The Chinese government is considering building a new electron positron accelerator that has the potential to be the largest in the world. While there are some concerns about the high construction cost, physicist Eliezer Rabinovici believes that China’s scientific community has the capacity to build it. The proposed circular electron positron accelerator (CEPC) would have a circumference of 100 km, which would far surpass the current world record held by CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC).
The CEPC project has sparked controversy within China’s scientific community, with Nobel laureate Yang Chen-ning being a vocal opponent. He cites more pressing issues such as economic development and environmental protection as reasons why the country should focus on these areas instead of investing in science. However, Rabinovici believes that China’s scientific potential is being underestimated and has witnessed significant progress during his visit in April.
The debate over whether China should build the world’s largest particle accelerator has been ongoing for nearly a decade. In 2012, director Wang Yifang proposed the CEPC project following the discovery of the Higgs boson in Europe. By accelerating electrons and positrons to high energies and colliding them, the CEPC would enable scientists to make new discoveries beyond the standard model of particle physics.
While there are concerns about funding and licensing, if approved, construction of the CEPC could begin within three years. Despite some controversy surrounding the project, many international physicists have recognized its potential impact on scientific research globally.
