List of accelerators in particle physics

A list of particle accelerators used for particle physics experiments. Some early particle accelerators that more properly did nuclear physics, but existed prior to the separation of particle physics from that field, are also included. Although a modern accelerator complex usually has several stages of accelerators, only accelerators whose output has been used directly for experiments are listed.

Contents

Early accelerators

These all used single beams with fixed targets. They tended to have very briefly run, inexpensive, and unnamed experiments.

Cyclotrons

Accelerator Location Years of
operation		 Shape Accelerated Particle Kinetic
Energy		 Notes and discoveries made
23 cm cyclotron University of California, Berkeley 1931 Circular H2+ 1.0 MeV Proof of concept
28 cm cyclotron University of California, Berkeley 1932 Circular Proton 1.2 MeV
68 cm cyclotron University of California, Berkeley 1932-1936 Circular Deuteron 4.8 MeV Investigated deuteron-nucleus interactions
94 cm cyclotron University of California, Berkeley 1937-1938 Circular Deuteron 8 MeV Discovered many isotopes
152 cm cyclotron University of California, Berkeley 1939- Circular Deuteron 16 MeV Discovered many isotopes
467 cm cyclotron Berkeley Rad Lab[1] 1942- Circular Various >100 MeV Research on uranium isotope separation
Calutrons Oak Ridge National Laboratory 1943- "Horseshoe" Uranium
nuclei		 Used to separate isotopes for the Manhattan project
95-inch cyclotron Harvard Cyclotron Laboratory 1949 - 2002 Circular Proton 160 MeV Used for nuclear physics 1949 - ~ 1961, development of clinical proton therapy until 2002
TRIUMF Cyclotron TRIUMF, Vancouver BC 1974 - Circular H- ion 500 MeV Not an early accelerator, but a re-envisioning of the cyclotron concept, having multiple beam extractions, and hosting many multi-year experiments. Since its inception, has been the world's largest cyclotron, at 17.9m; six sector magnet configuration, with curving outer tips of pole pieces reflecting the effect of relativity on the cyclotron relation at its full acceleration velocity

[1] First accelerator built at the current Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory site, then known as the Berkeley Radiation Laboratory ("Rad Lab" for short)

Other early accelerator types

Accelerator Location Years of
operation		 Shape
and size		 Accelerated
particle		 Kinetic
Energy		 Notes and discoveries made
Cockcroft and Walton's
electrostatic accelerator		 Cavendish Laboratory 1932 See Cockroft-
Walton generator		 Proton 0.7 MeV First to artificially split the nucleus (Lithium)

Synchrotrons

Accelerator Location Years of
operation		 Shape
and size		 Accelerated
particle		 Kinetic
Energy		 Notes and discoveries made
Cosmotron Brookhaven
National Laboratory		 1953-1968 Circular ring
(72 meters around)		 Proton 3.3 GeV Discovery of V particles, first artificial production of some mesons.
Birmingham
Synchrotron		 University of Birmingham 1953-1967 Proton 1 GeV
Bevatron Berkeley Rad Lab i.e. LBNL 1954-~1970 "Race track" Proton 6.2 GeV strange particle experiments, Antiproton and antineutron discovered, resonances discovered
Bevalac, combination of SuperHILAC linear accelerator, a diverting tube, then the Bevatron Berkeley Rad Lab i.e. LBNL ~1970-1993 linear accelerator followed by "Race track" any and all sufficiently stable nuclei could be accelerated observation of compressed nuclear matter. Depositing ions in tumors in cancer research.
Saturne Saclay, France 3 GeV
Synchrophasotron Dubna, Russia December 1949-present 10 GeV
Zero Gradient
Synchrotron		 Argonne National
Laboratory		 1963-1979 12.5 GeV
Proton Synchrotron CERN 1959-present Circular ring
(600 meters around)		 Proton 28 GeV Used to feed ISR, SPS, LHC
Alternating Gradient Synchrotron Brookhaven
National Laboratory		 1960- Proton 33 GeV J/Ψ, muon neutrino, CP violation in kaons, injects polarized protons into RHIC

Fixed-target accelerators

More modern accelerators that were also run in fixed target mode; often, they will also have been run as colliders, or accelerated particles for use in subsequently built colliders.

Accelerator Location Years of
operation		 Shape
and size		 Accelerated
particle		 Kinetic
Energy		 Experiments Notes
Cambridge Electron Accelerator Harvard University and MIT, Cambridge, MA 1962-1974[1] 236 ft diameter synchrotron[2] Electrons 6 GeV [1]
SLAC Linac SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory 1966-present 3 km linear
accelerator		 Electron/
Positron		 50 GeV Repeatedly upgraded, used to feed PEP, SPEAR, SLC, and PEP-II
Fermilab Booster Fermilab 1970-2011 Circular Synchrotron Protons 8 GeV MiniBooNE
Fermilab Main Injector Fermilab 1995-2011 Circular Synchrotron Protons and antiprotons 150 GeV MINOS
Fermilab Main Ring Fermilab 1970-1995 Circular Synchrotron Protons and antiprotons 400 GeV (until 1979), 150 GeV thereafter
Super Proton Synchrotron CERN 1980-present Circular Synchrotron Protons and ions 480 GeV COMPASS, OPERA and ICARUS at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso
Bates Linear Accelerator Middleton, MA 1967-2005 500 MeV recirculating linac and storage ring polarized electrons 1 GeV
Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, VA 1995-present 6 GeV recirculating linac (upgrading to 12 GeV) polarized electrons 6 GeV DVCS, PrimEx II, Qweak First large-scale deployment of superconducting RF technology.
ELSA Physikalisches Institut der Universität Bonn, Germany 1987-present synchrotron and stretcher (polarized) electrons 3.5 GeV Crystal Barrel
ISIS neutron source Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton,

Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

 1984-present H- Linac followed by proton RCS Protons 800 MeV Highest power operational pulsed proton beam in the world
MAMI Mainz, Germany 1.5 GeV accelerator polarized electrons
Tevatron Fermilab 1983-2011 Superconducting Circular Synchrotron Protons 980 GeV
Spallation Neutron Source Oak Ridge National Laboratory 2006 - Present Linear (335 m) and Circular (248 m) Protons 800 MeV -
1 GeV
Universal Linear Accelerator (UNILAC) GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research, Darmstadt, Germany 1974 - Present Linear (120 m) Ions of all naturally occurring elements
Schwerionensynchrotron (SIS18) GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research, Darmstadt, Germany 1990 - Present Synchrotron with 271 m circumference Ions of all naturally occurring elements U: 50-1000 MeV/u
Ne: 50-2000 MeV/u
p: 4,5 GeV
High Current Proton Accelerator Neutron Materials Research, Proton Radiography, High Energy Neutron Research, Ultra Cold Neutrons Los Alamos Neutron Science Center originally Los Alamos Meson Physics Facility Los Alamos National Laboratory 1972 - Present Linear (800 meters) and Circular (30 m) Protons 800 MeV

Colliders

Electron-positron colliders

Accelerator Location Years of
operation		 Shape
and circumference		 Electron
energy		 Positron
energy		 Experiments Notable Discoveries
AdA Frascati, Italy; Orsay, France 1961-1964 Circular, 3 meters 250 MeV 250 MeV Touschek effect (1963); first e−e− interactions recorded (1964)
Princeton-Stanford (e−e−) Stanford, California 1962-1967 Two-ring, 12 m 300 MeV 300 MeV e−e− interactions
VEP-1 (e−e−) INP, Novosibirsk, Soviet Union 1964-1968 Two-ring, 2.70 m 130 MeV 130 MeV e−e− scattering; QED radiative effects confirmed
VEPP-2 INP, Novosibirsk, Soviet Union 1965-1974 Circular, 11.5 m 700 MeV 700 MeV OLYA, CMD multihadron production (1966), e+e−→φ (1966), e+e−→γγ (1971)
SPEAR SLAC 1972-1990(?) Mark I, Mark II, Mark III Discovery of Charmonium states
VEPP-2M BINP, Novosibirsk 1974-2000 Circular, 17.88 m 700 MeV 700 MeV ND, SND, CMD-2 e+e− cross sections, radiative decays of ρ, ω, and φ mesons
DORIS DESY 1974-1993 Circular, 300m 5 GeV 5 GeV ARGUS, Crystal Ball, DASP, PLUTO Oscillation in neutral B mesons
PETRA DESY 1978-1986 Circular, 2km 20 GeV 20 GeV JADE, MARK-J, PLUTO, TASSO Discovery of the gluon in three jet events
CESR Cornell University 1979-2002 Circular, 768m 6 GeV 6 GeV CUSB, CHESS, CLEO, CLEO-2, CLEO-2.5, CLEO-3 First observation of B decay, charmless and "radiative penguin" B decays
PEP SLAC 1980-1990(?) Mark II
SLC SLAC 1988-1998(?) Addition to
SLAC Linac		 45 GeV 45 GeV SLD, Mark II First linear collider
LEP CERN 1989-2000 Circular, 27km 104 GeV 104 GeV Aleph, Delphi, Opal, L3 Only 3 light (m ≤ mZ/2) weakly interacting neutrinos exist, implying only three generations of quarks and leptons
BEPC China 1989-2004 Circular, 240m 2.2 GeV 2.2 GeV Beijing Spectrometer (I and II)
VEPP-4M BINP, Novosibirsk 1994- Circular, 366m 6.0 GeV 6.0 GeV KEDR Precise measurement of Υ-meson masses
PEP-II SLAC 1998-2008 Circular, 2.2 km 9 GeV 3.1 GeV BaBar Discovery of CP violation in B meson system
KEKB KEK 1999-2009 Circular, 3km 8.0 GeV 3.5 GeV Belle Discovery of CP violation in B meson system
DAΦNE Frascati, Italy 1999- Circular, 98m 0.7 GeV 0.7 GeV KLOE Crab-waist collisions (2007)
CESR-c Cornell University 2002-2008 Circular, 768m 6 GeV 6 GeV CHESS, CLEO-c
VEPP-2000 BINP, Novosibirsk 2006- Circular, 24.4m 1.0 GeV 1.0 GeV SND, CMD-3 Round beams (2007)
BEPC II China 2008- Circular, 240m 3.7 GeV 3.7 GeV Beijing Spectrometer III

Hadron colliders

Accelerator Location Years of
operation		 Shape
and size		 Particles
collided		 Beam
energy		 Experiments
Intersecting
Storage Rings		 CERN 1971-1984 Circular rings
(948 m around)		 Proton/
Proton		 31.5 GeV
Super
Proton Synchrotron/SppS		 CERN 1981-1984 Circular ring
(6.9 km around)		 Proton/
Antiproton		 270-315 GeV UA1, UA2
Tevatron
Run I		 Fermilab 1992-1995 Circular ring
(6.3 km around)		 Proton/
Antiproton		 900 GeV CDF, D0
Tevatron
Run II		 Fermilab 2001-2011 Circular ring
(6.3 km around)		 Proton/
Antiproton		 980 GeV CDF, D0
RHIC
proton+proton mode		 BNL 2000-present Hexagonal rings
(3.8 km circumference)		 Polarized Proton/
Proton		 100-250 GeV PHENIX, STAR
Large Hadron
Collider		 CERN 2008-present Circular rings
(27 km around)		 Proton/
Proton		 3.5 TeV
(design: 7 TeV)		 ALICE, ATLAS, CMS, LHCb, LHCf, TOTEM

Electron-proton colliders

Accelerator Location Years of
operation		 Shape
and size		 Electron
energy		 Proton
energy		 Experiments
HERA DESY 1992(-2007) Circular ring
(6336 meters around)		 27.5 GeV 920 GeV H1, ZEUS, HERMES, HERA-B

Ion colliders

Accelerator Location Years of
operation		 Shape
and size		 Ions
collided		 Ion
energy		 Experiments
Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider Brookhaven National Laboratory, New York 2000-present Hexagonal rings
(3.8 km circumference)		 d-197
Au79+;
63
Cu29+-63
Cu29+;
197
Au79+-197
Au79+		 4.6-100 GeV per nucleon STAR, PHENIX, Brahms, Phobos
Large Hadron
Collider, ion mode		 CERN 2008-present Circular rings
(27 km circumference)		 208
Pb82+-208
Pb82+		 2.76 TeV per nucleon ALICE, ATLAS, CMS

Light sources

Main article: List of synchrotron radiation facilities

Hypothetical accelerators

Besides the real accelerators listed above, there are hypothetical accelerators often used as hypothetical examples or optimistic projects by particle physicists.

References

  1. ^ a b "Cambridge Electron Accelerator (Cambridge, Mass.) Records of the Cambridge Electron Accelerator : an inventory". Harvard University Library. November 15, 2006. http://oasis.lib.harvard.edu/oasis/deliver/~hua11001. Retrieved January 2, 2012. 
  2. ^ Rothenberg, Peter J. (October 16, 1958). "An MIT-Harvard Project: The Electron Accelerator". The Harvard Crimson. http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1958/10/16/an-mit-harvard-project-the-electron-accelerator/. Retrieved January 2, 2012. 

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