What did the universe look like just after birth? What conditions prevailed inside the stars and planets? And how could super heavy elements form, such as uranium, for example? A globally unique accelerator complex at the GSI HelmholtzCentre for Heavy Ion Research in Darmstadt is to answer these questions in several years.

To 'The inside of stars in the lab'

Neutrinos are regarded as ghostly particles. Produced in the Big Bang in great numbers, they permeate the universe and play an essential role in its development. Nevertheless, we only know very little about their properties, and we don’t even know their mass yet.

To 'The world´s largest Helmholtz Coil System'

“This is a decisive step forward. We expect to gain completely new insights into particle physics!” Prof. Dr. Joachim Mnich is visibly expectant of the results which the strongest accelerator of all times will deliver – the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Geneva. Almost ten thousand physicists from around the world are contributing to the mega experiment – including several hundred from Germany.

To 'Sights set on Higgs and SUSY'

Ever since the particle accelerator HERA came to its scheduled end at DESY, the pre-accelerator PETRA has been available again for other tasks and assignments. To this end, the facility has been completely re-equipped to become the world’s brightest storage ring X-ray source.

To 'From accelerator to superlamp'

Using neutrons and synchrotron light, scientists at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie are currently addressing a magnetic phenomenon previously known only in the field of electronics. It is a kind of magnetic Quantum-Hall Effect.

To 'Magnetic structures display new quantum effect'

On Earth, super heavy elements no longer exist, they are unstable and can only be generated in accelerators for a very short time. The GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research is a world leader in this field. This is where the elements 107, 108, 109, 110, and 111 were discovered and named.

To 'Element 112 to be named "Copernicium"'