Bevatron

The Bevatron was a proton synchrotron at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory that operated from 1954 to 1993. It enabled discovery of the antiproton and other particles.

Synchrotron: A circular particle accelerator that keeps particles synchronized with radio-frequency electric fields and magnetic fields. The Bevatron accelerated protons by synchronizing their energy gain with each orbit.
Antiproton: The antimatter counterpart of the proton, with the same mass and opposite electric charge. Bevatron experiments established the antiproton's existence in 1955.
Ernest Lawrence: An American physicist who invented the cyclotron and founded Berkeley's accelerator laboratory. Lawrence proposed the Bevatron to pursue higher proton energies after the cyclotron.
Nobel Prize in Physics: An annual international award recognizing outstanding contributions to physics. The antiproton discovery at the Bevatron was recognized with the 1959 physics prize.
Strong focusing: A method of controlling particle beams with alternating magnetic-field gradients that confine particles tightly. Alternating-gradient magnets kept the Bevatron's high-energy proton beam within a narrow orbit.
Antineutron: The antimatter counterpart of the neutron, with the same mass and opposite baryon number. Bevatron researchers discovered the antineutron in 1956, following the antiproton discovery.
Cyclotron: A particle accelerator that sends charged particles in expanding spiral paths using a constant magnetic field and alternating electric field. The Bevatron replaced the cyclotron's energy-limiting approach with a synchrotron ring.
Particle Data Group: An international collaboration that compiles and evaluates data on particle physics. Bevatron discoveries contributed to the growing body of evidence organized in particle listings.
Magnetic rigidity: A measure of how difficult it is for a magnetic field to bend a charged particle's trajectory. The Bevatron's magnet ring had to bend increasingly energetic protons around its circumference.
Owen Chamberlain: An American physicist who shared the 1959 Nobel Prize in Physics for discovering the antiproton. Chamberlain co-led the Bevatron experiment that identified the antiproton.

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