What does it take to explore the nature of matter?
The Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility is a U.S. Department of Energy National
Lab located in Newport News, Virginia. Jefferson Lab is Virginia’s national lab and
a world-renowned research center for nuclear physics. Its core mission is to
enable the study of the subatomic world that exists inside the nucleus of the atom.
Each year, nearly seventeen hundred scientists from around the world
flock to Jefferson Lab to conduct research that can’t be done anywhere else.
Jefferson Lab is the world’s premiere research facility for exploring the nature of matter,
from the protons and neutrons inside the nucleus… to the quarks inside protons and neutrons…
to the mysterious strong force that binds these particles together and ultimately is responsible
for all visible matter in the universe. The particles that make up matter are exceedingly
small. Protons are a little less than one femtometer across – that’s one quadrillionth of a meter.
To study the very small, scientists need a very big microscope.
Jefferson lab’s microscope is called CEBAF: the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility.
CEBAF uses electrons to probe the nucleus of the atom.
CEBAF (see-baff) is the first large-scale superconducting radiofrequency particle
accelerator in the world and is comprised of an accelerator and four experimental halls.
Built 25 feet below the ground on top of an ancient sea bed, the CEBAF accelerator
is 7/8 of a mile long and is the same shape and size as a thoroughbred racetrack.
The racetrack portion of CEBAR accelerates beams of electrons to nearly the speed of light.
Once accelerated, these electrons are steered into one of the four experimental halls,
where they are fired at a target. The electrons collide with nuclei
inside the target. Or, the electron beams may be converted into beams of
other particles before crashing into matter. Huge and one-of-a-kind devices called detectors
measure the particles that result from these collisions,
and scientists study them to learn about the inner workings of matter.
Jefferson Lab’s expertise goes beyond nuclear physics. Staff members are also
world leaders in the design, fabrication and operation of particle accelerators.
Since experiments began in 1994, Jefferson Lab has remained at the forefront of this technology,
and the laboratory continues to perform groundbreaking research and development
for world-class research accelerators and colliders.
The lab also has critical expertise in cryogenic technologies,
having designed, built and operated five different refrigerators on-site and contributed to numerous
other facilities across the u.s. that cool experimental devices to temperatures colder
than the far reaches of outer space. Further, Jefferson Lab continues to improve
particle detection capabilities in its design of new technologies for demanding
nuclear physics experiments… and for applications in nuclear medicine.
And the lab is pushing the boundaries of computing – collecting and recording
about one hundred thousand gigabytes of data every day for researchers around the world.
And lab scientists are augmenting efforts to understand the nucleus,
and to better operate our accelerators and detectors,
with supercomputers, artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies.
The pioneering work in these fields and others at Jefferson Lab has led to more than 180
patents in fields as diverse as cryogenics, safety, medicine, and national security.
From cancer imagers that have saved lives to scanners that protect our nation’s borders,
Jefferson Lab’s patented technologies directly benefit our nation.
Jefferson Lab is also looking to the future. In furtherance of its scientific mission,
the lab invests in training the next generation of scientists,
inspiring students at all levels – from grade school to university and beyond.
All-told, Jefferson Lab’s STEM programs reach more than 13,000 students and 1,200 teachers each year
and account for more than a third of all doctorates in nuclear physics in the u.s.
Jefferson Lab is leading the way in exploring the nature of matter…
for you, for us, for our future.