The LHC is 27 kilometers (about 16.7 miles) in circumference and capable of generating about 14 TeV of energy in collisions. That proved to be sufficient to coax the Higgs boson out of hiding, but the proposed Chinese machine would be 52 kilometers (around 32.3 miles) long and capable of collisions in the 70 TeV range. That’s the eventual goal, though. The initial version of the collider would be designed for electron-positron collisions and just 240 GeV (an order of magnitude less than the LHC). The instrument would then be upgraded to do proton-proton collisions at full power.
Colliders like the LHC and the proposed Chinese project are essentially giant electromagnetic rings that send particles (like protons) rocketing around until they collide with each other in the detector. Scientists then observe the mishmash of particles that pour out to see what we can glean of the smallest and most elusive particles.
The project has an estimated cost of $3 billion, which scientists believe the Chinese government might be willing to cover all on its own. However, international backers could make the larger collider a joint project of some sort. There are still larger colliders being proposed for future projects, including a US-European followup to the LHC that would be 100 kilometers (around 62.1 miles) long with collision energy of 100 TeV. However, the physics community will probably settle on just one next-generation collider, and the Chinese proposal is the furthest along. Construction could start within the next five years, even if no other country pledges to help. The collider could be operational as soon as 2028.
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