The LHC is being built in the LEP tunnel at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN). Two detectors, ATLAS and CMS are being constructed to examine proton-proton collisions at an energy of 14 TeV, seven times the energy of the current record holder, the Tevatron at Fermilab.

The project is an international effort, with the U.S. contribution organized and funded through the Office of High Energy Physics , Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)  and the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences of the the National Science Foundation (NSF).  Following extensive reviews, and in close coordination with other elements of the Administration and the Congress, the DOE and NSF jointly negotiated and signed an agreement and protocols with CERN for U.S. participation in the construction of the two detectors and the 7 TeV x 7 TeV superconducting proton-proton collider.

The funding agencies exercise oversight of the project through the Joint Oversight Group (JOG).  Fiscal and schedule responsibility for U.S. participation is vested by JOG in Host Laboratories.   For the detectors, BNL serves as host to the  ATLAS detector, Fermilab for the CMS detector, and Fermilab is the Lead Laboratory for the construction issues pertaining to the Accelerator.  On behalf of the Joint Oversight Group, the U.S. LHC Project and the U.S. LHC Research Program Officse monitor the detailed status of the construction and the research programs.

The motivation for this project is the desire to learn more about the structure and interactions of elementary particles -- the building blocks of our universe.  The construction phase of the LHC is now coming to an end, and the research program is getting ready for first p-p collisions in 2007.  For a non-technical description of what might be learned, please visit the following sites - The ATLAS Experiment and The CMS Outreach Websites.

 

  Updated: January 10, 2005