pages useful:
- http://user.web.cern.ch/User/Institute/Integration/GetToCERN/GetToCERN.html
- https://espace.cern.ch/hostel-service/Lists/Hotels/AllItems.aspx
I am not accredited. Can I still come?
We can only accommodate a limited number of people. We have started a waiting list and will replace late accreditations with cancellations.
What if I just show up on the day without an accreditation?
You will not be allowed to enter the CERN site without a badge. There will be an ad-hoc waiting list, but we cannot guarantee that you will be able to follow the event. There will be a live webcast and the press conference will be uploaded to the CERN website immediately.
What is the medium-term future of the LHC?
The LHC will run at an energy of 7 TeV for 18 months to two years, with a short technical stop in winter 2010. After this long running period and when the experiments have collected enough data, there will be a long shutdown of roughly a year in which the LHC will be prepared for running at its design energy of 14 TeV.