Advances in Cryogenics at the Large Hadron Collider

After a decade of intensive R&D in the key technologies of high-field superconducting accelerator magnets and superfluid helium cryogenics, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has now fully entered its co nstruction phase, with the adjudication of major procurement contracts to industry. As concerns cryogenic engineering, this R&D program has resulted in significant developments in several fields, amon g which thermo-hydraulics of two-phase saturated superfluid helium, efficient cycles and machinery for large-capacity refrigeration at 1.8 K, insulation techniques for series-produced cryostats and mu lti-kilometre long distribution lines, large-current leads using high-temperature superconductors, industrial precision thermometry below 4 K, and novel control techniques applied to strongly non-line ar processes. We review the most salient advances in these domains.