The ATLAS detector is one of the four detectors at the Large Hadron Collidor (LHC) at CERN. It has a cylindrical shape with layers stacked onto each other. Each of the layers detects different types of particles. When particles from the accelerator collisions are produced in the center of ATLAS, they move throughout the detector and are measured by its successive layers. The ATLAS detector is one of the four detectors at the Large Hadron Collidor (LHC) at CERN. It has a cylindrical shape with layers stacked onto each other. Each of the layers detects different types of particles.

ATLAS has already completed one of its main goals, the discovery of a particle called the Higgs boson, which gives mass to the elementary particle building blocks of matter. Findings may also offer insight into new physics theories as well as a better understanding of the origin of the universe.

US Scientists and Engineers represent about 20 percent of the ATLAS collaboration. Brookhaven National Laboratory is the host for the 45 US institutions contributing to the project, who are funded by the US Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation.