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Click here for a high-quality TIFF version of this image (1.2 Megs)
One of the most important new nuclear physics facilities in the world is the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Newport News, Virginia. At Jefferson Lab, physicists aim to explore the boundary between the physics of the nucleus (made of protons and neutrons) and the physics of individual protons and neutrons (made of quarks held together by particles known as gluons).
The main machine at Jefferson Lab is the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF), which accelerates continuous streams of electrons to energies of 4 GeV (with a maximum energy of 8 GeV planned for the future); the electrons are then diverted to one of three experimental halls where they collide with fixed targets containing nuclei.
Image courtesy of Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility.