CERN collider produces first pair of fundamental particles

17 Jun 2002

On June 10, the Large Electron-Positron collider at CERN, Europe's high-energy physics laboratory, produced its first pair of fundamental particles known as W+ and W. These new results take particle physics research into new and unexplored territory after a winter of upgrades which have transformed LEP into a new accelerator, earning it the name LEP2. LEP was designed to study one of nature's fundamental forces, the weak force which fuels the sun and is responsible for some forms of natural radioactivity.