Karl-Martin Vahlbruch, of CERN's Nuclear Physics Apparatus Division, visited Dubna for six months and wrote about life at the laboratory upon his return.
Under the agreement for the exchange of scientists between Dubna and CERN, I had the opportunity, together with Peter Kirstein (Accelerator Research Division), of working at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research from February until August this year. The Joint Institute was founded by its twelve Member States in 1956, following the example set by CERN, and is situated at Dubna, 137 km north of Moscow. Its director is Prof. D I Blokhintsev. Corresponding to CERN's Divisions, the Institute at Dubna consists of five laboratories:
- High Energies, with a "synchrophasotron" for 10 GeV protons, under the direction of V I Veksler.
- Nuclear Problems, with a 680 MeV proton synchrocyclotron. Director, V P Dzhelepov.
- Theoretical Physics, Director, N N Bogolubov.
- Neutron Physics, with an impulse reactor. Director, I M Frank.
- Nuclear Reactions, with a cyclotron for accelerating heavy ions. Director, G N Flerov.
The Institute has a total staff of about 2700, whilst the scientific personnel numbers 300 from the USSR and 200 from the other Member States. The Chinese are the most strongly represented of these, with a group of 50; the group from universities in eastern Germany amounts to 12.
Foreign members of staff are looked after by the "International Department" of the Administration. This helps with such things as housing in Dubna, hotel bookings in Moscow, and permits for travel and residence in other towns of the Soviet Union.
At the Institute, I joined a group under the direction of A F Pisarev, in the Laboratory for Nuclear Problems, which has been engaged for some time on investigations into spark chambers and gas-discharge chambers.
Our main task was the measurement of spin-correlation coefficients in proton-proton scattering around 315 MeV. The necessary spark chambers were constructed and the experiment then done at the synchrocyclotron. Apart from that, we worked on the construction of an image intensifier, consisting of a combination of spark chamber and photocell.
Working at Dubna was really very enjoyable, mainly because of excellent collaboration with the Russian, German and Czechoslovakian members of the team, but also because of the more personal contacts I made with them outside work. The composition of the group had one disadvantage in that everybody spoke better German than I could Russian, so that my knowledge of the language did not progress very much, but on the other hand I was able to learn something in the field of gas-discharge chambers.
When it comes to obtaining materials, however, experimentalists at the Joint Institute suffer from difficulties that are unheard of at CERN. This is mainly because there are no trade directories or catalogues and there is little or no direct collaboration or exchange of views between individual scientists and outside industry.
Life in Dubna was not so easy as it is here in Geneva. The flat my wife and I were able to obtain was pleasant and better than we expected both in regard to size and furnishing. Also the medical care experienced by my wife in Dubna hospital during the birth of our son was good. But there was little variety in the foodstuffs particularly in the winter months.
Dubna is a small town which, apart from its delightful position on Volga, between the River Dubna and the Moscow Canal, offers only limited possibilities. For shopping and for concerts, theatres etc., Moscow is, however, only 2¾ hours away by train, and those working at Dubna automatically obtain a residence permit for Moscow, so that no formalities are necessary for such journeys. Moscow, with its many museums, its theatres, and department stores, has everything one might expect from a city compounded of old and new and well prepared for tourists.
• Extracted from a two-page article.
Queen Frederika of Greece visits CERN
The visit to the laboratory began with the proton synchrotron - of 28 thousand million electronvolts and the biggest nuclear-physics instrument in Europe. Her Majesty the Queen then went into the workshops of the South hall, where H Faissner and F Krienen showed her the components of the spark chambers intended for neutrino physics. This new branch of physics seemed to be of considerable interest to the Queen. In the South hall, G von Dardel, co-ordinator of neutrino research at CERN, showed the Queen the shielding for the detectors - shielding consisting to a large extent of iron billets belonging to the Swiss Government and lent to CERN to help in the performance of future experiments.
• Extracted from a three-page article.
Editor's note
International relations have always been an important part of CERN and the CERN Courier, with visits from dignitaries from member states a regular occurrence. Scientific exchanges with other laboratories also help to strengthen relations between CERN and other international institutes, and those with the USSR held particular significance during the Cold War.