It may not be as large, or as well known, as the Large Hadron Collider, but Japan is hoping its own atom smasher will prove just as useful.

Called SuperKEKB, the accelerator is designed to deliver 40 times more collisions between particles per second than its predecessor, the KEKB.

It has now reached one of its first major milestones with its 'first turns' - circulating beams of particles for the first time.

The researchers hope it will provide a view that will give physicists access to a record rate of particle collisions in a tiny volume in space.

Scientists and technicians insert one of the optical components of the iTOP detector into the Belle II detector. The Belle II detector weighs about 1,400 tons and is approximately 26ft high (7.9 metre), wide and deep. The detector will catch the action when positrons and electrons collide in the SuperKEKB accelerator

The atom smasher located at the KEK laboratory in Tsukuba, Japan, is designed to explore 'new physics' that goes beyond what scientists call the Standard Model.

According to the Big Bang theory, matter and antimatter were created in equal amounts at the start of the universe and so they should have annihilated each other totally in the first second or so of the universe's existence.

This means the cosmos should be full of light and little else.

But because it isn't, there must have been a subtle difference in the physics of matter and anti-matter that has left the universe with a surplus amount that makes up the stars we see, the planet we live on and ourselves.

THE STANDARD MODEL OF PARTICLE PHYSICS The Standard Model says everything in the universe is made from basic building blocks called fundamental particles governed by four forces: gravity, electromagnetic, weak nuclear and strong nuclear. The Standard Model says that everything in the universe is made from a few basic building blocks called fundamental particles The forces work over different ranges and have different strengths. While the standard model has been shown to be true in various scenarios over four decades, there are questions it can't answer that continue to bug physicists. It can't explain gravity, for example, because it is incompatible with our best explanation of how gravity works - general relativity, nor does it explain dark matter particles. The quantum theory used to describe the small particles in the world, and the general theory of relativity used to describe the larger objects world, are also difficult to reconcile. No-one has managed to make the two mathematically compatible in the context of the Standard Model. According to the Big Bang theory, matter and antimatter were created in equal amounts at the start of the universe and so they should have annihilated each other totally in the first second or so of the universe's existence. This means the cosmos should be full of light and little else. But because it isn't there must have been a subtle difference in the physics of matter and anti-matter that has left the universe with a surplus of matter and that makes up the stars we see, the planet we live on and ourselves. Studying the particles produced in these collisions will give physicists a clearer view of the fundamental building blocks of the universe and provide new opportunities to explore physics that goes beyond today's standard model. Advertisement

Studying the particles produced in these collisions will give physicists a clearer view of the fundamental building blocks of the universe and provide new opportunities to explore physics that goes beyond this model.

The SuperKEKB has a 1.86 mile (3km) circumference, compared to the 16.8 mile (27km) circumference of the Large Hadron Collider.

Its ring will use magnets to accelerate electrons in one direction and positrons, their anti-matter equivalent, in the opposite direction.

The world's newest particle accelerator, SuperKEKB, shown, is just a baby with its 3km circumference, compared to the 27km circumference of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). But it is designed to deliever more than 40 times more collisions between particles than its predecessor

Scientist James Fast (second from right) and colleagues check one of the 16 quartz components or 'planks' of the imaging Time of Propagation detector. Each plank is perfectly polished on all six sides to maximize light collection and propagation

SUPERKEKB'S 'B FACTORY' SuperKEKB is known as a 'B factory' because it will produce particles known as B mesons, which quickly decay into other particles. Over the next seven years, scientists expect the collider to produce more than 200 billion B mesons. The collisions will also routinely create particles known as tau leptons, which are highly prized by particle physicists. Advertisement

They will smash these subatomic particles together in an attempt to create and identify new particles.

As part of the first stages, scientists at the SuperKEKB have circulated a beam of positrons close to the speed of light around the main ring and then circulated a beam of electrons in the opposite direction.

Next year the two beams will be circulated simultaneously, compressed into a smaller area than any other particle accelerator.

The Belle II detector that will observe the particles created in the collisions was designed by a team of more than 600 scientists spanning 99 institutions in 23 countries across four continents.

Belle II is a digital 'camera' the size of a large house, made up of thousands of tons of the highest-tech materials and electronics available.

The detector will record data from 30,000 collisions per second, all happening in a region just 100 nanometers high, smaller than a barely visible dot of text.

The world's largest particle accelerator, the LHC, started up again at the end of last year for the first time in 27 months. It marked the start of season two, opening the way to new discoveries, that will run for three years

WHAT IS THE LHC UP TO? The world's largest particle accelerator, the Lare Hadron Collider, started up again at the end of last year for the first time in 27 months. It marked the start of season two at the LHC, opening the way to new discoveries, that will run for three years. Season one of the LHC experiments confirmed the soup-like state of quark-gluon plasma, along with the existence of 'jet quenching' in ion collisions. Jet quenching occurs when particles lose energy through quark-gluon plasma. Season two specialists will measure a higher abundance of jet energies, allowing for a more advanced understanding of this matter. Quark-gluon plasma existed for a few millionths of a second, just after the big bang. Today, these particles work together to create the protons and neutrons that form all matter. Advertisement

To create such high intensity, beams of electrons and positrons are kept closely together with more than 1,000 magnets as they speed around the accelerator 100,000 times per second. The particles are eventually focused into 'nano beams' - beams so small when they slam together, the particles within are much more likely to collide.

The volume of collisions will allow scientists to study very rare events with unprecedented precision.

'Previous unexplained measurements have indicated there are some holes in the standard model. The purpose of Belle II is to help us understand new physics beyond the standard model.

'Our approach is to focus on very rare decay processes with great precision to seek answers,' said Dr Jerome Fast, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).

SuperKEKB is known as a 'B factory' because it will produce particles known as B mesons, which quickly decay into other particles.

Over the next seven years, scientists expect the collider to produce more than 200 billion B mesons.

The collisions will also routinely create particles known as tau leptons, which are highly prized by particle physicists.