Fermilab feature

European Physical Society gives top prize to Fermilab’s CDF, DZero experiments for top quark discovery, measurements

The CDF and DZero collaborations at Fermilab announced the discovery of the top quark in 1995, the final undiscovered quark of the six predicted by theory. The biannual prize is given for an outstanding contribution to high-energy and particle physics.

The European Physical Society has awarded the CDF and DZero collaborations at the Department of Energy’s Fermilab with the 2019 European Physical Society High Energy and Particle Physics Prize “for the discovery of the top quark and the detailed measurement of its properties.”

EPS awards the prize every two years to one or more persons or to collaborations for an outstanding contribution to high-energy and particle physics in an experimental, theoretical or technological area.

The CDF and DZero collaborations used the Tevatron particle collider at Fermilab to gather the data for their discovery. The two collaborations, each comprising hundreds of scientists from around the world, jointly announced the discovery of the top quark in 1995, the final undiscovered quark of the six predicted by theory. Since then CDF and DZero scientists have measured the top quark’s mass and properties to high precision using the full data sets from the upgraded Tevatron collider.

Learn more about the top quark and other key discoveries at Fermilab.

The CDF collaboration. Photo: Cindy Arnold

The CDF collaboration. Photo: Cindy Arnold

The DZero collaboration. Photo: Miles Boone

The DZero collaboration. Photo: Miles Boone