Georgy Leksin 1929–2010
Georgy Leksin, a well known experimental particle and nuclear physicist at the Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics (ITEP) in Moscow, passed away on 27 June.
Georgy was born in Moscow on 24 December 1929. He graduated from the Physics Department of Moscow State University and followed this with a PhD at JINR on proton-deuteron backward scattering, before moving to ITEP in 1957. His interests covered a range of questions, from the development of the spark-chamber technique, through π–π scattering and polar diagrams in nuclear physics, to particle interactions inside nuclear matter.
Georgy led experimental studies of inelastic nuclear interactions that were carried out in research centres around the world, including ITEP, JINR, the Institute of High Energy Physics (Protvino), Yerevan, CERN, Fermilab and DESY. This research showed that the spectra of hadrons (proton, pions, kaons) emitted in high-energy nuclear reactions outside the kinematical region of quasi-nucleon interactions do not depend on the energy of the incident particle and its type (protons, pions, kaons, photons, neutrinos) or on the atomic number of the target nucleus. The most popular explanation for this phenomenon was through the interaction of incident high-energy particles with dense droplets inside nuclei (like heavy multiquark bags).
Being a scientifically motivated person, Georgy educated in his group many top-level physicists who now work in research laboratories all over the world. He was one of the founders of the ITEP Winter Physics School, which has attracted young talented scientists for more than 35 years.
He was also greatly interested in various aspects of culture, especially in painting, architecture and history – an interest that he transferred to many of his colleagues. All those who had the pleasure of meeting Georgy will remember him as a wonderful person.
Alexander Arefyev, Mikhail Danilov, Vladimir Gavrilov and Yury Zaitsev, ITEP.
Gilles Sauvage 1939–2010
Gilles Sauvage, a physicist from LAPP-Annecy working with ATLAS, passed away on 21 April.
Gilles Sauvage was deeply involved in many generations of experiments at CERN as he followed the evolution of the field at the energy frontier. He started with the group from Laboratoire de l'Accélérateur Linéaire, Orsay, working in the WA2 hyperon experiment at the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS), from 1976 to 1979. With the same group he became a founding member of the UA2 collaboration at the SPS pp Collider, in which he was active throughout the duration of the experiment. He then moved to the Laboratoire d'Annecy-Le-Vieux de Physique des Particules (LAPP) in 1986 and joined first the L3 group at the Large Electron-Positron collider, making important contributions to the construction, calibration, installation and commissioning of the BGO crystal calorimeter. Later, in the mid-1990s, Gilles joined ATLAS and led the LAPP-Annecy group through the intense period of the construction at LAPP of one third of the modules for the ATLAS liquid-argon barrel electromagnetic calorimeter. He then followed "hands-on" its integration and installation at CERN. He retired in 2006, but his passion for physics motivated him to remain fully active until the last day.
For those of us who worked with him in designing, constructing and testing the liquid-argon electromagnetic barrel calorimeter, Gilles was rather like our living encyclopedia. We often asked him about the finest details on how the calorimeter was built and assembled. While the modules were being built at LAPP, Gilles was with them day and night, and he led their assembly into two half-barrel cylinders as well as the insertion into the cryostat.
Gilles was an exceptional experimentalist, who also set high standards in how to work with great human qualities in a large collaboration. He always sought the most elegant technical and scientific solutions, and would not accept easy short-cuts. He never acted as a "big boss", but instead motivated junior and senior colleagues by setting the example of working hard on the floor over many years.
Having coffee with Gilles was always a great pleasure, as he would remember a story of his past experiments – little anecdotes that only he knew. He was also poetic, often referring to flowers, birds and treks in the mountains. And when Gilles described his garden it was like being there and seeing every plant grow, tasting every fruit.
It is hard to imagine how to continue without him. Our thoughts and sympathy go to his family and close friends.
Colleagues and friends from ATLAS.