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1 - Introduction and overview

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 May 2013

Jan Rak
Affiliation:
University of Jyväskylä, Finland
Michael J. Tannenbaum
Affiliation:
Brookhaven National Laboratory, New York
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Summary

Elementary particle physics

Elementary particle physics is the study of the fundamental constituents of matter and the forces between them. It is also called High Energy Physics (HEP) because in order to study fundamental particles with smaller and smaller sizes, shorter and shorter wavelength probes are required which correspond to higher and higher energy.

The field of high energy physics has proceeded for the past ˜60 years in a typical sequence: a new accelerator opened up a new range of available energy (or type of accelerated particle, e.g. colliding beams of positrons and electrons), and coupled with new detector technology – which enabled improved or previously impossible measurements to be made – rapidly yielded discoveries soon after it started up. The hadron accelerators which have had the most influential impact on the modern high energy particle and heavy ion physics discussed in this book are shown in Figure 1.1. The upper branch shows four major generations of p–p(p) colliders starting from the CERN Intersecting Storage Rings (ISR), the first hadron collider, while the lower branch depicts the major heavy ion facilities in the USA and Europe. The AGS at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) ran for p–p physics from 1960–2002 and is now the injector to RHIC. The fixed target p–p programs of Fermilab (1972–) and the CERN-SPS (1976–) are also not shown.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2013

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  • Introduction and overview
  • Jan Rak, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, Michael J. Tannenbaum, Brookhaven National Laboratory, New York
  • Book: High-pT Physics in the Heavy Ion Era
  • Online publication: 05 May 2013
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511675720.002
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  • Introduction and overview
  • Jan Rak, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, Michael J. Tannenbaum, Brookhaven National Laboratory, New York
  • Book: High-pT Physics in the Heavy Ion Era
  • Online publication: 05 May 2013
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511675720.002
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Introduction and overview
  • Jan Rak, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, Michael J. Tannenbaum, Brookhaven National Laboratory, New York
  • Book: High-pT Physics in the Heavy Ion Era
  • Online publication: 05 May 2013
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511675720.002
Available formats
×