History and Organization of CERN
– Convention establishing CERN ratified on 29 September 1954 by 12 countries in Western Europe
– CERN originally represented the French words for ‘Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire’ (European Council for Nuclear Research)
– Name changed to ‘Organisation Européenne pour la Recherche Nucléaire’ (European Organization for Nuclear Research) in 1954
– CERN’s first president was Sir Benjamin Lockspeiser
– Edoardo Amaldi was the general secretary of CERN at its early stages
– Convention establishing CERN signed by 12 states: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, and Yugoslavia
– Founding members gradually ratified the convention
– Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, and Yugoslavia were the founding member states of CERN
– CERN is based in Meyrin, Switzerland, on the France-Switzerland border
– CERN comprises 23 member states
– In 2019, CERN had 2,660 scientific, technical, and administrative staff members
Scientific Achievements
– Discovery of neutral currents in the Gargamelle bubble chamber in 1973
– Discovery of W and Z bosons in the UA1 and UA2 experiments in 1983
– Determination of the number of light neutrino families at the Large Electron–Positron Collider (LEP) in 1989
– Creation of antihydrogen atoms in the PS210 experiment in 1995
– Discovery of direct CP violation in the NA48 experiment in 1999
Contributions to Computer Science
– CERN pioneered the introduction of Internet technology in the 1980s
– The World Wide Web project was initiated at CERN by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989
– Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau were jointly honored for their contributions to the development of the World Wide Web in 1995
– The first website was activated in 1991
– CERN became a facility for the development of grid computing and hosts projects such as EGEE and LHC Computing Grid
Miscellaneous Facts
– CERN is the largest particle physics laboratory in the world
– CERN generated 49 petabytes of data in 2016
Accelerators at CERN
Active Accelerators:
– LINAC 3 linear accelerator generates low energy particles for injection into LEIR.
– Low Energy Ion Ring (LEIR) accelerates ions from LINAC 3 before transferring them to the Proton Synchrotron (PS).
– Linac4 linear accelerator accelerates negative hydrogen ions to an energy of 160 MeV.
– Proton Synchrotron Booster increases the energy of particles generated by the proton linear accelerator.
– 28 GeV Proton Synchrotron (PS) operates as a feeder to the more powerful SPS and CERN’s experiments.
Other Accelerators:
– On-Line Isotope Mass Separator (ISOLDE) is used to study unstable nuclei.
– Antiproton Decelerator (AD) reduces the velocity of antiprotons for antimatter research.
– Extra Low Energy Antiproton ring (ELENA) decelerates antiprotons into low energies for antimatter experiments.
– AWAKE experiment is a proof-of-principle plasma wakefield accelerator.
– CERN Linear Electron Accelerator for Research (CLEAR) is an accelerator research and development facility.
Large Hadron Collider (LHC):
– LHC is a large-scale, worldwide scientific cooperation project.
– LHC tunnel is located 100 meters underground, mostly on the French side of the border.
– Eight experiments (CMS, ATLAS, LHCb, MoEDAL, TOTEM, LHCf, FASER, and ALICE) study particle collisions at the LHC.
– LHC generates vast quantities of data, which is streamed to laboratories worldwide for distributed processing.
– LHC first circulated beams in September 2008 and achieved the collision of proton beams in March 2010.
Achievements and Discoveries at LHC:
– In July 2012, CERN scientists announced the discovery of a new sub-atomic particle, later confirmed to be the Higgs boson.
– In March 2013, CERN concluded that the newly found particle was indeed a Higgs boson.
– The LHC was deactivated for maintenance and upgrades in early 2013 and restarted in April 2015.
– In 2016, the design collision rate at the LHC was exceeded for the first time.
– The LHC is currently undergoing a two-year shutdown for further upgrades.
Accelerators under Construction and Decommissioned:
– High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) project aims to upgrade the LHC’s luminosity by 2026.
– LINAC 2 linear accelerator injector has been decommissioned and replaced by LINAC4.
– Decommissioned accelerators include LINAC 1, SC Synchro-Cyclotron, ISR, and SppS.
Large Electron-Positron Collider (LEP):
– Operated from 1989-2000
– Largest machine of its kind
– Housed in a 27km-long circular tunnel
– Now houses the Large Hadron Collider
– Consisted of the LEP Injector Linac (LIL) and the Electron Positron Accumulator (EPA)
LEP Pre-Injector (LPI) accelerator complex:
– Consisted of two accelerators: LEP Injector Linac (LIL) and Electron Positron Accumulator (EPA)
– Purpose was to inject positron and electron beams into the CERN accelerator complex
– Operational from 1987-2001
– Adapted for the CLIC Test Facility 3 (CTF3) after the shutdown of LEP
– L
The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (/sɜːrn/; French pronunciation: [sɛʁn]; Conseil européen pour la Recherche nucléaire), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in Meyrin, western suburb of Geneva, on the France–Switzerland border. It comprises 23 member states. Israel, admitted in 2013, is the only non-European full member. CERN is an official United Nations General Assembly observer.
Organisation européenne pour la recherche nucléaire | |
 | |
 CERN's main site in Meyrin, Switzerland, looking towards the French border | |
 States with full CERN membership | |
| Formation | 29 September 1954 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Meyrin, Geneva, Switzerland 46°14′03″N 6°03′10″E / 46.23417°N 6.05278°E |
Membership | Full members (23): |
Official languages | English and French |
Council President | Eliezer Rabinovici |
| Fabiola Gianotti | |
Budget (2022) | 1405m CHF |
| Website | home |
The acronym CERN is also used to refer to the laboratory; in 2019, it had 2,660 scientific, technical, and administrative staff members, and hosted about 12,400 users from institutions in more than 70 countries. In 2016, CERN generated 49 petabytes of data.
CERN's main function is to provide the particle accelerators and other infrastructure needed for high-energy physics research – consequently, numerous experiments have been constructed at CERN through international collaborations. CERN is the site of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world's largest and highest-energy particle collider. The main site at Meyrin hosts a large computing facility, which is primarily used to store and analyze data from experiments, as well as simulate events. As researchers require remote access to these facilities, the lab has historically been a major wide area network hub. CERN is also the birthplace of the World Wide Web.
