Start of the big chill for the LHC

The cooling of Sector 7-8 of the LHC, the first to undergo the process, is under way to the 1.9 K necessary for superconductivity. During the night of 14 to 15 March, an important milestone was reached when the entire sector was cooled to 4.5 K, the temperature of liquid helium.

The two graphs above show the progression of cooling in Sector 7-8. The first gives the status of the sector on Tuesday 6 March at 4:00 pm, the second on Wednesday 7 March at 10:00 am. Each square represents a magnet.