INFN Initialism of the National Institute of Nuclear Physics , a body governed by public law, established by decree of the President of the CNR in 1951 and reordered with Ministerial Decree in 1967, which promotes, coordinates and carries out experimental and theoretical research in the field of so-called fundamental nuclear physics and subnuclear physics. G. Bernardini, E. Amaldi , followed one another .G. Salvini, C. Villi, A. Gigli Berzolari , A. Zichichi ,N. Cabibbo, L. Maiani, E. Iarocci and R. Petronzio. It carries out its activity through the four national laboratories ofLegnaro, Frascati, of the South (Catania) and the Gran Sasso and 19 university sections, which integrate university staff and employees of the organization. The research conducted by INFN, both nationally and internationally, is accompanied by technological developments in the field of electronics, detectors, particle accelerators, information technology, with significant repercussions for the benefit of the Italian industry. INFN has international dimensions. A considerable part of its activity takes place in the laboratories of theCERN of Geneva, the most important in the sector. Also notable are the collaborations with the Fermi laboratory inChicago, with the Fermilab of Batavia (Illinois) and with the laboratory DESY of Hamburg.
The national laboratories of Frascati mainly carry out research on physics in the elementary particles. The main experimental plant is the DAFNE accumulation ring for electrons and positrons, aimed at the production of the vector meson ϕand to the study of the rare decays of the K ° meson. The national laboratories of Legnaro, equipped with ion accelerators (in particular the ALPI linear accelerator, based on superconducting technologies), play an important role in nuclear spectroscopy research. The Southern National Laboratories are dedicated to nuclear physics research with light and heavy ion beams; they are equipped with a tandem ion accelerator and a superconductive cyclotron. The Gran Sasso National Laboratories are the largest underground laboratories in the world for research on the stability of matter, on solar neutrinos, on magnetic monopoles, on cosmic radiation, in which interdisciplinary research is also carried out.
INFN collaborates with other national bodies on issues of common interest; in particular, in collaboration with: the CNR, in the physics of cosmic rays, gravitational waves, synchrotron light, superconductivity and in interdisciplinary sectors; the Italian Space Agency, in the study of primary cosmic radiation; ENEA, in the physics of accelerators and free electron lasers; the National Institute for Matter Physics, in the fields of superconductivity, synchrotron light and theoretical physics; the National Institute of Geophysics, for geological studies in the Gran Sasso National Laboratories.
INFN also conducts research on applications of technologies originally developed by nuclear and subnuclear physics studies. These concern medical applications of accelerators, use of nuclear techniques for archaeometric research and oncultural heritage, computer applications such as grid computing (computing distributed over a computer network).
