CERN summary

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Below is the article summary. For the full article, see CERN.

CERN, in full Organisation Européenne pour la Recherche Nucléaire formerly Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire., International scientific organization established for collaborative research into subnuclear physics. Headquartered in Geneva, CERN includes extensive facilities at sites on both sides of the Swiss-French border. The results of its experimental and theoretical work are made generally available. It was established in part in order to reclaim European physicists who had emigrated to the U.S. as a result of World War II. In 2000 it had 20 European member nations and several nations with observer status.

schematic diagram of a linear proton resonance accelerator

particle accelerator Summary

Particle accelerator, any device that produces a beam of fast-moving, electrically charged atomic or subatomic particles. Physicists use accelerators in fundamental research on the structure of nuclei, the nature of nuclear forces, and the properties of nuclei not found in nature, as in the

subatomic particle Summary

Subatomic particle, any of various self-contained units of matter or energy that are the fundamental constituents of all matter. Subatomic particles include electrons, the negatively charged, almost massless particles that nevertheless account for most of the size of the atom, and they include the

international organization Summary

International organization, institution drawing membership from at least three states, having activities in several states, and whose members are held together by a formal agreement. The Union of International Associations, a coordinating body, differentiates between the more than 250 international

Geneva Summary

Geneva, city, capital of Genève canton, in the far southwestern corner of Switzerland that juts into France. One of Europe’s most cosmopolitan cities, Geneva has served as a model for republican government and owes its preeminence to the triumph of human, rather than geographic, factors. It