Obituaries
Francesco Ruggiero 1957–2007
Francesco Ruggiero, a brilliant accelerator physicist, an inventive researcher, a great collaborator, an excellent mentor and a true gentleman, passed away on 17 January.
Of Neapolitan origin and following diploma studies on gravitational waves, Francesco received his PhD in accelerator physics from the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa in 1985. After participating in the commissioning of LEP at CERN, he made numerous invaluable contributions to the design of the LHC, in particular on collective effects, machine impedance and beam–beam interaction. In 1997, he recognized the potential danger from an electron cloud in the LHC and he launched an important remedial crash programme. Later Francesco became leader of the accelerator-physics group in the former SL Division. Since 2000 he drove the LHC accelerator upgrade studies, for example, by coordinating the CARE-HHH network (p32). Under his wonderful and caring guidance many bright young accelerator physicists were trained or recruited at CERN.
A member of the EPS Accelerator Group, Francesco helped to prepare the programmes for several EPAC conferences. He contributed to PRST-AB, the refereed journal for accelerator physics and technology, as associate editor for Europe, and he was on the editorial board of the Springer series on Particle Acceleration and Detection.
His interests in physics extended beyond accelerators. In 2005, his article in La Gazzetta dello Sport explained to a general audience why boat weights measured in Valencia and Malmo differ by some 35 kg, thus addressing a mystery that arose during the weighing of boats between different races of the America's Cup. He was especially fascinated by Einstein and by quantum-mechanical paradoxes.
Francesco was full of passion and energy, often working until dawn. We will never forget his open mind, his love for physics, his friendliness and his humour. During his long fight with cancer, he never gave up hope that he would recover and return to work. Francesco will be greatly missed by the accelerator community worldwide.
His colleagues and friends.