# List of accelerators in particle physics

A list of particle accelerators used for particle physics experiments. Some early particle accelerators that more properly did nuclear physics, but existed prior to the separation of particle physics from that field, are also included. Although a modern accelerator complex usually has several stages of accelerators, only accelerators whose output has been used directly for experiments are listed.

## Early accelerators

These all used single beams with fixed targets. They tended to have very briefly run, inexpensive, and unnamed experiments.

### Cyclotrons

| Accelerator | Location | Years of operation | Shape | Accelerated Particle | Kinetic Energy | Notes and discoveries made |
| 9-inch cyclotron | University of California, Berkeley | 1931 | Circular | H$^+$ $_2$ | 1.0 MeV | Proof of concept |
| 11-inch cyclotron | University of California, Berkeley | 1932 | Circular | Proton | 1.2 MeV | |
| 27-inch cyclotron | University of California, Berkeley | 1932–1936 | Circular | Deuteron | 4.8 MeV | Investigated deuteron-nucleus interactions |
| 37-inch cyclotron | University of California, Berkeley | 1937–1938 | Circular | Deuteron | 8 MeV | Discovered many isotopes |
| 60-inch cyclotron | University of California, Berkeley | 1939–1962$^{[1]}$ | Circular | Deuteron | 16 MeV | Discovered many isotopes. |
| 88-inch cyclotron | Berkeley Rad Lab, now Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory | 1961–Present | Circular (Isochronous) | Hydrogen through uranium | MeV to several GeV | Discovered many isotopes. Verified two element discoveries. Performed the world's first single event effects radiation testing in 1979, and tested parts and materials for most US spacecraft since then. |
| 184-inch cyclotron | Berkeley Rad Lab | 1942–1993 | Circular | Various | MeV to GeV | Research on uranium isotope separation |
| Calutrons | Y-12 Plant, Oak Ridge, TN | 1943– | "Horseshoe" | Uranium nuclei | | Used to separate Uranium 235 isotope for the Manhattan project, after the end of World War II used for separation of medical and other isotopes. |
| 95-inch cyclotron | Harvard Cyclotron Laboratory | 1949–2002 | Circular | Proton | 160 MeV | Used for nuclear physics 1949 – ~ 1961, development of clinical proton therapy until 2002 |
| JULIC | Forschungszentrum Juelich, Germany | 1967–present | Circular | Proton, deuteron | 75 MeV | Now used as a preaccelerator for COSY and irradiation purposes |
$^$ The magnetic pole pieces and return yoke from the 60-inch cyclotron were later moved to UC Davis and incorporated into a 76-inch isochronous cyclotron which is still in use today

### Other early accelerator types

| Accelerator | Location | Years of operation | Shape and size | Accelerated particle | Kinetic Energy | Notes and discoveries made |
| Linear particle accelerator | Aachen University, Germany | 1928 | Linear Beamline | Ion | 50 keV | Proof of concept |
| Cockcroft and Walton's electrostatic accelerator | Cavendish Laboratory | 1932 | See Cockroft- Walton generator | Proton | 0.7 MeV | First to artificially split the nucleus (Lithium) |
| Betatron | Siemens-Schuckertwerke, Germany | 1935 | Circular | Electron | 1.8 MeV | Proof of concept |

### Synchrotrons

| Accelerator | Location | Years of operation | Shape and size | Accelerated particle | Kinetic Energy | Notes and discoveries made | INSPIRE link |
| Cosmotron | BNL | 1953–1968 | Circular ring (72 meters around) | Proton | 3.3 GeV | Discovery of V particles, first artificial production of some mesons | INSPIRE |
| Birmingham Synchrotron | University of Birmingham | 1953–1967 | | Proton | 1 GeV | | |
| Bevatron | Berkeley Rad Lab | 1954–~1970 | "Race track" | Proton | 6.2 GeV | Strange particle experiments, antiproton and antineutron discovered, resonances discovered | INSPIRE |
| Bevalac, combination of SuperHILAC linear accelerator, a diverting tube, then the Bevatron | Berkeley Rad Lab | ~1970–1993 | Linear accelerator followed by "race track" | Any and all sufficiently stable nuclei could be accelerated | | Observation of compressed nuclear matter. Depositing ions in tumors in cancer research. | INSPIRE |
| Saturne | Saclay, France | 1958–1997 | | | 3 GeV | | INSPIRE |
| Synchrophasotron | Dubna, Russia | December 1957 – 2003 | | | 10 GeV | | INSPIRE |
| Zero Gradient Synchrotron | ANL | 1963–1979 | | | 12.5 GeV | | INSPIRE |
| U-70 Proton Synchrotron | IHEP, Russia | 1967–present | Circular ring (perimeter around 1.5 km) | Proton | 70 GeV | | INSPIRE |
| Proton Synchrotron | CERN | 1959–present | Circular ring (628 meters around) | Proton | 26 GeV | Used to feed ISR (until 1984), SPS, LHC, AD | INSPIRE |
| Proton Synchrotron Booster | CERN | 1972–present | Circular Synchrotron | Protons | 1.4 GeV | Used to feed PS, ISOLDE | INSPIRE |
| Super Proton Synchrotron | CERN | 1976–present | Circular Synchrotron | Protons and ions | 450 GeV | COMPASS, OPERA and ICARUS at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso | INSPIRE |
| Alternating Gradient Synchrotron | BNL | 1960–present | Circular ring (808 meters) | Proton (unpolarized and polarized), deuteron, helium-3, copper, gold, uranium | 33 GeV | J/ψ, muon neutrino, CP violation in kaons, injects heavy ions and polarized protons into RHIC | INSPIRE |
| Proton Synchrotron (KEK) | KEK | 1976–2007 | Circular ring | Proton | 12 GeV | | |
| COSY | Juelich, Germany | 1993–present | Circular ring (183.47 m) | Protons, Deuterons | 2.88 GeV | The legacy of the experimental hadron physics programme at COSY | INSPIRE |
| ALBA | Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona | 2011–present | Circular ring (270 m) | Electrons | 3 GeV | | INSPIRE |
| Sirius | São Paulo State, Brazil | 2018–present | Circular ring (518.4 m) | Electrons, Au, Sn, TiO2 | 3 GeV | | INSPIRE |
| Australian Synchrotron | Monash University, Melbourne | 2007–present | Circular ring (216 m) | Electrons | 3 GeV | | INSPIRE |

## Fixed-target accelerators

More modern accelerators that were also run in fixed target mode; often, they will also have been run as colliders, or accelerated particles for use in subsequently built colliders.

### High intensity hadron accelerators (Meson and neutron sources)

| Accelerator | Location | Years of operation | Shape and size | Accelerated Particle | Kinetic Energy | Notes and discoveries made | INSPIRE link |
| High Current Proton Accelerator Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (originally Los Alamos Meson Physics Facility) | Los Alamos National Laboratory | 1972–Present | Linear (800 m) and Circular (30 m) | Protons | 800 MeV | Neutron materials research, proton radiography, high energy neutron research, ultra cold neutrons | INSPIRE |
| PSI, HIPA High Intensity 590 MeV Proton Accelerator | PSI, Villigen, Switzerland | 1974–present | 0.8 MeV CW, 72 MeV Injector 2, 590 MeV Ringcyclotron | Protons | 590 MeV, 2.4 mA, =1.4 MW | Highest beam power, used for meson and neutron production with applications in materials science | INSPIRE |
| TRIUMF Cyclotron | TRIUMF, Vancouver BC | 1974–present | Circular | H-ion | 500 MeV | World's largest cyclotron, at 17.9m | INSPIRE |
| ISIS neutron source | Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom | 1984–present | H- Linac followed by proton RCS | Protons | 800 MeV | | INSPIRE |
| Spallation Neutron Source | Oak Ridge National Laboratory | 2006–Present | Linear (335 m) and Circular (248 m) | Protons | 800 MeV – 1 GeV | Produces the most intense pulsed neutron beams in the world for scientific research and industrial development. | INSPIRE |
| J-PARC RCS | Tōkai, Ibaraki | 2007–Present | Triangular, 348m circumference | Protons | 3 GeV | Used for material and life sciences and input to J-PARC main ring | INSPIRE |

### Electron and low intensity hadron accelerators

| Accelerator | Location | Years of operation | Shape and size | Accelerated particle | Kinetic Energy | Experiments | Notes | INSPIRE link |
| Antiproton Accumulator | CERN | 1980–1996 | | | | | Design study | INSPIRE |
| Antiproton collector | CERN | 1986–1996 | | Antiprotons | | | Design study | INSPIRE |
| Nuclotron | JINR | 1992–present | Circular ring | Proton and heavy ions | 12.6 GeV (protons), 4.5 Gev/n (heavy ions) | | INSPIRE |
| Antiproton Decelerator | CERN | 2000–present | Storage ring | Protons and antiprotons | 26 GeV | ATHENA, ATRAP, ASACUSA, ACE, ALPHA, AEGIS | Design study | INSPIRE |
| Low Energy Antiproton Ring | CERN | 1982–1996 | | Antiprotons | | PS210 | Design study | INSPIRE |
| Cambridge Electron Accelerator | Harvard University and MIT, Cambridge, MA | 1962–1974 | 236 ft diameter synchrotron | Electrons | 6 GeV | | |
| SLAC Linac | SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory | 1966–present | 3 km linear accelerator | Electron/ Positron | 50 GeV | | Repeatedly upgraded, used to feed PEP, SPEAR, SLC, and PEP-II. Now split into 1 km sections feeding LCLS, FACET & LCLS-II. | INSPIRE |
| Fermilab Booster | Fermilab | 1970–present | Circular synchrotron | Protons | 8 GeV | MiniBooNE | | INSPIRE |
| Fermilab Main Injector | Fermilab | 1995–present | Circular synchrotron | Protons and antiprotons | 150 GeV | MINOS, MINERνA, NOνA | | INSPIRE |
| Fermilab Main Ring | Fermilab | 1970–1995 | Circular synchrotron | Protons and antiprotons | 400 GeV (until 1979), 150 GeV thereafter | | |
| Electron Synchrotron of Frascati | Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati | 1959–? (decommissioned) | 9m circular synchrotron | Electron | 1.1 GeV | | | |
| Bates Linear Accelerator | Middleton, MA | 1967–2005 | 500 MeV recirculating linac and storage ring | Polarized electrons | 1 GeV | | | INSPIRE |
| Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) | Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, VA | 1995–present | 6 GeV recirculating linac (recently upgraded to 12 GeV) | Polarized electrons | 6–12 GeV | DVCS, PrimEx II, Qweak, GlueX | First large-scale deployment of superconducting RF technology. | INSPIRE |
| ELSA | Physikalisches Institut der Universität Bonn, Germany | 1987–present | Synchrotron and stretcher | (Polarized) electrons | 3.5 GeV | BGOOD, Crystal Barrel | | INSPIRE |
| MAMI | Mainz, Germany | 1975–Present | Multilevel racetrack microtron | Polarized electrons | 1.5 GeV accelerator | A1 – Electron Scattering, A2 – Real Photons, A4 – Parity Violation, X1 – X-Ray Radiation | | INSPIRE |
| Tevatron | Fermilab | 1983–2011 | Superconducting circular synchrotron | Protons | 980 GeV | | | INSPIRE |
| Universal Linear Accelerator (UNILAC) | GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research, Darmstadt, Germany | 1974–Present | Linear (120 m) | Ions of all naturally occurring elements | 2–11.4 MeV/u | | | INSPIRE |
| Schwerionensynchrotron (SIS18) | GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research, Darmstadt, Germany | 1990–Present | Synchrotron with 271 m circumference | Ions of all naturally occurring elements | U: 50–1000 MeV/u Ne: 50–2000 MeV/u p: 4,5 GeV | | | INSPIRE |
| Experimental Storage Ring (ESR) | GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research, Darmstadt, Germany | 1990–Present | | Ions of all naturally occurring elements | 0.005 – 0.5 GeV/u | | | |
| J-PARC Main Ring | Tōkai, Ibaraki | 2009–Present | Triangular, 500m diameter | Protons | 30 GeV | J-PARC Hadron Experimental Facility, T2K | Can also provide 8 GeV beam | INSPIRE |
| Low Energy Neutron Source (LENS) | Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana (USA) | 2004–Present | Linear | Protons | 13 MeV | SANS, SESAME, MIS | LENS Website Archived 2019-09-28 at the Wayback Machine | |
| Cornell BNL ERL Test Accelerator (CBETA) | Cornell University, Ithaca / NY (USA) | 2019–Present | Energy recovery linac with SRF cavities, 4 turns, and all beams in one fixed field alternating-gradient lattice of permanent magnets | Electrons | 150 MeV | A prototype facility for Electron Ion Colliders | | INSPIRE |

## Colliders
### Electron–positron colliders

| Accelerator | Location | Years of operation | Shape and circumference | Electron energy | Positron energy | Experiments | Notable Discoveries | INSPIRE link |
| AdA | LNF, Frascati, Italy; Orsay, France | 1961–1964 | Circular, 3 meters | 250 MeV | 250 MeV | | Touschek effect (1963); first e$^+$e$^−$ interactions recorded (1964) | INSPIRE |
| Princeton-Stanford (e$^−$e$^−$) | Stanford, California | 1962–1967 | Two-ring, 12 m | 300 MeV | 300 MeV | | e$^−$e$^−$ interactions | |
| VEP-1 (e$^−$e$^−$) | INP, Novosibirsk, Soviet Union | 1964–1968 | Two-ring, 2.70 m | 130 MeV | 130 MeV | | e$^−$e$^−$ scattering; QED radiative effects confirmed | INSPIRE |
| VEPP-2 | INP, Novosibirsk, Soviet Union | 1965–1974 | Circular, 11.5 m | 700 MeV | 700 MeV | OLYA, CMD | multihadron production (1966), e$^+$e$^−$→φ (1966), e$^+$e$^−$→γγ (1971) | INSPIRE |
| ACO | LAL, Orsay, France | 1965–1975 | Circular, 22 m | 550 MeV | 550 MeV | ρ$_0$, K$^+$K$^−$,φ$_{3C}$, μ$^+$μ$^−$, M2N and DM1 | Vector meson studies; then ACO was used as synchrotron light source until 1988 | INSPIRE |
| SPEAR | SLAC | 1972–1990(?) | Circular | 3 GeV | 3 GeV | Mark I, Mark II, Mark III | Discovery of Charmonium states and Tau lepton | INSPIRE |
| VEPP-2M | BINP, Novosibirsk | 1974–2000 | Circular, 17.88 m | 700 MeV | 700 MeV | ND, SND, CMD-2 | e$^+$e$^−$ cross sections, radiative decays of ρ, ω, and φ mesons | INSPIRE |
| DORIS | DESY | 1974–1993 | Circular, 300m | 5 GeV | 5 GeV | ARGUS, Crystal Ball, DASP, PLUTO | Oscillation in neutral B mesons | INSPIRE |
| PETRA | DESY | 1978–1986 | Circular, 2 km | 20 GeV | 20 GeV | JADE, MARK-J, CELLO, PLUTO, TASSO | Discovery of the gluon in three jet events | INSPIRE |
| CESR | Cornell University | 1979–2002 | Circular, 768m | 6 GeV | 6 GeV | CUSB, CHESS, CLEO, CLEO-2, CLEO-2.5, CLEO-3 | First observation of B decay, charmless and "radiative penguin" B decays | INSPIRE |
| PEP | SLAC | 1980–1990(?) | | | | Mark II | | INSPIRE |
| SLC | SLAC | 1988–1998(?) | Addition to SLAC Linac | 45 GeV | 45 GeV | SLD, Mark II | First linear collider | INSPIRE |
| LEP | CERN | 1989–2000 | Circular, 27 km | 104 GeV | 104 GeV | Aleph, Delphi, Opal, L3 | Only 3 light (m ≤ m$_Z$/2) weakly interacting neutrinos exist, implying only three generations of quarks and leptons | INSPIRE |
| BEPC | Beijing, China | 1989–2004 | Circular, 240m | 2.2 GeV | 2.2 GeV | Beijing Spectrometer (I and II) | | INSPIRE |
| VEPP-4M | BINP, Novosibirsk | 1994– | Circular, 366m | 6.0 GeV | 6.0 GeV | KEDR | Precise measurement of psi-meson masses, two-photon physics | |
| PEP-II | SLAC | 1998–2008 | Circular, 2.2 km | 9 GeV | 3.1 GeV | BaBar | Discovery of CP violation in B meson system | INSPIRE |
| KEKB | KEK | 1999–2009 | Circular, 3 km | 8.0 GeV | 3.5 GeV | Belle | Discovery of CP violation in B meson system | |
| DAΦNE | LNF, Frascati, Italy | 1999–present | Circular, 98m | 0.7 GeV | 0.7 GeV | KLOE | Crab-waist collisions (2007) | INSPIRE |
| CESR-c | Cornell University | 2002–2008 | Circular, 768m | 6 GeV | 6 GeV | CHESS, CLEO-c | | INSPIRE |
| VEPP-2000 | BINP, Novosibirsk | 2006– | Circular, 24.4m | 1.0 GeV | 1.0 GeV | SND, CMD-3 | Round beams (2007) | |
| BEPC II | Beijing, China | 2008– | Circular, 240m | 1.89 GeV | 1.89 GeV | Beijing Spectrometer III | | |
| VEPP-5 | BINP, Novosibirsk | 2015– | | | | | | |
| ADONE | LNF, Frascati, Italy | 1969–1993 | Circular, 105m | 1.5 GeV | 1.5 GeV | | | |
| TRISTAN | KEK | 1987–1995 | Circular, 3016m | 30 GeV | 30 GeV | | | |
| SuperKEKB | KEK | 2016– | Circular, 3 km | 7.0 GeV | 4.0 GeV | Belle II | | |

### Hadron colliders

| Accelerator | Location | Years of operation | Shape and size | Particles collided | Beam energy | Experiments | INSPIRE |
| Intersecting Storage Rings | CERN | 1971–1984 | Circular rings (948 m around) | Proton/ Proton | 31.5 GeV | | INSPIRE |
| Super Proton Synchrotron/SppS | CERN | 1981–1984 | Circular ring (6.9 km around) | Proton/ Antiproton | 270–315 GeV | UA1, UA2 | INSPIRE |
| Tevatron Run I | Fermilab | 1992–1995 | Circular ring (6.3 km around) | Proton/ Antiproton | 900 GeV | CDF, D0 | INSPIRE |
| Tevatron Run II | Fermilab | 2001–2011 | Circular ring (6.3 km around) | Proton/ Antiproton | 980 GeV | CDF, D0 | INSPIRE |
| Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) polarized proton mode | Brookhaven National Laboratory, New York | 2001–present | Hexagonal rings (3.8 km circumference) | Polarized Proton/ Proton | 100–255 GeV | PHENIX, STAR | INSPIRE |
| Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) ion mode | Brookhaven National Laboratory, New York | 2000–present | Hexagonal rings (3.8 km circumference) | d-$^{197}$ Au $^{79+}$; $^{63}$ Cu $^{29+}$–$^{63}$ Cu $^{29+}$; $^{63}$ Cu $^{29+}$–$^{197}$ Au $^{79+}$; $^{197}$ Au $^{79+}$–$^{197}$ Au $^{79+}$; $^{238}$ U $^{92+}$–$^{238}$ U $^{92+}$ | 3.85–100 GeV per nucleon | STAR, PHENIX, BRAHMS, PHOBOS | INSPIRE |
| Large Hadron Collider (LHC) proton mode | CERN | 2008–present | Circular rings (27 km circumference) | Proton/ Proton | 6.8 TeV (design: 7 TeV) | ALICE, ATLAS, CMS, LHCb, LHCf, TOTEM | INSPIRE |
| Large Hadron Collider (LHC) ion mode | CERN | 2010–present | Circular rings (27 km circumference) | $^{208}$ Pb $^{82+}$–$^{208}$ Pb $^{82+}$; Proton-$^{208}$ Pb $^{82+}$ | 2.76 TeV per nucleon | ALICE, ATLAS, CMS, LHCb | INSPIRE |

### Electron-proton colliders

| Accelerator | Location | Years of operation | Shape and size | Electron energy | Proton energy | Experiments | INSPIRE link |
| HERA | DESY | 1992–2007 | Circular ring (6336 meters around) | 27.5 GeV | 920 GeV | H1, ZEUS, HERMES experiment, HERA-B | INSPIRE |

## Hypothetical accelerators

Besides the real accelerators listed above, there are hypothetical accelerators often used as hypothetical examples or optimistic projects by particle physicists.
* Eloisatron (Eurasiatic Long Intersecting Storage Accelerator) was a project of INFN headed by Antonio Zichichi at the Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture in Erice, Sicily. The center-of-mass energy was planned to be 200 TeV, and the size was planned to span parts of Europe and Asia.
* Fermitron was an accelerator sketched by Enrico Fermi on a notepad in the 1940s proposing an accelerator in stable orbit around the Earth.
* The undulator radiation collider is a design for an accelerator with a center-of-mass energy around the GUT scale. It would be light-weeks across and require the construction of a Dyson swarm around the Sun.
* Planckatron is an accelerator with a center-of-mass energy of the order of the Planck scale. It is estimated that the radius of the Planckatron would have to be roughly the radius of the Milky Way. It would require so much energy to run that it could only be built by at least a Kardashev Type II civilization.
* Arguably also in this category falls the Zevatron, a hypothetical source for observed ultra-high-energy cosmic rays.