It was expected to have a 100 km circuit, cost billions and dethrone the European CERN. The Chinese CEPC task was to be the fresh ‘Higgs boson factory’. He did, but he won't be here for now.
Beijing has deleted this giant task from the list of priorities for the next 5 years. Reason? most likely a violent calculation of profits and losses.
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According to sources from the Institute of advanced Energy Physics in Beijing, the CEPC task was not included in the 15th Five-Year Plan (from 2026 to 1930). For scientists led by Wang Yifang, it was a blow due to the fact that they planned to put the first shovel in in 2027. This decision means de facto freezing of construction works for at least half a decade.
Europe breathes with relief
What is simply a failure for Chinese physics is an chance for Europe. CERN plans his own successor of the large Hadron Collider – a FCC project. Both machines are called "Higgs factories". Their goal is to make specified a immense number of collisions so that scientists can yet accurately measurement the properties of this particle, which the present LHC cannot do with adequate precision. This is the key to knowing “new physics” beyond what we know today.
If the Chinese had moved on with the construction now, they'd be ahead of CERN by years. Wang Yifang now admits directly: if Europe approves its FCC task before 2030, China can abandon plans to build its own giant and join Europeans.
Pragmatism, no deficiency of money
Why did China say stop? It would be a mistake to think that Beijing could not afford to spend $5 billion. For comparison, 1318 km of Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway line The Chinese built at a cost of about $32 billion in just 3 years (at this point I am reasoning about the pace of construction of the second line of Warsaw metro...).
It is clear that this decision is alternatively strategical alternatively than economic. Basic particle physics is simply a fundamental discipline – prestigious, but not giving immediate economical or military advantage. In the current technological race, China prefers to redirect these resources where the return is immediate: artificial intelligence, quantum computers or space technologies.
It seems that the Chinese authorities have found it better to spend these billions on dominance in another areas than to look for exotic particles that will not improve GDP. It's not short of breath, it's a cold calculation.
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