SuperB particle-accelerator project launches

Nature : The SuperB factory, a particle accelerator that will be built on the campus of the University of Rome Tor Vergata, was officially launched on 7 October, but it faces controversy and uncertain funding. The SuperB will be a B factory—electrons and their antiparticles, positrons, will race around two rings 1.3 kilometers in circumference, collide, and produce heavy B mesons. The way those particles decay may give some insights into why there is more matter than antimatter in the universe, and whether the particles predicted by the theory of supersymmetry exist. Due to competition with Belle II, a Japanese B factory due to go on line in 2016, the project has a difficult timetable to follow. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2012, and operations are expected to start in 2017.