The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is a particle accelerator designed to collide subatomic particles together at high energies. While it is true that in modern physics, particles are often described as excitations of underlying quantum fields, the term "particle" is still commonly used to refer to these excitations.
In quantum field theory, particles are interpreted as quantized excitations or disturbances in their corresponding fields. These fields permeate all of space and interact with one another. The LHC collides beams of particles, such as protons or lead ions, which are accelerated to high energies using powerful magnets. When these particles collide, the energy is concentrated in a small region, allowing scientists to probe the fundamental properties of matter and the universe.
During the collisions at the LHC, the particles involved interact through the fundamental forces, such as the electromagnetic force and the strong nuclear force. These interactions can create new particles or reveal properties of existing particles. By analyzing the debris and the patterns of particles produced in these collisions, scientists can study the fundamental nature of matter, search for new particles or forces, and explore phenomena beyond the Standard Model of particle physics.
Therefore, while the LHC collides quantum fields together, the term "particle" is still used to describe the resulting excitations or disturbances in these fields that are observed and studied in particle physics experiments.