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.

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
9-inch cyclotron	University of California, Berkeley	1931	Circular	H2^+	1.0 MeV	Proof of concept
11-inch cyclotron	University of California, Berkeley	1932	Circular	Proton	1.2 MeV
27-inch cyclotron	University of California, Berkeley	1932–1936	Circular	Deuteron	4.8 MeV	Investigated deuteron-nucleus interactions
37-inch cyclotron	University of California, Berkeley	1937–1938	Circular	Deuteron	8 MeV	Discovered many isotopes
60-inch cyclotron	University of California, Berkeley	1939-	Circular	Deuteron	16 MeV	Discovered many isotopes
184-inch 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
Isochronous cyclotron[1]	University of California, Berkeley	1950–	Circular	Various	50-590 MeV	Used for nuclear and particle physics, proton therapy, and commercial production of radionuclides

^[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)
Betatron	Siemens-Schuckertwerke, Germany	1935	Circular	Electron	1,8 MeV	Proof of concept
Linear particle accelerator	Aachen University, Germany	1928	Linear Beamline	Ion	50 KeV	Proof of concept

Synchrotrons

Accelerator	Location	Years of operation	Shape and size	Accelerated particle	Kinetic Energy	Notes and discoveries made
Cosmotron	BNL	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	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	~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 1957 – 2003			10 GeV
Zero Gradient Synchrotron	ANL	1963–1979			12.5 GeV
Proton Synchrotron	CERN	1959–present	Circular ring (600 meters around)	Proton	28 GeV	Used to feed ISR, SPS, LHC
Proton Synchrotron Booster	CERN	1972–present	Circular Synchrotron	Protons and ions	1.4 GeV	Used to feed PS, ISOLDE
Super Proton Synchrotron	CERN	1980–present	Circular Synchrotron	Protons and ions	480 GeV	COMPASS, OPERA and ICARUS at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso
Alternating Gradient Synchrotron	BNL	1960-	Circular ring (808 meters around)	Proton (unpolarized and polarized), deuteron, helium-3, copper, gold, uranium	33 GeV	J/ψ, muon neutrino, CP violation in kaons, injects heavy ions and polarized protons into RHIC
Diamond Light Source[2]	Harwell Campus,[3] UK	2007–Present	Circular ring (561.6 meters around)	Electrons	3 GeV

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.

High intensity hadron accelerators (Meson and neutron sources)

Accelerator	Location	Years of operation	Shape and size	Accelerated Particle	Kinetic Energy	Notes and discoveries made
High Current Proton Accelerator Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (originally Los Alamos Meson Physics Facility)	Los Alamos National Laboratory	1972–Present	Linear (800 m) and Circular (30 m)	Protons	800 MeV	Neutron Materials Research, Proton Radiography, High Energy Neutron Research, Ultra Cold Neutrons
PSI, HIPA High Intensity 590 MeV Proton Accelerator	PSI, Villigen, Switzerland	1974–present	0.8 MeV CW, 72 MeV Injector 2, 590 MeV Ringcyclotron	Protons	590 MeV, 2.4 mA, =1.4 MW	Highest beam power, used for meson and neutron production with applications in materials science
TRIUMF Cyclotron	TRIUMF, Vancouver BC	1974–present	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
ISIS neutron source	Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom	1984–present	H- Linac followed by proton RCS	Protons	800 MeV
Spallation Neutron Source	Oak Ridge National Laboratory	2006–Present	Linear (335 m) and Circular (248 m)	Protons	800 MeV - 1 GeV	Highest power operational pulsed proton beam in the world
J-PARC RCS	Tōkai, Ibaraki	2007–Present	Triangular, 348m circumference	Protons	3 GeV	Used for Material and Life sciences Experimental Facility and input to JPARC Main Ring

Electron and low intensity hadron accelerators

Accelerator	Location	Years of operation	Shape and size	Accelerated particle	Kinetic Energy	Experiments	Notes
Antiproton Accumulator	CERN	1980-1996					Design study
Antiproton collector	CERN	1986-1996		Antiprotons			Design study
Antiproton Decelerator	CERN	2000–present	Storage ring	Protons and antiprotons	26 GeV	ATHENA, ATRAP, ASACUSA, ACE, ALPHA, AEGIS	Design study
Low Energy Antiproton Ring	CERN	1982-1996		Antiprotons		PS210	Design study
Cambridge Electron Accelerator	Harvard University and MIT, Cambridge, MA	1962-1974[4]	236 ft diameter synchrotron[5]	Electrons	6 GeV		[4]
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–present	Circular Synchrotron	Protons	8 GeV	MiniBooNE
Fermilab Main Injector	Fermilab	1995–present	Circular Synchrotron	Protons and antiprotons	150 GeV	MINOS, MINERνA, NOνA
Fermilab Main Ring	Fermilab	1970–1995	Circular Synchrotron	Protons and antiprotons	400 GeV (until 1979), 150 GeV thereafter
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 (recently upgraded to 12 GeV)	Polarized electrons	6-12 GeV	DVCS, PrimEx II, Qweak, GlueX	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
MAMI	Mainz, Germany	1975–Present	multilevel racetrack microtron	Polarized electrons	1.5 GeV accelerator	A1 - Electron Scattering, A2 - Real Photons, A4 - Parity Violation, X1 - X-Ray Radiation
Tevatron	Fermilab	1983–2011	Superconducting Circular Synchrotron	Protons	980 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
J-PARC Main Ring	Tōkai, Ibaraki	2009–Present	Triangular, 500m diameter	Protons	30 GeV	J-PARC Hadron Experimental Facility, T2K	Can also provide 8 GeV beam
ALBA	CELLS[6] Cerdanyola del Vallès, Catalonia, Spain	2010–Present	Synchrotron with 270 m circumference	(Polarized) electrons	3 GeV	MSPD Material Sciences and Powder Diffraction, MISTRAL X-ray microscopy, NCD Non-Crystalline Diffraction, XALOC Macromolecular Crystallography, CLÆSS Core-Level Absorption & Emission Spectroscopies, CIRCE Photoemission Spectroscopy and Microscopy, BOREAS Resonant absorption and scattering

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)
ACO	LAL, Orsay, France	1965–1975	Circular, 22 m	550 MeV	550 MeV	ρ0, K^+K^-,φ3C, μ^+μ^-, M2N and DM1	Vector meson studies; then ACO was used as synchrotron light source until 1988
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, 2 km	20 GeV	20 GeV	JADE, MARK-J, CELLO, 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, 27 km	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 psi-meson masses, two-photon physics
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, 3 km	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
Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) polarized proton mode	Brookhaven National Laboratory, New York	2001–present	Hexagonal rings (3.8 km circumference)	Polarized Proton/ Proton	100-255 GeV	PHENIX, STAR
Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) ion mode	Brookhaven National Laboratory, New York	2000–present	Hexagonal rings (3.8 km circumference)	d-197Au^79+; 63Cu^29+-63Cu^29+; 63Cu^29+-197Au^79+; 197Au^79+-197Au^79+; 238U^92+-238U^92+	3.85-100 GeV per nucleon	STAR, PHENIX, BRAHMS, PHOBOS
Large Hadron Collider (LHC) proton mode	CERN	2008–present	Circular rings (27 km circumference)	Proton/ Proton	6.5 TeV (design: 7 TeV)	ALICE, ATLAS, CMS, LHCb, LHCf, TOTEM
Large Hadron Collider (LHC) ion mode	CERN	2008–present	Circular rings (27 km circumference)	208Pb^82+-208Pb^82+	2.76 TeV per nucleon	ALICE, ATLAS, CMS

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 experiment, HERA-B

Light sources

Hypothetical accelerators

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

• Eloisatron (Eurasiatic Long Intersecting Storage Accelerator) was a project of INFN headed by Antonio Zichichi at the Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture in Erice, Sicily. The center-of-mass energy was planned to be 200 TeV, and the size was planned to span parts of Europe and Asia.
• Fermitron was an accelerator sketched by Enrico Fermi on a notepad in the 1940s proposing an accelerator in stable orbit around the earth.
• Planckatron is an accelerator with a center-of-mass energy of the order of the Planck scale. It is estimated that the radius of the Planckatron would have to be roughly the radius of the Milky Way.
• Arguably also in this category falls the Zevatron, a hypothetical source for observed ultra-high-energy cosmic rays.

See also

• List of accelerator mass spectrometry facilities

References

1. Chao, Alexander W.; et al. (2013). Handbook of Accelerator Physics and Engineering (2nd ed.). World Scientific. ISBN 978-981-4417-17-4.
2. http://www.diamond.ac.uk
3. http://harwellcampus.com/
4. "Cambridge Electron Accelerator (Cambridge, Mass.) Records of the Cambridge Electron Accelerator : an inventory". Harvard University Library. November 15, 2006. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
5. Rothenberg, Peter J. (October 16, 1958). "An MIT-Harvard Project: The Electron Accelerator". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
6. "CELLS institutional web".

External links

• Judy Goldhaber, "Bevalac Had 40-Year Record of Historic Discoveries". October 9, 1992. http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/Bevalac-nine-lives.html
• High-energy collider parameters from the Particle Data Group
• Particle accelerators around the world
• Lawrence and his laboratory - a history of the early years of accelerator physics at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory
• A brief history and review of accelerators (11 pgs, PDF file)
• SLAC beamlines over time
• Accelerators and detectors named Mark at SLAC
• Lawson, J. D. (1997), "Early British Synchrotrons, An Informal History", http://epubs.cclrc.ac.uk/bitstream/1297/RAL-TR-97-011.pdf [accessed 17 May 2009]
• TRIUMF Cyclotron Quick Facts https://cycops.triumf.ca/cycfac.htm