During the IEEE-NSS-MIC-RTSD 2025 Conference in Yokohama, the Crosetto Foundation for the Reduction of Cancer Deaths presented evidence questioning the scientific integrity of CERN's FPGA-based Level-1 Trigger system for the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC). The foundation claims that the 20-trillion-transistor system, built for data selection at the 2026-2036 HL-LHC, is fundamentally incapable of performing the required operations to filter 8 billion events per second without data loss.
More than $4 billion in taxpayer funds have already been spent on the system, with an additional $12 billion projected over the next decade. Despite presentations by CERN's CMS and ATLAS collaborations at the conference, speakers could not provide verifiable calculations or simulation evidence that the FPGA system can execute enough basic operations per dataset or efficiently perform Level-2 trigger algorithms at Level-1.
The foundation has distributed over 1,200 copies of a technical document (https://bit.ly/437YX7H) to conference participants, posing the central question: "Is there sufficient evidence to dismiss the CMS-FPGA system as ineffective—risking over €12 billion in waste?" The document also highlights the 3D-Flow architecture, recognized as a breakthrough in 1993, which can perform up to 9,600 operations per dataset at a fraction of the cost (https://bit.ly/4qKVar8).
A formal request (https://bit.ly/4nJRsvc) was submitted to conference organizers to convene a transparent workshop comparing the operations per dataset and cost per channel of the CERN FPGA system versus the 3D-Flow system. The foundation calls on the European Parliament, national science funding agencies, and media organizations to freeze additional funding until the scientific questions are resolved.
CERN has faced previous publicly-funded failures, including the AXIAL-PET project (2010), the faster-than-light neutrino claim (2011), and the WPET wearable imaging coat weighing over 350 kg (2018). The foundation argues that the FPGA Level-1 Trigger issue is significantly larger, both scientifically and economically.
The Crosetto Foundation, a U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit with a Gold Seal for Transparency from GuideStar (https://www.guidestar.org/profile/03-0544575), is committed to saving lives through innovation and integrity in science. The foundation urges open scientific discussion to prevent further waste and ensure the HL-LHC meets its objectives.
