ABOUT

CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is one of the world’s largest and most respected centres for scientific research. Its business is fundamental physics, finding out what the Universe is made of and how it works. At CERN, the world's largest and most complex scientific instruments are used to study the basic constituents of matter - the fundamental particles. By studying what happens when these particles collide, physicists learn about the laws of Nature.

The instruments used at CERN are particle accelerators and detectors. Accelerators boost beams of particles to high energies before they are made to collide with each other or with stationary targets. Detectors observe and record the results of these collisions. CERN provides most technologically advanced facilities for their research into the basic building blocks of the Universe. Specialist facilities that would otherwise be difficult or impossible for individual nations to build include advanced particle accelerators, such as the Large Hadron Collider, and facilities for the production of exotic forms of matter, including antimatter.

CERN has established a reputation at the forefront of research, proven through its experiments, past and present. The Laboratory is a vibrant meeting place for discussion and debate; around half of the world’s particle physicists come here for their research. This is reflected in the experiments, which are usually run by international collaborations, bringing together teams of physicists from different institutes towards a common goal. The Proton Synchrotron (PS) and Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) are two major components of the CERN accelerator complex, providing proton and ion beams for the needs of various experiments. The PS and SPS are able to accelerate protons with energies up to 24 GeV/c and 450 GeV/c, respectively. While some PS and SPS beams have been designed and implemented for the purpose of stand-alone international particle physics experiments, a main use of the PS and SPS beamlines has been for testing and calibration of detector equipment, subsequently to be installed at CERN (typically at the LHC experiments) or at other particle physics laboratories in Europe.

COOPERATION

Project DIRAC is a good example of international scientific cooperation, involving 15 European and several Japanese research institutions. The goal of the experiment is to measure the lifetime of pi+ pi- atoms in the ground state using the 24 GeV/c proton beam.

COMPASS, involving 25 European and several Japanese and Indian research institutions. A fixed target experiment at the SPS to study hadron spectroscopy with hadron beams (up to 300 GeV/c) and hadron structure with polarized muon beams (100-200 GeV/c).

Project NA-48 is involving more than 20 European and several American research institutions. The NA-48 experiments aim at studying rare kaon decays for the purpose of measuring CP-violation parameters. The experiments using CERN Photon Synchrotron and SPS beamlines are good examples of world-class particle physics collaborations, involving many European universities and research institutes and fostering active international scientific cooperation between CERN member and non-member states from all around the globe.

Presently the PS-SPS complex is one of the very few places in the world where advanced particle detectors can be tested and calibrated: equipment to be used not only in CERN experiments, but also in other major particle physics laboratories, such as DESY in Germany or Fermilab in the US. In addition the PS-SPS complex is used by a number of collaborations operating particle detectors in space like AMS, GLAST and PAMELA, for particle detector developments, tests and simulation studies. The LHC, one of the largest and most complex scientific machines made in the history of mankind, will rely crucially on the PS and SPS for the delivery of proton and heavy ion beams for its experiments.