Alternating Gradient Synchrotron

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The Alternating Gradient Synchrotron (AGS) is a particle accelerator-collider complex located at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Long Island, New York, USA.

The work performed at the accelerator led to three Nobel Prizes:

• 1976: Samuel C. C. Ting discovered the J part of the J/ψ and the charm quark.
• 1980: James Cronin and Val Fitch discovered CP violation by experimenting with Kaons.
• 1988: The Nobel Prize went for 1962 pioneering work: the discovery of the muon neutrino. The prize was awarded to Leon Lederman, Melvin Schwartz and Jack Steinberger.

Currently the primary function of AGS is to pre-accelerate ions for the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, also operated by BNL.

[edit] See also

• Strong focusing (also known as alternating-gradient focusing- an idea pioneered on this accelerator)

[edit] References

• Abraham Pais (1988). Inward Bound: of matter and forces in the physical world. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198519974. 

[edit] External links

• Brookhaven National Laboratory: Alternating Gradient Synchrotron web page