The CERN PS complex: a versatile particle factory

The CERN Proton Synchrotron started up in 1959, accelerating only protons from a 50 MeV Linac. Since then, it has evolved into a complex of nine machines, delivering in 1995 interleaved beams of protons, anti-protons, electrons, positrons and lead ions of various energies and intensities. It operates for about 7000 hours per year, sending beams to the SPS, to LEP via the SPS, and to four experimental facilities respectively supplied by the PSB, LEAR, LIL and the PS itself. Numerous original beam manipulation techniques are regularly applied and new ones are currently being implemented and tested to adapt the PS complex to its future role as the proton and ion injector for LHC. This paper summarizes the present status and describes the foreseeable future over the next twenty years.