Plate Nº 27 · recorded October 8, 2026
PhysicsReported finding
CERN's Super Proton Synchrotron Marks 50 Years of Particle Physics Firsts
CERN's Super Proton Synchrotron turns 50. The machine that discovered the W and Z bosons in 1983 and pioneered the touch screen celebrated with a symposium on 8 October 2026.
By Elena Vasquez2 min read483 words
In brief
- The Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) has operated for 50 years as CERN's second-largest accelerator.
- Experiments at the SPS discovered the W and Z bosons in 1983; the work earned the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1984.
- The SPS has accelerated protons, antiprotons, electrons, positrons, oxygen ions and lead ions.
- The machine has served as an accelerator, a collider and an injector, supplying dozens of experiments.
- CERN celebrated the golden jubilee with a symposium on 8 October 2026, premiering a new video on the SPS history.
Fifty years after it first began accelerating particles, CERN's Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) is still running — and the laboratory has just celebrated the machine's golden jubilee at a symposium held on 8 October 2026.
The SPS is CERN's second-largest accelerator. Over five decades it has handled a remarkable range of particles: protons, antiprotons, electrons, positrons, and oxygen and lead ions.
Its most famous achievement came in 1983, when experiments at the machine discovered the W and Z bosons — fundamental particles that carry the weak nuclear force, one of the four fundamental forces of nature. The discovery reshaped particle physics. The following year, 1984, the scientists behind it received the Nobel Prize in Physics.
What has made the SPS so versatile?
Few accelerators have played as many roles. Over its lifetime, the SPS has served as:
- An accelerator, speeding up particles to high energies for experiments;
- A collider, smashing particles into one another so that scientists can study what happens at the point of impact;
- An injector, feeding beams of particles into other machines in CERN's accelerator complex.
This flexibility has kept the machine scientifically relevant across five decades. Generations of scientists have passed through its doors, and the SPS has supplied dozens of experiments with particle beams.
Did the SPS deliver anything beyond physics?
Yes — and one example touches billions of pockets every day. The SPS gave rise to pioneering technologies, including the touch screen, the now-ubiquitous interface used in phones, tablets and screens worldwide.
That lineage is no accident. Building machines at the frontier of particle physics regularly pushes engineers to invent instruments and electronics that did not previously exist, and CERN's accelerator programme has repeatedly produced spin-off technologies with everyday applications.
How is CERN marking the anniversary?
CERN marked the anniversary with a symposium celebrating the accelerator's 50 years, an event dedicated to a period the laboratory describes as one of discoveries, innovation and pioneering experiments.
At the symposium, organisers screened a new video about the history of the SPS, retracing the story of CERN's second-largest accelerator from its earliest days to the present.
Why does a 50-year-old machine still matter?
The SPS is not a retired relic. Its continued operation as an injector means it remains part of the chain that feeds CERN's accelerator complex, linking the laboratory's past triumphs to its ongoing physics programme.
The W and Z boson discovery of 1983 remains the machine's most celebrated success. But the anniversary highlights a broader legacy: a single machine that has juggled protons, antiprotons, electrons, positrons and heavy ions; that has switched between accelerating, colliding and injecting particles; and that has served as the workplace and training ground for generations of physicists.
Fifty years on, the SPS stands as one of the longest-serving and most consequential instruments in the history of particle physics.
via CERN News (Source)
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