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The
superconducting Tevatron is the
lower ring of magnets (the old
main ring is above). |
High-energy particle accelerators
help explain many mysteries of matter,
space, and time, enabling physicists
to study the smallest objects ever
found and recreate the conditions
of the early universe. Fermi National
Accelerator Laboratory's Tevatron,
which accelerates and collides protons
and antiprotons in a four-mile underground
ring, is the most powerful accelerator
in the world. It began operating in
1986, achieving collisions at energies
of 1.6 trillion electron volts, about
1,600 times the rest mass of the proton.
Among its innovations, the Tevatron
pioneered the use of superconducting
accelerator magnets, which, by generating
increased magnetic fields with no
resistive losses, help raise energy
levels by keeping the speeding particles
within the ring. The higher the energy
levels in a particle collider, the
smaller the structures that can be
probed.
Scientific Impact:
The Tevatron enables scientists to
push the frontiers of both particle
physics and cosmology. In 1995, research
using this machine led to the discovery
of the "top" quark, a fundamental
constituent of matter. Superconducting
accelerator magnets have become essential
to many high-energy accelerators,
both already built and planned for
the future.
Social Impact: Particle
collisions at the Tevatron give humans
a way to see the smallest constituents
of matter. Studies performed here
expand human understanding of nature
and contribute to improvements in
science education.
Reference: "Initial
Operation of the Tevatron Collider,"
Rolland Johnson, Proceedings of
the 1987 IEEE Particle Accelerator
Conference (87CH2387-9).
URL:
http://www.fnal.gov/pub/about/tour/decades.htm
Technical Contact:
Dr. Bruce Strauss, bruce.strauss@science.doe.gov
Press Contact: Jeff
Sherwood, DOE Office of Public Affairs,
202-586-5806
SC-Funding Office:
Office of High Energy and Nuclear
Physics |