Tag: SPS
-
SPSC visits AMBER in the CERN North Area
SPSC visits AMBER in the CERN North Area Members of CERN’s SPS and PS Experiments Committee (SPSC) visited the AMBER experiment in EHN2 on 27 May, during the committee’s week of meetings at CERN. The visit offered an opportunity to see the experiment during operation and to discuss its current and future programme at the
-
Experimental Areas at IPAC 2026
Experimental Areas at IPAC 2026 The CERN Experimental Areas group was strongly represented at IPAC 2026, held in Deauville, France from 17 to 22 May. The conference brought together the international accelerator community to discuss developments in beam dynamics, accelerator technology, operation, optimisation and future facilities. The strategic importance of CERN’s fixed-target infrastructure was also
-
2025 Starts Strong Across Experimental Areas
2025 Starts Strong Across Experimental Areas Following an intense YETS, beam commissioning for the North and East experimental areas began smoothly and on schedule. Thanks to the coordinated efforts of the many teams involved, all beamlines were promptly handed over to users — setting the stage for what promises to be a full and exciting
-
NA-CONS sets standards
NA-CONS sets standards 22 DECEMBER,2024 | By Deepti Kandhol Launched in 2021, the North Area Consolidation project (NA-CONS) is all about ensuring that the North Experimental Area (NA) facilities at CERN's SPS remain reliable, efficient, and ready for the future. With a focus on upgrading infrastructure and maximizing beam time access, the team started its
-
A journey into the quark-gluon plasma
A journey into the quark-gluon plasma 13 DECEMBER, 2024 | By Elisabetta Parozzi Imagine rewinding the clock to the very beginning of the universe, when temperatures were so blisteringly high that quarks and gluons – normally locked inside protons and neutrons – roamed freely in a primordial soup called the quark-gluon plasma (QGP). Buliding on
-
Consolidating the XCED detectors
Consolidating the XCED detectors The CEDARs (XCED) are a cornerstone of particle identification in the secondary beams of the SPS experimental areas, playing a crucial role in most of the major experiments. Originally designed and built in the 1970s, these detectors have proven their importance over the years. However, recent years have seen a decline
-
The T4 Wobbling station
The T4 Wobbling station 06 DECEMBER, 2024 | By Fabian Metzger In CERN’s North Area, wobbling stations play a fascinating role in guiding particle beams to multiple experiments. Think of them as the traffic controllers of high-energy physics, ensuring that the products of a single proton beam are steered into different beamlines with precision. This
-
How a small number changed the universe
How a small number changed the universe More than 4 decades of kaon experiments in CERN’s North Area proved how a small number changed the universe. The recent history of kaon physics experiments at the SPS started in the beginning of 1980 in the office of the later Nobel Prize winner Jack Steinberger with a
-
Kicking off the test-beam season
Kicking off the test-beam season On 22 March, the East Area kicked off the test-beam season with the ALICE and SHiP experiments. As spring arrives in the northern hemisphere, the CERN accelerator awakens and begins the data-taking and test-beam seasons. CERN’s East Area, which receives the beam from the Proton Synchrotron and serves now as
-
Giants from CERN’s North Area
Giants from CERN’s North Area During Herwig Schopper’s acclaimed period as CERN Director General, two North Area experiments made three seminal discoveries, of which two of them still leave physicists puzzled. During the 1980s and with Herwig Schopper leading the Laboratory into the LEP era, CERN’s North Area witnessed groundbreaking physics experiments, such as the