KEK (National Laboratory for High Energy Physics) annual report, 1988

Throughout this year, TRISTAN has maintained the highest energy among the electron-positron colliders in the world. After operating at 57 GeV in the center of mass with full operation of the APS-type room temperature RF accelerating system, 16 units of 5-cell superconducting RF cavities 24 m in total length were installed in the Nikko straight section during the summer shutdown. As a result, 30.4 GeV/beam or 60.8 GeV in the center of mass was achieved beyond the original design energy goal of TRISTAN. All experimental collaborations at the four intersections have collected much interesting data in the new energy region of electron-positron collisions. The experiment SHIP, a search for highly ionizing particles, has completed data taking in the Nikko experimental hall and is going to give new limits on Dirac monopoles. At the 24th International Conference on High Energy Physics held at Munich in August, 1988, as CERN Courier's report, for instance, the results from TRISTAN were really the highlight in e+e- collision physics. Although we could not find any definite evidence for the existence of toponium under 60 GeV or other new particles under 56 GeV, we obtained much new physics concerning interfering effects between electromagnetic and weak interactions, new information about QCD and so on. Active experiments on hadron physics with the 12 GeV main ring also have been carried out. For instance, an internal gas target experiment with a polarized proton beam was performed by a group from Texas A and M University in cooperation with a Japanese group. The KEK PS is now a very unique proton machine in the 10 GeV energy region as well as Brookhaven's AGS. (J.P.N.)