Lucien Montanet 1930-2003
It was with great sadness that we heard that Lucien Montanet had passed away on 19 June. Until quite recently he had still been here among us at CERN, discussing physics with his usual enthusiasm. A few weeks before he died, he even managed to overcome his exhaustion to pay a warm and eloquent tribute to his friend Charles Peyrou (CERN Courier June 2003 p25).
As a very young graduate from France's Arts et Métiers engineering school, Lucien first extended his knowledge of physics at Paris University, before setting out on his physicist's career during his national service at France's ZOE nuclear reactor. In 1957 he was one of the first physicists to take up a position at CERN, which was just starting to be built at the time. To gain experience in particle physics, Lucien went to the Jungfraujoch in Switzerland, where Patrick Blackett from Manchester University had set up a Wilson cloud chamber. There, with other physicists such as Antonino Zichichi and Roberto Salmeron, he analysed cosmic-ray interactions (~100 GeV), the subject of his thesis in 1960.
Lucien then worked on images taken from a propane bubble chamber at CERN's synchrocyclotron. Shortly afterwards, he began his long career with liquid-hydrogen bubble chambers by working on a 20 cm chamber at Saclay's Saturne accelerator, which supplied a π- beam between 500 and 1000 MeV. He then teamed up with Peyrou's group to work on CERN's 32 cm liquid-hydrogen chamber, and took part in developing suitable techniques for the analysis of bubble-chamber images. In 1961, together with a number of physicists from CERN and Paris (among them Rafaël Armenteros and myself), Lucien analysed proton-antiproton annihilations on images taken in the 81 cm bubble chamber belonging to Saclay and the Ecole Polytechnique, which had just arrived in the South Hall at the CERN PS. He co-signed the discovery of the first meson resonance found at CERN and in Europe, the E meson (which later became the ι(1440) and is now known as the η0(1440)).
This marked the start of a long career devoted to meson and baryon spectroscopy. Hard on the heels of the E/ι(η0(1440)) discovery came that of the C (K1(1270)) and D (f1(1285)), all with the 81 cm HBC. Thereafter, the images from CERN's 81 cm and 2 m chambers were used for the analysis of the A2 into two kaons, the saga of the E/ι(η0(1440)), which is now a glueball candidate, the Q bump, the three-body phase-shift analyses, analysis of the characteristics of numerous resonances produced by π-at 3.92 GeV and K- at 4.2 GeV, the mass of the K0 and the Λ0, the width of the ω0(782), the decay of the K0, the lifetime of the K0 short, and evidence for the δ (a0(980)), the "Bouddha" (b1(1235)) and the f1(1420).
Lucien became an eminent specialist in this field. He played a major role in the construction of the present scheme of elementary particles and was a key member of the Particle Data Group, organizing and leading numerous workshops and conferences on hadron spectroscopy. For many years he was very much in demand as a rapporteur for review talks on these topics.
In his experimental activities, Lucien initiated and co-ordinated several experiments of central importance at CERN. One of the most illustrious was the EHS (European Hybrid Spectrometer), an elaborate set of particle detectors fed by a high-energy beam at the CERN SPS. Lucien was the spokesman of the large (by the standards of the time) collaboration of institutes working on the EHS. The goal of the experiment was to determine, in complex hadronic final states, the dynamic features of strong interactions, and to study the associated weak decays. This spectrometer was the first to measure, with excellent precision, the lifetime of the charmed D meson. Among the most remarkable of the sub-detectors that made up the hybrid spectrometer were a rapid cycling bubble chamber and a holographic high-resolution bubble chamber.
Lucien was adept at attracting young physicists and infusing them with his enthusiasm and experience. In this way, he played a major role in the development of high-energy physics in Spain, which, although not yet a CERN member state, was an important contributor to the EHS.
Lucien played a similar role when, in 1985, he was appointed co-ordinator of the CERN-USSR Committee, which subsequently became the CERN-Russia Committee. The excellent relations between CERN and Russia are largely due to his skill and devotion to the task. In 1990 he became a member of the Scientific Council of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) at Dubna, and played a key role in defining its scientific policy.
Lucien was also a very influential member of the "Crystal Barrel" experiment, which analysed the γ rays and charged particles produced when the antiprotons from LEAR collided with a liquid hydrogen target. This experiment was known for its precise analyses of the π0, η and η' final states, its discovery of the new resonances η2(1685), η2(1875) and the analysis of many resonances in the 3π0, ηηπ0, ηπ0π0, ηη'π0 states and by finding in the 3π0 channel the f0 (1500), which associated with the E/ι could make a pair of glueballs. It was one of the glories of an already glittering career. The splendid plots representing the three-body reactions are now a reference and could even be described as works of art.
In 1973 Lucien became the editor of Physics Letters, and continued playing this role competently and efficiently even after his retirement in 1995. This enabled him to remain in close contact with the high-energy physics community and made him a well-known figure for younger generations. Most of the publications of CERN and other European laboratories went under the expert and critical scrutiny of Lucien and his partner Klaus Winter. Up to the last moments of his life he performed this task with the same diligence.
In Lucien Montanet, we lose one of the pioneers of modern high-energy physics, an inspired, generous and friendly member of our community and a true lover of science.
Paul Baillon, CERN.
Lev D Soloviev 1934-2003
Lev D Soloviev, an outstanding Russian theoretical physicist and director of the Institute for High Energy Physics (IHEP) in Protvino, Russia, from 1974 to 1993, passed away on 6 July 2003 after a long illness.
Soloviev's scientific career began in 1956 in the Steklov Institute in Moscow, Russia's famous centre of mathematics, after graduating with excellent results from Moscow State University and following a post-graduate course. When his scientific interests became focused on nuclear physics, he began to work at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna.
Soloviev then moved to IHEP-Protvino soon after its creation in 1963 to construct the 70 GeV U-70 proton accelerator. This was the world's highest energy facility until CERN's Intersecting Storage Rings and Fermilab began operation in the early 1970s. At IHEP he continued his theoretical research, and his notable uses of modern mathematics in high-energy physics soon became recognized in the scientific world. These included the theory of low-energy photoproduction and electroproduction, the S-matrix theory of high-energy electromagnetic interactions, and relativistic string theory. Soloviev's name is also connected with the famous finite-energy sum rules, which served as a basis for the creation of the duality concept, and then superstring theory.
Soloviev was a scientist of rare ability. He combined distinguished scientific work with 19 years' service as director of the IHEP, Russia's largest high-energy physics institute. During those years, IHEP was developing both its experimental and accelerator capabilities. Soloviev constantly paid great attention to the further improvement of scientific personnel in what was then the USSR and is now Russia. There were many talented scientists among his students who gained fame both in Russia and abroad. One major factor in this success was the example he set of high scientific and personal standards. His many contributions to the development of science were highly valued by his home country.
After his term as director, Soloviev continued as IHEP's senior scientist. Despite his grave illness, he continued both his well-loved physics research and his teaching as chairman of the Moscow Physical-Technical Institute's branch in Protvino, until almost the last day of his life.
Soloviev was also a leading figure in the international high-energy physics community. He was one of the first young Soviet physicists to make an extended stay at the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen. From 1976 to 1982 he served as a member and then from 1982 to 1984 as chairman of the IUPAP's Commission on Particles and Fields. In 1977 he was a founding member of the International Committee for High Energy Spin Physics Symposia, and became its first Russian honourary member in 2002. Moreover, he chaired the first Russian Spin Physics Symposium, which was held at IHEP-Protvino in 1986. After a long period of strained East-West relations, this historic symposium served as a model for further scientific co-operation. When his directorship ended, Soloviev became a visiting professor at the University of Michigan, where he wrote some significant papers on theoretical spin physics.
The best memorial for Lev Soloviev will come from the similar work of all those who knew and respected him, and who will try to follow his example.
A A Logunov, N E Tyurin, IHEP, and A D Krisch, University of Michigan.