The case for giant particle accelerators: Particle collisions can yield a better understanding of the fundamental nature of matter and energy

Physicists hope to use a new generation of larger and more powerful particle accelerators to test existing theories of the ultimate structure of matter. The huge machines, some of which will be 50 kilometers in diameter, will accelerate particles, such as electrons and protons, to extremely high energies and cause them to collide. From the results of these collisions, it is hoped, may come clues not only to the makeup of matter but also to the nature of the forces that bind particles together and even those forces that underlie the generation of all energy in the universe.