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CERN stands for the European Organization for Nuclear Research. It is recognized as the world's leading laboratory dedicated to particle physics research, situated near Geneva at the border between Switzerland and France.
CERN investigates the fundamental constituents of matter and the forces that govern their interactions. Utilizing powerful particle accelerators, such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), CERN smashes particles together at remarkable speeds, replicating conditions that existed just after the Big Bang. Through the analysis of these collision results, scientists gain insights into the basic building blocks of the universe.
A collider refers to a specific type of particle accelerator that propels beams of particles to collide head-on. These collisions yield new particles, enabling scientists to study the fundamental forces of nature.
Colliders operate by employing electric and magnetic fields to accelerate charged particles to nearly the speed of light. Once accelerated, the particles are directed into a collision course, and the subsequent debris is meticulously analyzed by detectors.
The LHC stands as the world's largest and most powerful particle collider, located at CERN and spanning a circumference of 27 kilometers.
CERN has been pivotal in numerous significant discoveries, including the identification of the W and Z bosons, which are force-carrying particles, as well as the Higgs boson, a particle that imparts mass to other particles.
The Higgs boson is a fundamental particle linked to the Higgs field, which is believed to confer mass to other particles. Its discovery marked a monumental achievement in the realm of particle physics.
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