The Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN; "National Institute for Nuclear Physics") is the coordinating institution for

nuclear Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics *Nuclear space * Nuclear ...

, particle, theoretical and

astroparticle physics Astroparticle physics, also called particle astrophysics, is a branch of particle physics that studies elementary particles of astronomical origin and their relation to astrophysics and cosmology. It is a relatively new field of research emergin ...

in Italy.

History

INFN was founded on 8 August 1951, to further the nuclear physics research tradition initiated by

Enrico Fermi Enrico Fermi (; 29 September 1901 – 28 November 1954) was an Italian (later naturalized American) physicist and the creator of the world's first nuclear reactor, the Chicago Pile-1. He has been called the "architect of the nuclear age" and ...

in Rome, in the 1930s. The INFN collaborates with

CERN The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in a northwestern suburb of Gene ...

, Fermilab and various other laboratories in the world. In recent years it has provided important contributions to

grid computing Grid computing is the use of widely distributed computer resources to reach a common goal. A computing grid can be thought of as a distributed system with non-interactive workloads that involve many files. Grid computing is distinguished from co ...

. During the latter half of the 1950s, the INFN designed and constructed the first Italian electron accelerator—the electron

synchrotron A synchrotron is a particular type of cyclic particle accelerator, descended from the cyclotron, in which the accelerating particle beam travels around a fixed closed-loop path. The magnetic field which bends the particle beam into its closed p ...

developed in Frascati. In the early 1960s, it also constructed in Frascati the first ever electron-positron collider ( ADA - ''Anello Di Accumulazione''), under the scientific leadership of Bruno Touschek. In 1968, Frascati began operating ADONE (''big'' AdA), which was the first high-energy particle collider, having a beam energy of 1.5 GeV. During the same period, the INFN began to participate in research into the construction and use of ever-more powerful accelerators being conducted at

. The INFN has ''Sezioni'' (Divisions) in most major Italian universities and four national laboratories. It has personnel of its own, but it is mostly the main funding agency for high-energy physics in Italy. University personnel can be affiliated with INFN and receive from it research grants.

Laboratories

Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) is the largest underground research center in the world. Situated below Gran Sasso mountain in Italy, it is well known for particle physics research by the INFN. In addition to a surface portion of the ...

, situated near the Gran Sasso mountain * Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro, in Legnaro * Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, in Frascati * Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, in

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

Divisions

Presidents

*1954-1959 Gilberto Bernardini *1960-1965 Edoardo Amaldi *1966-1970 Giorgio Salvini *1970-1975 Claudio Villi *1976-1977 Alberto Gigli Berzolari *1977-1983 Antonino Zichichi *1983-1992 Nicola Cabibbo *1993-1998 Luciano Maiani *1998-2004 Enzo Iarocci *2004-2011 Roberto Petronzio *2011-2019 Fernando Ferroni *2019- Antonio Zoccoli

References

External links