CERN scientists are planning a major upgrade to the collider. A new plan describes an 5 - 10X increase in luminosity, which would enable the LHC to conduct many more collisions than today. LHC's current luminosity rating is 4.67 x·1032 cm−2s−1. In comparison, the Tevatron, which was shut down at the end of September, achieved 4 x 1032 cm−2s−1.
The increased luminosity is expected to enable scientists to run more collisions and, in effect, detect the rare collision events they are looking for. In a conversation with Reuters, Sergio Bertolucci, research director at CERN said that "with processes so rare, extra luminosity makes a big difference to our ability to make precision measurements and discover new things."
The upgrade to the LHC is planned for the near future - preparations are being made during the upcoming winter shutdown - even if a luminosity is far from being trivial. According to Physorg, "higher luminosity will require new technologies to be developed in a range of fields including high field magnets, radiofrequency cavities and electrical transfer lines."
One of the benefits of the modification may be that scientists can detect evidence for the Higgs Boson.