Scientists worldwide utilize the lab’s unique particle accelerator, known as the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF), to probe the most basic building blocks of matter - helping us to better understand these particles and the forces that bind them - and ultimately our world.
The Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility, or CEBAF, is the world’s most powerful “microscope” for studying the nucleus of the atom.
Hall D, our newest hall, was completed in 2017 as part of the CEBAF 12 GeV Upgrade project. It is the only hall that receives the highest energy electrons generated in CEBAF to allow for the study of hybrid mesons, which hope to solve the mystery of why quarks are never found alone.
Hall B, our smallest experimental hall, is equipped with the 12 GeV CEBAF Large Acceptance Spectrometer, or CLAS12 for short. CLAS12 is a large system of detectors for tracking and measuring subatomic particles.
Experiments conducted in Hall C typically focus on studies of the properties of the subatomic particles that build our visible universe, including atomic nuclei, protons, neutrons, and quarks.
Jefferson lab is a world leader in superconducting radiofrequency accelerator technology and capabilities. Particle accelerators built with SRF technology deliver a continuous beam of particles with improved beam quality and lower energy consumption.
Hall A is the largest of Jefferson Lab's three experimental halls. It is 174 feet across and 80 feet tall from floor to ceiling. Hall A is outfitted with two primary detector systems – both high-resolution spectrometers and each weighing about 450 tons.
Cryogenic refrigeration is key to many of the technologies that enable research at the lab. Our three particle accelerators have components that must be cryogenically cooled to operate efficiently, and Jefferson Lab is home to two of the largest cryogenic refrigerators on the planet.
Adjacent to the Jefferson Lab campus is the Applied Research Center, or ARC. Built by the City of Newport News, it is home to industrial, commercial, university and Jefferson Lab researchers collaborating in the development of new technologies.
Jefferson Lab’s Science Education team is very active in our local community, leading STEM education outreach programs that impact 1,000 teachers and 12,000 local K-12 students annually.
The Technology and Engineering Development Building was completed in 2012. The TED provides additional space for the Superconducting Radiofrequency (SRF) Institute, and it provides office and technical space for engineering groups.
In the Machine Control Center (MCC), operators work 24 hours a day to maintain and improve all of the various systems necessary for beam operations.
The uniqueness of Jefferson Lab’s LERF stems from what it does with the electrons. It generates the electrons’ energy and then recovers it using a superconducting energy-recovering linac, or ERL. This video is a brief overview of the accelerator at the lab.
The Center for Theoretical and Computational Physics pursues a broad program of theoretical research in all areas of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and hadron physics, promoting and supporting the physics studied at Jefferson Lab and related facilities around the world.
Jefferson Lab’s Data Center is the hub of the lab’s advanced computing programs, which enable simulations of advanced theories, support real-time data processing, and enact a data-forward agenda for managing scientific data from source to archive.
