![]() | |
Key SppS Experiments | |
---|---|
UA1 | Underground Area 1 |
UA2 | Underground Area 2 |
UA4 | Underground Area 4 |
UA5 | Underground Area 5 |
SppS pre-accelerators | |
PS | Proton Synchrotron |
AA | Antiproton Accumulator |
The Underground Area 2 (UA2) experiment was a high-energy physics experiment at the Proton-Antiproton Collider (SppS) — a modification of the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) — at CERN. The experiment ran from 1981 until 1990,[1] and its main objective was to discover the W and Z bosons. UA2, together with the UA1 experiment, succeeded in discovering these particles in 1983, leading to the 1984 Nobel Prize in Physics being awarded to Carlo Rubbia and Simon van der Meer. The UA2 experiment also observed the first evidence for jet production in hadron collisions in 1981, and was involved in the searches of the top quark and of supersymmetric particles. Pierre Darriulat was the spokesperson of UA2 from 1981 to 1986, followed by Luigi Di Lella from 1986 to 1990.