The LHC operations team and many other experts have been working hard to set up and validate the accelerator for safe beam operation, leading to the first stable beams for physics of 2025 on 5 May

Plasma accelerator AWAKE has tested scalability and is all set to begin its second phase of data taking with an upgraded plasma source

The AWAKE collaboration has successfully seeded the self-modulation of a proton bunch, to control and stabilise plasma waves that can accelerate electrons with record gradients

A new type of plasma cell, known as a helicon cell, is being studied for AWAKE. The aim is to generate a greater quantity of plasma in one go

The experiment successfully accelerated electrons with plasma wakefields generated by protons, a world first

Proton beams from the SPS at CERN were used to generate plasma waves upon which the electrons “surfed”

In a paper published today in the journal Nature, the AWAKE collaboration at CERN reports the first ever successful acceleration of electrons using a wave generated by protons zipping through a plasma.

The last components of AWAKE – its electron source, electron beam line and electron spectrometer – have just been installed

The AWAKE experiment has reached an important milestone in the development of a technique that could revolutionise particle accelerator design

The first ever beam has been sent through AWAKE as part of the testing and commissioning of the experiment

CERN's Director General on why the coming years will be crucial for the long-term future of particle physics.