Physics with the L3 detector

LEP is the largest accelerator under construction today. It is very likely to be the highest energy facility built for elementary particle physics research in this century. Initially, LEP is scheduled to be ready for experiment by 1988, starting at CMS energy √s = 100 GeV and gradually reaching √s ≅ 180 GeV, above the W/sup +/W/sup -/ pair threshold. By the mid-1900s, the existing LEP may be filled with superconducting magnets to provide a 5 TeV p + 5 TeV p colliding beam accelerator. The large circumference (27 km) of LEP makes it relatively easy both to increase the energy of the e/sup +/e/sup -/ accelerator and to convert it to other types of colliders. Currently there are four large experiments under construction at LEP. Three are using superconducting magnets to provide high field and very sophisticated particle detectors to measure and identify particles. Hadron energy is measured with a precision calorimeter. Decay vertices are measured by a new type of vertex chamber