An installation of the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN)

Meet LHC. To celebrate the 60th anniversary of CERN, the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), in collaboration with CERN, has developed a travelling exhibition: MEET LHC – 60 years of Italy at CERN. Through a series of photographs, the installation narrates the story of the prestigious laboratory near Geneva (Switzerland), with an emphasis on the important contribution that Italy, thanks to INFN, has provided for the achievement of its success. Among the exhibits is also an original component of the LHC super-accelerator. Founded in 1954, CERN is today the most important research centre in the world for particle physics, where thousands of people of all nationalities work, of which about 1,700 Italian. Its story marks the history of modern and contemporary physics and the contribution of Italians has been of fundamental importance. Among the founders, in 1954, was Edoardo Amaldi, one of the “Via Panisperna boys”.

It was the Italian Carlo Rubbia, in 1984, who won the Nobel Prize for the discovery of the W and Z bosons. And it was again an Italian, Fabiola Gianotti (today director-designate of CERN), who announced the most recent discovery of the Higgs boson. And many are the Italians who have held or still hold key roles and positions of responsibility at CERN. These results have also been made possible thanks to the commitment of INFN, the Institute descending from the Fermi and Amaldi school, which has always conducted leading edge research and enjoyed great international prestige.