In the proximity of Geneva in Switzerland there is an international laboratory called CERN, which is probably the most well known research complex for particle physics in the world. CERN houses a large variety of experiments and is a collaboration between 20 European member states. It has a yearly funding of a middle size European University and explores most fields of both experimental and theoretical particle physics.
The largest part of the CERN research community is focused on high energy physics. This is the science that is trying to probe the inner most structures of matter and to analyze the most fundamental forces in the universe we live in. In order to do this, particles are accelerated to high energies in huge accelerator complexes (Fig. 2.1) and then smashed together in what one could call a small BIG BANG (=the theory of the creation of the universe). The research in accelerator technology at CERN has resulted in numerous applications for the medical community, which has for instance improved the treatment of cancer.
Once the raw data from a experiment has been stored, the most essential tool for data analysis are computers. As a result of this, CERN has built up a large computer network to facilitate data analysis and communication. The most famous offspring of this is probably the World Wide Web, which was created at CERN to allow better communications between home institutes and CERN. But maybe the most important advantages for a complex like CERN is how it connects different people and cultures together to push through new ideas and let young people come forward to explore the newest aspects and theories of modern science.
The flagship of CERN during the last 10 years has been the Large Electron Positron collider (LEP). It is a 27 kilometer long accelerator ring (see Fig. 2.1) located on average 100 meters under ground on the border between Switzerland and France. Electrons and positrons (the antiparticle of the electron) are circulated in opposite direction of the ring, being held in orbit by hundreds of magnets. Recently the particles have been accelerated to over 100 GeV (200 000 times the normal electron mass of 0.5 MeV), making a center of mass energy of the collision up to 208 GeV.
