PARTICLE ACCELERATOR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does particle accelerator mean? 

• PARTICLE ACCELERATOR (noun)
  The noun PARTICLE ACCELERATOR has 1 sense:

1. a scientific instrument that increases the kinetic energy of charged particles

  Familiarity information: PARTICLE ACCELERATOR used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PARTICLE ACCELERATOR (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A scientific instrument that increases the kinetic energy of charged particles

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

accelerator; atom smasher; particle accelerator

Hypernyms ("particle accelerator" is a kind of...):

scientific instrument (an instrument used by scientists)

Meronyms (parts of "particle accelerator"):

storage ring (container consisting of a set of magnets set in a doughnut-shaped ring around which charged particles from an accelerator can be kept circulating until they are used)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "particle accelerator"):

betatron; induction accelerator (accelerates a continuous beam of electrons to high speeds by means of the electric field produced by changing magnetic flux)

charge-exchange accelerator (an accelerator in which high-energy ions escape from plasma following charge exchange)

Cockcroft-Walton accelerator; Cockcroft-Walton voltage multiplier; Cockcroft and Walton accelerator; Cockcroft and Walton voltage multiplier (a high-voltage machine in which rectifiers charge capacitors that discharge and drive charged particles through an accelerating tube)

collider (an accelerator in which two beams of particles are forced to collide head on)

cyclotron (an accelerator that imparts energies of several million electron-volts to rapidly moving particles)

linac; linear accelerator (ions are accelerated along a linear path by voltage differences on electrodes along the path)

 Context examples 

This study provides the first cross-section measurements for a neutrino energy range that is up to 1,000 times higher than previous measurements at particle accelerators.

(Antarctic detector offers first look at how Earth stops high-energy neutrinos in their tracks, National Science Foundation)

Electrons and ions slam into the moon's surface with the intensity of a particle accelerator.

(NASA Research Reveals Europa's Mystery Dark Material Could Be Sea Salt, NASA)

A member of the class of particle accelerator devices in which charged particles are accelerated electrically to high speeds while kept confined in a circular path by a strong electromagnet.

(Cyclotron, NCI Thesaurus)

On Sept. 22, 2017, scientists using IceCube detected signs of a neutrino striking the Antarctic ice with energy of about 300 trillion electron volts—more than 45 times the energy achievable in the most powerful particle accelerator on Earth.

(NASA’s Fermi Traces Source of Cosmic Neutrino to Monster Black Hole, NASA)