When Switzerland’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) helped scientists spot the Higgs boson in 2012, the discovery revolutionized how researchers interpreted the Standard Model of particle physics. Only the 17-mile-wide LHC could achieve the power and luminosity necessary for such an experiment, which required accelerating proton beams to nearly the speed of light and then slamming them into each other head-on. But for all its significant contributions to particle physics, the LHC still isn’t enough. If scientists want to learn more about two of physics’ most elusive components—dark matter and dark energy—they’ll need an accelerator larger and more powerful than the LHC.
Enter the Future Circular Collider (FCC). First proposed by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in 2019, the FCC will be more than three times larger than the LHC and extend 200 meters underground. Its gargantuan footprint will enable the supercollider to smash particles together with unprecedented force without sacrificing stability or the surrounding environment—if approved in the first place.
New proposals place the FCC’s initial construction costs at £12 billion (more than $15 billion), which would come from CERN’s member nations. Such a massive price tag is difficult to justify, even when its potential scientific rewards are immense. In contrast, the LHC cost £3.75 billion ($4.7 billion) to build.
But the FCC could be our biggest chance at nailing down dark matter and dark energy, two slippery—and even controversial—unknowns thought to make up 95% of the universe. Finding out more about these could have a massive impact on everything from our cosmological models and galactic timeline to our understanding of fundamental physics. Getting the FCC up and running would also help scientists form a succession plan for when the LHC eventually retires.
If approved, the FCC’s underground tunnel would loop around Geneva, passing through French territory and under Lake Geneva. Eight laboratories, one in France and seven in Switzerland, would dot its surface. Construction on the supercollider would occur in two phases. The first, responsible for colliding electrons in search of more Higgs particles, would allow operations to begin in the mid-2040s. The second would use powerful magnets and heavy protons to search for “new” particles, though operations wouldn’t start until at least 2070.
According to a CERN update from March 2023, the organization is working closely with French and Swiss government bodies to ensure FCC construction wouldn’t disrupt local communities and ecosystems. It’s also investigating how FCC byproducts, such as waste heat, might be repurposed to benefit nearby neighborhoods.
