CERN, the Universe, the Visible Invisible and the World Wide Web in Meyrin
17 April 2025
Stephen Hawking (1942-2018) is famous for his work on the origins and structure of the Universe, from the Big Bang to black holes. He reduced the Universe to a thumb. But when asked about the coming into being of this very beginning of the Universe, he replied, “Then I stop thinking”.
It is also the case in this contribution to the world’s most extensive research and experimental centre in physics Meyrin (Canton of Geneva). This contribution provides rather practical than technical information and is based on information from CERN.
Switzerland is known for its excellent research institutes and universities, and CERN also thrives in this region!
CERN
The first origins of CERN (Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire ) can be traced to the 1940s. Several scientists in Europe and North America identified the need for Europe to have a world-class physics institute. The first resolution concerning establishing a European Council for Nuclear Research was adopted in December 1951.
Founded in 1954, the CERN laboratory in Meyrin, astride the Franco-Swiss border, was one of Europe’s first joint ventures. Today, it has 23 member states, many associate member states, and worldwide cooperation agreements.
Cooperation between nations, universities, and scientists has been and remains the driving force behind CERN’s research. More than 17,500 people from around the world work together.
CERN’s staff, numbering around 2500, participate in the research infrastructure’s design, construction, and operation. They also contribute to the preparation and operation of the experiments and the data analysis gathered for a vast community of users, comprising over 12,200 scientists of 110 nationalities from institutes in more than 70 countries. CERN is the world’s largest institution in physics.
Research
CERN’s research has transformed our understanding of the Universe, yet many fundamental mysteries remain. Physicists and engineers use the world’s largest and most complex scientific instruments to study the basic constituents of matter—fundamental particles.
The instruments used at CERN are purpose-built particle accelerators and detectors. Accelerators boost beams of particles to high energies before the beams collide with each other or stationary targets. Detectors observe and record the results of these collisions.
Subatomic particles are made to collide together at close to the speed of light. The process gives us clues about how the particles interact and provides insights into the fundamental laws of nature.
Today, we know that all visible matter in the Universe comprises a minimal number of particles whose behaviour relies on distinct forces. CERN has played a vital role in reaching this understanding.
Throughout the 1960s, theories were advanced to explain two forces—the weak force and the electromagnetic force. In the 1980s, the discovery of the W and Z particles—carriers of the weak force—confirmed this theory. CERN researchers shared the 1984 Nobel Prize in physics for this discovery.
During the 1990s, CERN experiments designed in light of this discovery tested the so-called electroweak theory with extreme precision, putting it on solid experimental ground. In 2010, the LHC (the Accelerator) started to provide particle collisions in a new high-energy domain, reproducing the conditions a fraction of a second after the Big Bang.
Large Hadron Collider
The LHC, or Large Hadron Collider, is a tunnel that runs in a 27-kilometre tunnel deep into the earth in France and Switzerland. This tunnel will be replaced in 2040. The possible new tunnel is the Future Circular Collider, 91 kilometres long in France and Switzerland and under the Lake of Geneva.
The LHC led to the discovery of the Higgs-boson, which has long been sought as the particle linked to the mechanism that gives mass to elementary particles.
The Laboratory
Beyond CERN’s LHC, the Laboratory has a rich and diverse scientific programme. Experiments at other on-site and off-site accelerators and facilities are essential to the Laboratory’s activities. A strong theory programme that carries out research in theoretical particle physics supports all the experiments.
Although fundamental research is CERN’s primary mission, it also plays a vital role in developing technologies, bringing nations, universities, scientists, and businesses together, and training and educating experts.
Many engineers, technicians, and scientists develop novel technology and expertise that can be applied to fields beyond high-energy physics. CERN is an important testbed for industries, including large companies, SMEs, and start-ups. It also engages with other stakeholders, such as policymakers, Member States, and Associate Member States.
Industry, applications, cooperation and inventions
The best-known CERN technology is the World Wide Web (WWW), invented by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989. It allowed an ever-increasing number of CERN scientists to share information. Equally revolutionary is the Grid, which harnesses the power of computers worldwide. It has been developed at CERN to process the vast amounts of data collected by the LHC experiments.
The most astonishing discoveries and inventions are: the Higgs Boson, the W boson, the Z-boson, the World Wide Web and the Antimatter
CERN’s basic tools – particle accelerators and detectors – also have applications in everyday life. Invented as tools for research, there are thousands of particle accelerators in operation in the world today, of which only a small percentage are used in basic research. The vast majority find applications ranging from medical diagnosis and therapy to computer chip manufacture.
CERN was the prototype for scientific collaboration in Europe, even in the Cold War, and has given rise to organisations with remits ranging from astronomy to biology. The latest organisation to follow in CERN’s footsteps is SESAME, a laboratory for the Middle East in Jordan. Israel and the Palestinian Authority are among the founding members of SESAME, so it is possible. Art and Science unite!
(Source and further information: CERN)
