Index: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
CERN is the European Organization for Nuclear Research, the world's largest particle physics laboratory, situated on the border between France and Switzerland, just west of Geneva. The convention establishing it was signed on September 29, 1954. From the original 12 signatories of the CERN convention, membership has grown to the present 20 Member States. Its main function is to provide the particle accelerators needed for high energy physics research and numerous experiments have been constructed at CERN by international collaborations to make use of them. The main site at Meyrin also has a large computer centre containing very powerful data processing facilities primarily for experimental data analysis, and because of the need to make them available to researchers elsewhere has historically (and continues to be) a major wide area networking hub.
CERN currently employs just under 3000 people full-time. Some 6500 scientists and engineers (representing 500 universities and 80 nationalities), about half of the world's particle physics community, work on experiments conducted at CERN.
1 The acronym
The acronym originally stood, in French, for Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (European Council for Nuclear Research), which was a provisional council for setting up the laboratory, established by 11 European governments in 1952. The acronym was retained for the new laboratory after the provisional council was dissolved, and informally changed to Centre Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (European Centre for Nuclear Research).
2 The accelerator complex
The CERN accelerator complex has six main accelerators:
- Two linear accelerators generating low energy particles for injection into the Proton Synchroton. One is for protons and the other for heavy ions. These are known as Linac2 and Linac3 respectively.
- The PS Booster , which increases the energy of particles generated by the linear accelerators before they are transferred to the other accelerators.
- The 28 GeV Proton Synchroton (PS) built 1959.
- The Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS), a 2 km diameter circular accelerator built in a tunnel, which started operation in 1971. It originally had an energy of 300 GeV (but has been upgraded several times). As well as having its own beamlines for fixed-target experiments, it has been operated as a protonFor alternative meanings see proton (disambiguation). Proton Classification Subatomic particle Fermion Hadron Baryon Nucleon Proton Properties Mass: 938 MeV/ c2 Electric Charge: 1. 6 × 10−19 C Spin: 1/2 In physics, the proton is a subatomic particle- antiprotonThe antiproton is the antiparticle of the proton. Antiprotons are short-lived in nature, since any collision with a proton will cause both particles to be annihilated in a burst of energy. It was discovered in the year 1955 by Emilio Segre and Owen Chambe colliderIn particle physics one gains knowledge about elementary particles by accelerating particles to very high kinetic energy and letting them impact on other particles. For sufficiently high energy, a reaction happens that transforms the particles into other, and for accelerating high energy electronsThe electron (also called negatron commonly represented as e&minus is a subatomic particle. In an atom the electrons surround the nucleus of protons and neutrons in an electron configuration. Electrons have the smallest electrical charge and when they mov and positronsA positron is the antiparticle of the electron. It is antimatter, has an electric charge of +1, a spin of 1/2, and the same mass as an electron. When a positron annihilates with an electron, their mass is converted into energy in the form of two gamma ray which were injected into the Large Electron Positron (LEP) collider.
- Isotope Separator On-line (ISOLDE), which was used to study unstable nuclei and first commissioned in 1967Events January January 4 British motorboat racer Donald Campbell dies while attempting a water speed record in Coniston Lake. January 4 Algerian revolutionary Mohammed Khider is shot in Madrid. January 6 Vietnam War: USMC and ARVN troops launch " Operatio. Particles are initially accelerated in the PS Booster before entering ISOLDE.
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