About the ATLAS Experiment

ATLAS is one of the four major experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. It is a general-purpose particle physics experiment run by an international collaboration and, together with CMS, is designed to exploit the full discovery potential and the huge range of physics opportunities that the LHC provides.

ATLAS' scientific exploration uses precision measurement to push the frontiers of knowledge by seeking answers to fundamental questions such as: What are the basic building blocks of matter? What are the fundamental forces of nature? Could there be a greater underlying symmetry to our universe?

ATLAS physicists test the predictions of the Standard Model, which encapsulates our current understanding of what the building blocks of matter are and how they interact. These studies can lead to ground-breaking discoveries, such as that of the Higgs boson, physics beyond the Standard Model and the development of new theories to better describe our universe.

The years ahead will be exciting as ATLAS takes experimental physics into unexplored territories – maybe with new processes and particles that could change our understanding of energy and matter.

The Collaboration


One of the largest collaborative efforts ever attempted in particle physics

The Detector


One of the largest and most complex scientific instruments ever constructed

The Physics


Exploring the basic building blocks and fundamental forces of nature