In particle accelerators, such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the particles that collide are typically protons. While protons can be described as wave functions according to quantum mechanics, it is important to note that they also exhibit particle-like behavior in certain experiments and interactions. This is known as wave-particle duality.
In the context of particle accelerators, protons are treated as particles because their behavior can be effectively described using classical mechanics. The protons are accelerated to high speeds and brought into collision with other protons or particles. During these collisions, it is the particle-like aspects of the protons that primarily interact.
When two protons collide, several things can happen depending on the energy involved. One possibility is the production of new particles and antiparticles through the conversion of energy into matter. These new particles can have various properties, such as mass, charge, and spin. They can be observed and measured by detecting their interactions with detectors placed around the collision point.
While the fundamental nature of particles is inherently quantum mechanical, the effects observed in particle accelerators are often described and analyzed using classical concepts and statistical methods. This allows scientists to study the properties and behavior of particles at high energies and explore the fundamental forces and particles that make up our universe.