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, known as KEK, is a Japanese organization whose purpose is to operate the largest
particle physics Particle physics or high-energy physics is the study of Elementary particle, fundamental particles and fundamental interaction, forces that constitute matter and radiation. The field also studies combinations of elementary particles up to the s ...
laboratory in Japan, situated in
Tsukuba is a city located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. As of January 1, 2024, the city had an estimated population of 256,526 in 121,001 households and a population density of 900 persons per km2. The percentage of the population aged over 65 wa ...
,
Ibaraki prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Ibaraki Prefecture has a population of 2,828,086 (1 July 2023) and has a geographic area of . Ibaraki Prefecture borders Fukushima Prefecture to the north, ...
. It was established in 1997. The term "KEK" is also used to refer to the laboratory itself, which employs approximately 695 employees. KEK's main function is to provide the
particle accelerators A particle accelerator is a machine that uses electromagnetic fields to propel electric charge, charged particles to very high speeds and energies to contain them in well-defined particle beam, beams. Small accelerators are used for fundamental ...
and other infrastructure needed for
high-energy physics Particle physics or high-energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and forces that constitute matter and radiation. The field also studies combinations of elementary particles up to the scale of protons and neutrons, while the stu ...
,
material science A material is a substance or mixture of substances that constitutes an object. Materials can be pure or impure, living or non-living matter. Materials can be classified on the basis of their physical and chemical properties, or on their geol ...
,
structural biology Structural biology deals with structural analysis of living material (formed, composed of, and/or maintained and refined by living cells) at every level of organization. Early structural biologists throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries we ...
,
radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'' consisting of photons, such as radio waves, microwaves, infr ...
science,
computing science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to applied disciplines (including the design an ...
,
nuclear transmutation Nuclear transmutation is the conversion of one chemical element or an isotope into another chemical element. Nuclear transmutation occurs in any process where the number of protons or neutrons in the nucleus of an atom is changed. A transmutat ...
and so on. Numerous experiments have been constructed at KEK by the internal and international collaborations that have made use of them.
Makoto Kobayashi is a Japanese physicist known for his work on CP-violation who was awarded one-fourth of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics "for the discovery of the origin of the broken symmetry which predicts the existence of at least three families of quar ...
, emeritus professor at KEK, is known globally for his work on
CP-violation In particle physics, CP violation is a violation of CP-symmetry (or charge conjugation parity symmetry): the combination of C-symmetry (charge conjugation symmetry) and P-symmetry ( parity symmetry). CP-symmetry states that the laws of physics s ...
, and was awarded the 2008
Nobel Prize in Physics The Nobel Prize in Physics () is an annual award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for those who have made the most outstanding contributions to mankind in the field of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the ...
.


History

KEK was established in 1997 in a reorganization of the Institute of Nuclear Study,
the University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...
(established in 1955), the National Laboratory for High Energy Physics (established in 1971), and the Meson Science Laboratory of the University of Tokyo (established in 1988). However, the reorganization was not a simple merge of the aforementioned laboratories. As such, KEK was not the only new institute created at that time, because not all of the work of the parent institutions fell under the umbrella of high energy physics; for example, the Center for Nuclear Study, the University of Tokyo, was concurrently established for low energy nuclear physics in a research partnership with
RIKEN is a national scientific research institute in Japan. Founded in 1917, it now has about 3,000 scientists on seven campuses across Japan, including the main site at Wakō, Saitama, Wakō, Saitama Prefecture, on the outskirts of Tokyo. Riken is a ...
. *
1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...
: National Laboratory for High Energy Physics (KEK) was established. *
1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...
: The
proton A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , Hydron (chemistry), H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' (elementary charge). Its mass is slightly less than the mass of a neutron and approximately times the mass of an e ...
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 strength of the magnetic field which bends the particle beam i ...
(PS) produced an 8 G eV beam as designed. The PS achieved 12 GeV. *
1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...
: The Booster
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 strength of the magnetic field which bends the particle beam i ...
Utilization Facility and a
Photon A photon () is an elementary particle that is a quantum of the electromagnetic field, including electromagnetic radiation such as light and radio waves, and the force carrier for the electromagnetic force. Photons are massless particles that can ...
Factory (PF) were founded. *
1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...
: The PF succeeded in storing a 2.5 GeV
electron The electron (, or in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary charge, elementary electric charge. It is a fundamental particle that comprises the ordinary matter that makes up the universe, along with up qua ...
beam. *
1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
: The Transposable Ring Intersecting Storage Accelerator in Nippon (TRISTAN) Accumulation Ring (AR) accelerated an
electron The electron (, or in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary charge, elementary electric charge. It is a fundamental particle that comprises the ordinary matter that makes up the universe, along with up qua ...
beam to 6.5 GeV. *
1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...
: The AR accelerated a
positron The positron or antielectron is the particle with an electric charge of +1''elementary charge, e'', a Spin (physics), spin of 1/2 (the same as the electron), and the same Electron rest mass, mass as an electron. It is the antiparticle (antimatt ...
beam to 5 GeV. *
1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...
: The TRISTAN Main Ring (MR) accelerated both
electron The electron (, or in nuclear reactions) is a subatomic particle with a negative one elementary charge, elementary electric charge. It is a fundamental particle that comprises the ordinary matter that makes up the universe, along with up qua ...
and
positron The positron or antielectron is the particle with an electric charge of +1''elementary charge, e'', a Spin (physics), spin of 1/2 (the same as the electron), and the same Electron rest mass, mass as an electron. It is the antiparticle (antimatt ...
beams to 25.5 GeV. *
1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...
: The MR energy was upgraded to 30 GeV with the help of
superconducting Superconductivity is a set of physical properties observed in superconductors: materials where electrical resistance vanishes and magnetic fields are expelled from the material. Unlike an ordinary metallic conductor, whose resistance decreases g ...
accelerating cavities. *
1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...
: Accelerator and Synchrotron Radiation Science departments were established in the
Graduate University for Advanced Studies is one of the national universities of Japan, headquartered in Shonan Village (湘南国際村) in the town of Hayama in Kanagawa Prefecture. , as it is generally called in its abbreviated form, was established in 1988, with Dr. Saburo Nagaku ...
. *
1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...
: KEKB B-factory construction began. *
1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...
: TRISTAN experiments ( AMY, JADE, TOPAZ, VENUS) finished. *
1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...
: The High Energy Accelerator Research Organization was established. *
1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...
: First beam storage at KEKB (KEK B-factory) ring. *
1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...
: The Long-baseline
Neutrino Oscillation Neutrino oscillation is a quantum mechanics, quantum mechanical phenomenon in which a neutrino created with a specific lepton lepton number, family number ("lepton flavor": electron, muon, or tau lepton, tau) can later be Quantum measurement, mea ...
experiment ( K2K) began. The
Belle experiment The Belle experiment was a particle physics experiment conducted by the Belle Collaboration, an international collaboration of more than 400 physicists and engineers, at the High Energy Accelerator Research Organisation ( KEK) in Tsukuba, Ibara ...
at the KEKB began operation. *
2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
: Construction of High Intensity Proton Accelerators (
J-PARC J-PARC (Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex) is a high intensity proton accelerator facility. It is a joint project between KEK and JAEA and is located at the Tokai campus of JAEA. J-PARC aims for the frontier in materials and life scien ...
) started. *
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
: Became the Inter-University Research Institute Corporation High Energy Accelerator Research Organization. K2K experiment ended. *
2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
: Tokai Campus was opened. Experiments at PS ended. *
2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...
:
J-PARC J-PARC (Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex) is a high intensity proton accelerator facility. It is a joint project between KEK and JAEA and is located at the Tokai campus of JAEA. J-PARC aims for the frontier in materials and life scien ...
Center was established. *
2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
: Prof.
Makoto Kobayashi is a Japanese physicist known for his work on CP-violation who was awarded one-fourth of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics "for the discovery of the origin of the broken symmetry which predicts the existence of at least three families of quar ...
won the 2008
Nobel Prize in Physics The Nobel Prize in Physics () is an annual award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for those who have made the most outstanding contributions to mankind in the field of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the ...
. *
2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
:
J-PARC J-PARC (Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex) is a high intensity proton accelerator facility. It is a joint project between KEK and JAEA and is located at the Tokai campus of JAEA. J-PARC aims for the frontier in materials and life scien ...
construction was completed. * 2016: First turns and successful storage of beams in the SuperKEKB electron and positron rings * 2017: Completed the 'rolling-in' of the Belle II experiment in Tsukuba, Japan. * 2018: First collisions of SuperKEKB beams inside Belle II detector


Organization

KEK has four main laboratories * Accelerator Laboratory: Laboratory to study, develop, build and manage
particle accelerators A particle accelerator is a machine that uses electromagnetic fields to propel electric charge, charged particles to very high speeds and energies to contain them in well-defined particle beam, beams. Small accelerators are used for fundamental ...
. * Institute of Particle and Nuclear Studies: Pedestal physics laboratory to study
elementary particle physics Particle physics or high-energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and forces that constitute matter and radiation. The field also studies combinations of elementary particles up to the scale of protons and neutrons, while the stud ...
,
nuclear physics Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies th ...
and
astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the ...
. * Institute of Materials Structure Science:
Applied physics Applied physics is the application of physics to solve scientific or engineering problems. It is usually considered a bridge or a connection between physics and engineering. "Applied" is distinguished from "pure" by a subtle combination of fac ...
laboratory to study material structures. * Applied Research Laboratory: Laboratory used to support research using
particle accelerators A particle accelerator is a machine that uses electromagnetic fields to propel electric charge, charged particles to very high speeds and energies to contain them in well-defined particle beam, beams. Small accelerators are used for fundamental ...
. Scientists in KEK conduct training for
PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
course students of the School of High Energy Accelerator Science in the
Graduate University for Advanced Studies is one of the national universities of Japan, headquartered in Shonan Village (湘南国際村) in the town of Hayama in Kanagawa Prefecture. , as it is generally called in its abbreviated form, was established in 1988, with Dr. Saburo Nagaku ...
.


Location

* Tsukuba Campus: 1-1 Oho, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0801, Japan * Tokai Campus: 2-4 Shirane Shirakata, Tokai-mura, Naka-gun, Ibaraki 319-1195, Japan


Particle accelerators


Current complex

* SuperKEKB: A electron-positron
collider A collider is a type of particle accelerator that brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Compared to other particle accelerators in which the moving particles collide with a stationary matter target, collid ...
and upgrade to KEKB. With two storage rings: a 7 GeV electron
storage ring A storage ring is a type of circular particle accelerator in which a continuous or pulsed particle beam may be kept circulating, typically for many hours. Storage of a particular particle depends upon the mass, momentum, and usually the charge o ...
and a 4 GeV positron
storage ring A storage ring is a type of circular particle accelerator in which a continuous or pulsed particle beam may be kept circulating, typically for many hours. Storage of a particular particle depends upon the mass, momentum, and usually the charge o ...
. The circumferential length is about 3.016 km. Large quantities of
B-meson In particle physics, B mesons are mesons composed of a bottom antiquark and either an up (), down (), strange () or charm quark (). The combination of a bottom antiquark and a top quark is not thought to be possible because of the top quark's ...
s and anti-
B-meson In particle physics, B mesons are mesons composed of a bottom antiquark and either an up (), down (), strange () or charm quark (). The combination of a bottom antiquark and a top quark is not thought to be possible because of the top quark's ...
s will be generated providing data for the Belle II experiment. * Photon Factory (PF): A electron
storage ring A storage ring is a type of circular particle accelerator in which a continuous or pulsed particle beam may be kept circulating, typically for many hours. Storage of a particular particle depends upon the mass, momentum, and usually the charge o ...
is used for
synchrotron light Synchrotron radiation (also known as magnetobremsstrahlung) is the electromagnetic radiation emitted when relativistic charged particles are subject to an acceleration perpendicular to their velocity (). It is produced artificially in some types ...
experiments. The circumferential length is about 187 m. The energy of the electron beam is 2.5 GeV. * Photon Factory Advanced Ring (PF-AR): An electron
storage ring A storage ring is a type of circular particle accelerator in which a continuous or pulsed particle beam may be kept circulating, typically for many hours. Storage of a particular particle depends upon the mass, momentum, and usually the charge o ...
is used for
synchrotron light Synchrotron radiation (also known as magnetobremsstrahlung) is the electromagnetic radiation emitted when relativistic charged particles are subject to an acceleration perpendicular to their velocity (). It is produced artificially in some types ...
experiments. This accelerator generates high intensity and pulsed
X-ray An X-ray (also known in many languages as Röntgen radiation) is a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than those of ultraviolet rays and longer than those of gamma rays. Roughly, X-rays have a wavelength ran ...
with the electron beam of 6.5 GeV. The circumferential length is about 377 m. This ring used to be operated as a booster
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 strength of the magnetic field which bends the particle beam i ...
for TRISTAN, electron-positron collider, and called TRISTAN Accumulation Ring (AR) originally. * KEK e+/e- Linac: A
linear accelerator A linear particle accelerator (often shortened to linac) is a type of particle accelerator that accelerates charged subatomic particles or ions to a high speed by subjecting them to a series of oscillating electric potentials along a linear ...
complex used to inject 8.0 GeV electrons and 3.5 GeV positrons to KEKB. The
linac A linear particle accelerator (often shortened to linac) is a type of particle accelerator that accelerates charged subatomic particles or ions to a high speed by subjecting them to a series of oscillating electric potentials along a linear bea ...
also provides 2.5 GeV electrons for PF and 6.5 GeV electrons for PF-AR. The Linac has in recent years been upgraded for SuperKEKB. * Accelerator Test Facility (ATF): A test accelerator is focused on generating a super low-emittance beam. This is one of the essential techniques for realizing a future electron-positron linear collider. The beam energy of electrons is 1.28 GeV in normal operation. * Superconducting RF Test Facility (STF): A test facility to build and operate a test
linac A linear particle accelerator (often shortened to linac) is a type of particle accelerator that accelerates charged subatomic particles or ions to a high speed by subjecting them to a series of oscillating electric potentials along a linear bea ...
with high-gradient
superconducting Superconductivity is a set of physical properties observed in superconductors: materials where electrical resistance vanishes and magnetic fields are expelled from the material. Unlike an ordinary metallic conductor, whose resistance decreases g ...
cavities, as a prototype of the main linac systems for
International Linear Collider The International Linear Collider (ILC) is a proposed linear particle accelerator. It is planned to have a collision energy of 500  GeV initially, with the possibility for a later upgrade to 1000 GeV (1 TeV). Although early propos ...
(ILC). * Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (
J-PARC J-PARC (Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex) is a high intensity proton accelerator facility. It is a joint project between KEK and JAEA and is located at the Tokai campus of JAEA. J-PARC aims for the frontier in materials and life scien ...
): A proton accelerator complex consisting primarily of a 600 MeV
linac A linear particle accelerator (often shortened to linac) is a type of particle accelerator that accelerates charged subatomic particles or ions to a high speed by subjecting them to a series of oscillating electric potentials along a linear bea ...
, a 3 GeV
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 strength of the magnetic field which bends the particle beam i ...
and 50 GeV
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 strength of the magnetic field which bends the particle beam i ...
. J-PARC was built with a collaboration between KEK and
JAEA The Japan Atomic Energy Agency is a Japanese atomic energy company. While it inherited the activities of both JNC and JAERI, it also inherited the nickname of JAERI, "Genken" 原研, an abbreviated word for "nuclear research". On April 10, ...
, and is used for
nuclear physics Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies th ...
,
particle physics Particle physics or high-energy physics is the study of Elementary particle, fundamental particles and fundamental interaction, forces that constitute matter and radiation. The field also studies combinations of elementary particles up to the s ...
,
muon A muon ( ; from the Greek letter mu (μ) used to represent it) is an elementary particle similar to the electron, with an electric charge of −1 '' e'' and a spin of  ''ħ'', but with a much greater mass. It is classified as a ...
science,
neutron The neutron is a subatomic particle, symbol or , that has no electric charge, and a mass slightly greater than that of a proton. The Discovery of the neutron, neutron was discovered by James Chadwick in 1932, leading to the discovery of nucle ...
science,
Accelerator-Driven System A subcritical reactor is a nuclear fission reactor concept that produces fission without achieving criticality. Instead of sustaining a chain reaction, a subcritical reactor uses additional neutrons from an outside source. There are two general c ...
(ADS) and a range of other applications. * KEK digital accelerator (KEK-DA) is a renovation of the KEK 500 MeV booster proton synchrotron, which was shut down in 2006. The existing 40 MeV drift tube linac and rf cavities have been replaced by an
electron cyclotron resonance Electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) is a phenomenon observed in plasma physics, condensed matter physics, and accelerator physics. It happens when the frequency of incident radiation coincides with the natural frequency of rotation of electrons in ...
(ECR) ion source embedded in a 200 kV high-voltage terminal and induction acceleration cells, respectively. A DA is, in principle, capable of accelerating any species of ion in all possible charge states.


Shutdown complex

* Proton Synchrotron (PS): An accelerator complex to accelerate protons up to 12 GeV. PS had consisted primarily of a 750 keV pre-accelerator, a 40 MeV
linac A linear particle accelerator (often shortened to linac) is a type of particle accelerator that accelerates charged subatomic particles or ions to a high speed by subjecting them to a series of oscillating electric potentials along a linear bea ...
, a 500 MeV booster
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 strength of the magnetic field which bends the particle beam i ...
and a 12 GeV main ring. PS had been used 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 ...
and
particle physics Particle physics or high-energy physics is the study of Elementary particle, fundamental particles and fundamental interaction, forces that constitute matter and radiation. The field also studies combinations of elementary particles up to the s ...
. PS also had provided the 12 GeV proton beam to a
neutrino A neutrino ( ; denoted by the Greek letter ) is an elementary particle that interacts via the weak interaction and gravity. The neutrino is so named because it is electrically neutral and because its rest mass is so small ('' -ino'') that i ...
beam line in KEK for a KEK to Kamioka ( K2K) experiment. PS achieved its design energy of 8 GeV in 1976. PS was shut down in 2007. * Neutrino Beam Line: A beam line to drive neutrinos into
Super-Kamiokande Super-Kamiokande (abbreviation of Super-Kamioka Neutrino Detection Experiment, also abbreviated to Super-K or SK; ) is a neutrino detector, neutrino observatory located Kamioka Observatory, under Mount Ikeno near the city of Hida, Gifu, Hida, ...
, which is about 250 km away from KEK, and a
neutrino oscillation Neutrino oscillation is a quantum mechanics, quantum mechanical phenomenon in which a neutrino created with a specific lepton lepton number, family number ("lepton flavor": electron, muon, or tau lepton, tau) can later be Quantum measurement, mea ...
experiment named K2K had been conducted from 1999 to 2004. A
neutrino oscillation Neutrino oscillation is a quantum mechanics, quantum mechanical phenomenon in which a neutrino created with a specific lepton lepton number, family number ("lepton flavor": electron, muon, or tau lepton, tau) can later be Quantum measurement, mea ...
experiment named Tokai to Kamioka ( T2K) has been conducted using
J-PARC J-PARC (Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex) is a high intensity proton accelerator facility. It is a joint project between KEK and JAEA and is located at the Tokai campus of JAEA. J-PARC aims for the frontier in materials and life scien ...
since 2009. * Transposable Ring Intersecting Storage Accelerator in Nippon (TRISTAN): An electron-positron collider had been operated from 1987 to 1995. The main purpose was detecting
top quark The top quark, sometimes also referred to as the truth quark, (symbol: t) is the most massive of all observed elementary particles. It derives its mass from its coupling to the Higgs field. This coupling is very close to unity; in the Standard ...
. The electron and positron energy were 30 GeV. TRISTAN had three detectors: TOPAZ, VENUS and AMY. KEKB was built through the use of the tunnel of TRISTAN.


Running and future plans

* SuperKEKB: An electron-positron collider, consisting of a 7 GeV electron
storage ring A storage ring is a type of circular particle accelerator in which a continuous or pulsed particle beam may be kept circulating, typically for many hours. Storage of a particular particle depends upon the mass, momentum, and usually the charge o ...
and a 4 GeV positron
storage ring A storage ring is a type of circular particle accelerator in which a continuous or pulsed particle beam may be kept circulating, typically for many hours. Storage of a particular particle depends upon the mass, momentum, and usually the charge o ...
, to achieve higher
luminosity Luminosity is an absolute measure of radiated electromagnetic radiation, electromagnetic energy per unit time, and is synonymous with the radiant power emitted by a light-emitting object. In astronomy, luminosity is the total amount of electroma ...
by means of increasing the beam current, focusing the beams at the
interaction point In particle physics, an interaction point (IP) is the place where particles collide in an accelerator experiment. The ''nominal'' interaction point is the design position, which may differ from the ''real'' or ''physics'' interaction point, whe ...
and making the electromagnetic beam-beam interactions small. The target luminosity has been set to 8×1035 cm−2 s−1, about 60 times higher than the KEKB's original design value. SuperKEKB has adopted a nano-beam scheme. KEK will build a new damping ring in order to generate the nano scale positron beam. On October, 2010 the Japanese government formally approved the SuperKEKB project, and in June 2010 an initial budget of 100 million dollars (¥100 = $1) for a Very Advanced Research Support Program was assigned for 2010-2012. The total budget is about 315 million dollars (¥100 = $1) by the program. The upgrade will be completed, and the first collisions have been conducted in 2018. The highest luminosity will be achieved in 2021. Belle II experiment will be conducted using SuperKEKB. * Compact Energy Recovery Linac (cERL): A test accelerator for a future
synchrotron light source A synchrotron light source is a source of electromagnetic radiation (EM) usually produced by a storage ring, for scientific and technical purposes. First observed in synchrotrons, synchrotron light is now produced by storage rings and othe ...
named Energy Recovery Linac (ERL). cERL will study the uncertainty of the
accelerator physics Accelerator physics is a branch of applied physics, concerned with designing, building and operating particle accelerators. As such, it can be described as the study of motion, manipulation and observation of relativistic charged particle beams ...
in the ERL through the beam experiments. The beam commissioning in cERL will be scheduled from 2013 with a 35 MeV electron beam. KEK has a plan that will build 5 GeV ERL, provides ultra-high brightness and ultra-short pulsed synchrotron light, after the cERL experiments. *
International Linear Collider The International Linear Collider (ILC) is a proposed linear particle accelerator. It is planned to have a collision energy of 500  GeV initially, with the possibility for a later upgrade to 1000 GeV (1 TeV). Although early propos ...
(ILC): A future electron-positron linear collider consisting of superconducting cavities with a length of approximately 31 kilometers in length and two damping rings, for electrons and positrons, with a circumference of 6.7 kilometers. The electron and positron energy will be up to 500 GeV with an option to upgrade to 1 TeV. Nearly 300 laboratories and universities around the world are involved in the ILC: more than 700 people are working on the accelerator design, and another 900 people on detector development. The accelerator design work is coordinated by the Global Design Effort, and the physics and detector work by the World Wide Study.


Computers

KEK has computers which are fastest class in Japan, and Computing Research Center in KEK manages the computer systems. The theoretical operation performance of SR16000, a
super computer A supercomputer is a type of computer with a high level of performance as compared to a general-purpose computer. The performance of a supercomputer is commonly measured in floating-point operations per second (FLOPS) instead of million instruc ...
made by
Hitachi () is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1910 and headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company is active in various industries, including digital systems, power and renewable ener ...
, is 46 T
FLOPS Floating point operations per second (FLOPS, flops or flop/s) is a measure of computer performance in computing, useful in fields of scientific computations that require floating-point calculations. For such cases, it is a more accurate measu ...
. The theoretical operation performance of
Blue Gene Blue Gene was an IBM project aimed at designing supercomputers that can reach operating speeds in the petaFLOPS (PFLOPS) range, with relatively low power consumption. The project created three generations of supercomputers, Blue Gene/L, Blue ...
Solution, a super computer made by
IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...
, is 57.3 TFLOPS. These super computers had been used to study
quantum chromodynamics In theoretical physics, quantum chromodynamics (QCD) is the study of the strong interaction between quarks mediated by gluons. Quarks are fundamental particles that make up composite hadrons such as the proton, neutron and pion. QCD is a type of ...
and numerical
accelerator physics Accelerator physics is a branch of applied physics, concerned with designing, building and operating particle accelerators. As such, it can be described as the study of motion, manipulation and observation of relativistic charged particle beams ...
mainly, and these super computers have been shut down in order to introduce a next super computer in the future. Computing Research Center also manages the other computer systems: KEKCC, B-factory Computer System and Synchrotron Light Computer System. KEK hosted the first web site in Japan on September 30, 1992. The original web site can still be seen.First web site in Japan (Japanese)
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See also

* SuperKEKB * Belle II experiment * KEKB (accelerator) *
Belle experiment The Belle experiment was a particle physics experiment conducted by the Belle Collaboration, an international collaboration of more than 400 physicists and engineers, at the High Energy Accelerator Research Organisation ( KEK) in Tsukuba, Ibara ...
*
Makoto Kobayashi (physicist) is a Japanese physicist known for his work on CP-violation who was awarded one-fourth of the 2008 Nobel Prize in Physics "for the discovery of the origin of the broken symmetry which predicts the existence of at least three families of qua ...
*
J-PARC J-PARC (Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex) is a high intensity proton accelerator facility. It is a joint project between KEK and JAEA and is located at the Tokai campus of JAEA. J-PARC aims for the frontier in materials and life scien ...
*
Super-Kamiokande Super-Kamiokande (abbreviation of Super-Kamioka Neutrino Detection Experiment, also abbreviated to Super-K or SK; ) is a neutrino detector, neutrino observatory located Kamioka Observatory, under Mount Ikeno near the city of Hida, Gifu, Hida, ...
*
International Linear Collider The International Linear Collider (ILC) is a proposed linear particle accelerator. It is planned to have a collision energy of 500  GeV initially, with the possibility for a later upgrade to 1000 GeV (1 TeV). Although early propos ...
*
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 Meyrin, western suburb of Gene ...
*
Fermilab Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), located in Batavia, Illinois, near Chicago, is a United States Department of Energy United States Department of Energy National Labs, national laboratory specializing in high-energy particle phys ...
*
DESY DESY, short for Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (English: ''German Electron Synchrotron''), is a national research centre for fundamental science located in Hamburg and Zeuthen near Berlin in Germany. It operates particle accelerators used to ...
*
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, originally named the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in Menlo Park, California, Menlo Park, Ca ...
*
Brookhaven National Laboratory Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) is a United States Department of Energy national laboratories, United States Department of Energy national laboratory located in Upton, New York, a hamlet of the Brookhaven, New York, Town of Brookhaven. It w ...
* AMY experiment


References


External links

*
International Linear Collider Official Site


{{Authority control Particle physics facilities Research institutes in Japan Tsukuba, Ibaraki Physics research institutes Organizations established in 1997 1997 establishments in Japan