Praxis Archives – Page 139 of 181

Postcards from CERN: 50 years through a lens

cernalb2_10-04 — Geneva was selected as the site for the CERN laboratory at the third session of the provisional council in 1952. This selection successfully passed a referendum in the canton of Geneva in June 1953, and on 17 May 1954 the first shovel of earth was dug on the Meyrin site under the eyes of Geneva officials and members of CERN staff.

Geneva was selected as the site for the CERN laboratory at the third session of the provisional council in 1952. This selection successfully passed a referendum in the canton of Geneva in June 1953, and on 17 May 1954 the first shovel of earth was dug on the Meyrin site under the eyes of Geneva officials and members of CERN staff.

cernalb3_10-04 — An aerial view of modern-day CERN taken in January 2004 shows how the Meyrin site has developed in 50 years. In the background are the buildings at Point 1 on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) ring, where the ATLAS detector is being installed. In the foreground is Building 40, which was built to provide offices for the physicists working on the LHC experiments.

An aerial view of modern-day CERN taken in January 2004 shows how the Meyrin site has developed in 50 years. In the background are the buildings at Point 1 on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) ring, where the ATLAS detector is being installed. In the foreground is Building 40, which was built to provide offices for the physicists working on the LHC experiments.

cernalb4_10-04 — Installation tests in the LHC tunnel in January 2004: a short, straight section is positioned next to a superconducting dipole.

Installation tests in the LHC tunnel in January 2004: a short, straight section is positioned next to a superconducting dipole.

cernalb5_10-04 — The underground cavern where the detector for ATLAS – one of four major experiments for the LHC – is being installed, in May 2004.

The underground cavern where the detector for ATLAS – one of four major experiments for the LHC – is being installed, in May 2004.

cernalb6_10 — Assembly of the hadron calorimeter for the CMS experiment at the LHC in June 2004.

Assembly of the hadron calorimeter for the CMS experiment at the LHC in June 2004.

cernalb7_10-04 — The CERN fire brigade was set up in July 1956 to provide a rapid response in the event of an accident and to tackle the risks specific to the organization’s activities. Here are six members of the brigade in 1959.

The CERN fire brigade was set up in July 1956 to provide a rapid response in the event of an accident and to tackle the risks specific to the organization’s activities. Here are six members of the brigade in 1959.

cernalb8_10-04 — The 30 cm hydrogen bubble chamber, seen here being inserted into its vacuum tank, took its first beam from the SC in 1959 and moved to the PS in 1960.

The 30 cm hydrogen bubble chamber, seen here being inserted into its vacuum tank, took its first beam from the SC in 1959 and moved to the PS in 1960.

cernalb9_10-04 — The upper magnet coil of CERN’s first machine, the Synchrocyclotron (SC), is moved over the upper pole discs. Each coil weighed 60 tonnes and measured 7.2 metres in diameter. The SC was commissioned in 1957 and was operational for 34 years.

The upper magnet coil of CERN’s first machine, the Synchrocyclotron (SC), is moved over the upper pole discs. Each coil weighed 60 tonnes and measured 7.2 metres in diameter. The SC was commissioned in 1957 and was operational for 34 years.

cernalb10_10-04 — During the night of 24 November 1959 the PS reached its full energy. The next morning John Adams announced the achievement in the main auditorium. In his hand is an empty vodka bottle, which he had received from Dubna with the message that it was to be drunk when CERN passed the Synchrophasotron’s world-record energy of 10 GeV. The bottle contained a polaroid photograph of the 24 GeV pulse ready to be sent back to Dubna.

During the night of 24 November 1959 the PS reached its full energy. The next morning John Adams announced the achievement in the main auditorium. In his hand is an empty vodka bottle, which he had received from Dubna with the message that it was to be drunk when CERN passed the Synchrophasotron’s world-record energy of 10 GeV. The bottle contained a polaroid photograph of the 24 GeV pulse ready to be sent back to Dubna.

cernalb11_10-04 — View inside the PS ring in 1964. The PS continues to this day to play a key role in CERN’s accelerator complex.

View inside the PS ring in 1964. The PS continues to this day to play a key role in CERN’s accelerator complex.

cernalb12_10-04 — CESAR (the CERN Electron Storage and Accumulation Ring) was built as a machine model for the ISR. The model had to be small, but the particles had to be relativistic, so electrons were chosen. Running from 1964 to 1967 CESAR demonstrated techniques essential for the ISR (and later the proton-antiproton collider), in particular ultrahigh vacuum techniques.

CESAR (the CERN Electron Storage and Accumulation Ring) was built as a machine model for the ISR. The model had to be small, but the particles had to be relativistic, so electrons were chosen. Running from 1964 to 1967 CESAR demonstrated techniques essential for the ISR (and later the proton-antiproton collider), in particular ultrahigh vacuum techniques.

cernalb13_10-04 — The Intersecting Storage Rings (ISR), the world’s first proton-proton collider, started up in 1971, and later provided the first proton-antiproton collisions and the first collisions of beams of heavier ions (alpha particles). This image shows the vacuum chamber at one of the points where the proton beams crossed in the ISR.

The Intersecting Storage Rings (ISR), the world’s first proton-proton collider, started up in 1971, and later provided the first proton-antiproton collisions and the first collisions of beams of heavier ions (alpha particles). This image shows the vacuum chamber at one of the points where the proton beams crossed in the ISR.

cernalb14_10-04 — CERN has welcomed many visitors during its 50 years. Here, Richard Feynman gives a lecture in his inimitable style in 1970.

CERN has welcomed many visitors during its 50 years. Here, Richard Feynman gives a lecture in his inimitable style in 1970.

cernalb15_10-04 — Assembly in progress inside the Gargamelle heavy-liquid bubble chamber, which was built at Saclay in France and came into operation at the PS in 1971. The chamber had a cylindrical body 4.8 m long and 1.85 m wide, with a volume of 12 cubic metres.

Assembly in progress inside the Gargamelle heavy-liquid bubble chamber, which was built at Saclay in France and came into operation at the PS in 1971. The chamber had a cylindrical body 4.8 m long and 1.85 m wide, with a volume of 12 cubic metres.

cernalb16_10-04 — In 1973 the Gargamelle collaboration announced the discovery of weak neutral currents. Here in a neutral-current event, a neutrino interacts with an electron in the chamber liquid. The neutrino continues unseen, while the electron creates the horizontal branched track.

In 1973 the Gargamelle collaboration announced the discovery of weak neutral currents. Here in a neutral-current event, a neutrino interacts with an electron in the chamber liquid. The neutrino continues unseen, while the electron creates the horizontal branched track.

cernalb17_10-04 — In 1968 Georges Charpak (seen here in 1978) invented the multi-wire proportional chamber, which was to revolutionize the field of particle detection and gain him the 1992 Nobel Prize in Physics.

In 1968 Georges Charpak (seen here in 1978) invented the multi-wire proportional chamber, which was to revolutionize the field of particle detection and gain him the 1992 Nobel Prize in Physics.

cernalb18_10-04 — The SPS, with its 7 km circular tunnel, extended CERN beyond the Meyrin site. Construction began in 1972. Here the metal structure of the shuttering used when pouring the concrete walls of the tunnel gives a remarkable optical effect.

The SPS, with its 7 km circular tunnel, extended CERN beyond the Meyrin site. Construction began in 1972. Here the metal structure of the shuttering used when pouring the concrete walls of the tunnel gives a remarkable optical effect.

cernalb19_10-04 — The Omega spectrometer came into action in the West Area at the SPS during 1972. An array of optical spark chambers can be seen withdrawn from the magnet aperture. The “igloo” above the magnet housed the Plumbicon camera system that recorded information from the chambers. No fewer than 48 experiments made use of Omega, exploiting beams of various particles at various energies – first from the PS and then from the higher energy SPS.

The Omega spectrometer came into action in the West Area at the SPS during 1972. An array of optical spark chambers can be seen withdrawn from the magnet aperture. The “igloo” above the magnet housed the Plumbicon camera system that recorded information from the chambers. No fewer than 48 experiments made use of Omega, exploiting beams of various particles at various energies – first from the PS and then from the higher energy SPS.

cernalb20_10-04 — Two years after the construction of the SPS began, on 31 July 1974, the Robbins boring machine that was excavating the tunnel returned to its starting point.

Two years after the construction of the SPS began, on 31 July 1974, the Robbins boring machine that was excavating the tunnel returned to its starting point.

cernalb21_10-04 — On 21 January 1983 the UA1 collaboration, led by Carlo Rubbia, announced the discovery of the charged carrier of the weak interaction, the W, in proton–antiproton collisions at the SPS. Three months later they had also found the Z<SUP>0</SUP> , responsible for the weak neutral currents discovered 10 years previously in Gargamelle. In this colour-treated picture of tracks reconstructed in UA1, a Z has decayed into an electron and a positron, which fly off in opposite directions (yellow).

On 21 January 1983 the UA1 collaboration, led by Carlo Rubbia, announced the discovery of the charged carrier of the weak interaction, the W, in proton–antiproton collisions at the SPS. Three months later they had also found the Z⁰ , responsible for the weak neutral currents discovered 10 years previously in Gargamelle. In this colour-treated picture of tracks reconstructed in UA1, a Z has decayed into an electron and a positron, which fly off in opposite directions (yellow).

cernalb22_10-04 — The SPS also had a pioneering role in CERN’s programme of heavy-ion physics, beginning with beams of oxygen and sulphur ions in 1986. Here a sulphur ion, with a total energy of 6400 GeV, strikes a nucleus in a gold target in the NA35 experiment. A streamer chamber records the resulting shower of particles.

The SPS also had a pioneering role in CERN’s programme of heavy-ion physics, beginning with beams of oxygen and sulphur ions in 1986. Here a sulphur ion, with a total energy of 6400 GeV, strikes a nucleus in a gold target in the NA35 experiment. A streamer chamber records the resulting shower of particles.

cernalb23_10-04 — In 1984 Carlo Rubbia (centre) and Simon van der Meer (left) received the Nobel prize for the discovery of the W and Z particles at CERN. Here they are talking in 1983 with Sir Alec Merrison, then president of Council.

In 1984 Carlo Rubbia (centre) and Simon van der Meer (left) received the Nobel prize for the discovery of the W and Z particles at CERN. Here they are talking in 1983 with Sir Alec Merrison, then president of Council.

cernalb24_10-04 — The final stages of preparation in the SPS tunnel in April 1976. The red magnets are some of the 800 or so 6 m long dipole magnets that guide the beams round the machine.

The final stages of preparation in the SPS tunnel in April 1976. The red magnets are some of the 800 or so 6 m long dipole magnets that guide the beams round the machine.

cernalb25_10-04 — The Antiproton Accumulator, seen here in June 1980, was an important step in converting the SPS to a proton-antiproton collider. It used Simon van der Meer’s “stochastic cooling” technique to produce useful beams of antiprotons.

The Antiproton Accumulator, seen here in June 1980, was an important step in converting the SPS to a proton-antiproton collider. It used Simon van der Meer’s “stochastic cooling” technique to produce useful beams of antiprotons.

cernalb26_10-04 — Tim Berners-Lee, seen here in 1994, invented and developed the World Wide Web as an essential tool for high-energy physicists. He conceived HTML, http and URLs using the machine shown on the right in 1990 to develop and run the first Web server, multimedia browser and Web editor.

Tim Berners-Lee, seen here in 1994, invented and developed the World Wide Web as an essential tool for high-energy physicists. He conceived HTML, http and URLs using the machine shown on the right in 1990 to develop and run the first Web server, multimedia browser and Web editor.

cernalb27_10-04 — In 1985 excavation work began for the 27 km tunnel of the Large Electron Positron collider (LEP). This was the most formidable civil-engineering venture in the history of CERN and Europe’s largest civil-engineering project prior to the Channel Tunnel.

In 1985 excavation work began for the 27 km tunnel of the Large Electron Positron collider (LEP). This was the most formidable civil-engineering venture in the history of CERN and Europe’s largest civil-engineering project prior to the Channel Tunnel.

cernalb28_10 — One of the monorail trains suspended from the ceiling above the magnet ring in the 27 km long LEP tunnel. The trains were used for transporting goods and people.

One of the monorail trains suspended from the ceiling above the magnet ring in the 27 km long LEP tunnel. The trains were used for transporting goods and people.

cernalb29_10-04 — Looking rather as if surrounded by a collection of ornate urns, a technician surveys copper-accelerating cavities used in LEP. From 1996 these were gradually replaced by superconducting cavities that were to double the total collision energy from 100 GeV to just over 200 GeV.

Looking rather as if surrounded by a collection of ornate urns, a technician surveys copper-accelerating cavities used in LEP. From 1996 these were gradually replaced by superconducting cavities that were to double the total collision energy from 100 GeV to just over 200 GeV.

cernalb30_10-04 — The construction of DELPHI, one of the four detectors at LEP, in January 1989, only seven months before the first collisions. This picture shows the installation of a “half-moon” section for one of the end caps.

The construction of DELPHI, one of the four detectors at LEP, in January 1989, only seven months before the first collisions. This picture shows the installation of a “half-moon” section for one of the end caps.

cernalb31_10-04 — A feature of the L3 experiment at LEP was its huge magnet, with much of the detector located within the magnet coils. One of the huge “doors” of the magnet is seen in this view from February 2000.

A feature of the L3 experiment at LEP was its huge magnet, with much of the detector located within the magnet coils. One of the huge “doors” of the magnet is seen in this view from February 2000.

cernalb32_10-04 — The segmented barrel of the hadron calorimeter for the ALEPH detector at LEP during construction in 1987; the iron also formed the return yoke for the electromagnet.

The segmented barrel of the hadron calorimeter for the ALEPH detector at LEP during construction in 1987; the iron also formed the return yoke for the electromagnet.

cernalb33_10-04 — After LEP started operation in August 1989 it became a veritable “factory” for the production of Z⁰ particles. This display from OPAL shows the decay of a Z into two jets of particles, originating from a quark-antiquark pair, recorded in June 1990.

After LEP started operation in August 1989 it became a veritable “factory” for the production of Z⁰ particles. This display from OPAL shows the decay of a Z into two jets of particles, originating from a quark-antiquark pair, recorded in June 1990.

cernalb34_10-04 — The world’s first atoms of antihydrogen were observed in the PS210 experiment at CERN in 1995. Seven years later in 2002, the ATRAP and ATHENA experiments began to make antihydrogen atoms by the thousand. This display shows an antihydrogen event recorded by ATHENA in August 2002.

The world’s first atoms of antihydrogen were observed in the PS210 experiment at CERN in 1995. Seven years later in 2002, the ATRAP and ATHENA experiments began to make antihydrogen atoms by the thousand. This display shows an antihydrogen event recorded by ATHENA in August 2002.

cernalb35_10 — The ALICE experiment, which will study lead-lead collisions in the LHC, is being installed in the cavern previously occupied by the L3 detector. It also makes use of L3’s huge magnet.

The ALICE experiment, which will study lead-lead collisions in the LHC, is being installed in the cavern previously occupied by the L3 detector. It also makes use of L3’s huge magnet.

cernalb36_10-04 — The LHCb detector will occupy the cavern used by the DELPHI experiment at LEP, and will investigate matter-antimatter differences in B mesons at the LHC. The coils of the detector’s huge dipole magnet are seen here in April 2004.

The LHCb detector will occupy the cavern used by the DELPHI experiment at LEP, and will investigate matter-antimatter differences in B mesons at the LHC. The coils of the detector’s huge dipole magnet are seen here in April 2004.

Origins: the early days of CERN

In 1946 a commission of the United Nations Security Council was entrusted with the task of making proposals to bring atomic energy under international control. It was one year after the devastation of Hiroshima, and the idea of such control had been approved by all the governments. The commission was made up of influential scientists who had the knowledge that was needed to understand the problem fully and of politicians and diplomats representing the governments’ interests. It was in this capacity as a diplomat that I represented France on the commission and was able to establish trusting and friendly relations with many of my countrymen who were scientists, as well as with foreign scientists, first and foremost among whom was Robert Oppenheimer, who was to play a very important role in the creation of CERN.

In the course of the many conversations I had with Oppenheimer in the US, in which we were often joined by other Frenchmen, who were my scientific and technical advisers, he confided his worries about the future development of fundamental physics in Europe. “Almost all we know, we have learnt in Europe” is the substance of what he said. He himself had been a pupil of Niels Bohr in Copenhagen. “But in the future,” he continued, “research is going to require industrial, technical and financial resources that will be beyond the means of individual European countries. You will therefore need to join forces to pool all your resources. It would be fundamentally unhealthy if European scientists were obliged to go to the US or the Soviet Union to conduct their research.”

Early in 1950, convinced by this argument, Francis Perrin, then high commissioner for atomic energy in Paris, and I began to visit the main European research centres that would need to be persuaded. We met with a favourable response from Edoardo Amaldi in Italy, Niels Bohr in Copenhagen, Paul Scherrer in Switzerland and possibly Werner Heisenberg in Germany, if I remember correctly, but we were given a cooler reception in other capitals. Nevertheless, the idea was now on the table and was no doubt starting to take root in people’s minds. Moreover, it came on top of an appeal on similar lines from the European Centre for Culture in Geneva, led by Denis de Rougemont from Switzerland and Raoul Dautry from France. It was then that Isidore Rabi, a Nobel prize winner, made his crucial speech at the UNESCO General Conference in Florence in June 1950. Speaking on behalf of the US, he more or less said the same thing that Oppenheimer had said to us in private.

This speech marked a definite turning point, persuading the majority of European scientists and their governments to adopt a resolution authorizing UNESCO to “assist and encourage the formation and organization of regional centres and laboratories in order to increase and make more fruitful the international collaboration of scientists”. Pierre Auger, UNESCO’s director of natural sciences, took matters in hand and, at the end of 1951, managed to organize a conference of all European scientists and government representatives, which I had the honour to chair and at which it was decided to establish the European Council for Nuclear Research.

The fundamental ideas, namely the goals that all the pioneers of what was to become CERN set themselves, consisted first of all in promoting European co-operation in this vital area. CERN was thus the first venture on a European scale and I can say that Robert Schuman, who was then French minister of foreign affairs and one of Europe’s founding fathers, was immediately in favour of it. A second goal was to reintroduce complete freedom of communication and the sharing of knowledge into this branch of science.

It should be realized that, in the wake of Hiroshima, people were afraid of science and of nuclear science in particular. “The physicists have known sin” said Oppenheimer, and the consequence of using scientists’ work for military purposes was the imposition of secrecy and the lack of communication between research centres. By immediately taking the opposite approach to fundamental research in its statutes, CERN was following the great tradition of science knowing no boundaries. The ambitions of these pioneers were more than fulfilled, since CERN is today home to scientists from all over the world, including the US, China, Japan and Russia, all working together and in teams on the same research, the results of which are published in full.

Another of my memories concerns the extension of the CERN site into France. After the construction of the 28 GeV Proton Synchrotron, it soon became apparent that, in the time-honoured fashion, this was only a scale model of more powerful machines to come. The area that Switzerland had been able to set aside for CERN could not be extended on the Swiss side. Luckily, the site ran alongside the border with France, and the land in that area was essentially being used for farming. The continuation and development of CERN’s activities were therefore dependent on extending the site into France, thus requiring a parcel of around 500 hectares of French land to be made available to an international organization with its headquarters in Switzerland. I prepared a dossier, which was submitted to the then French president, General de Gaulle, by the minister of foreign affairs, Maurice Couve de Murville. That is how CERN became – and I think remains to this day – the only research centre to straddle the border of two countries.

Quark Model and High Energy Collisions

by V V Anisovich, M N Kobrinsky, Yu M Shabelski and J Nyiri, World Scientific. Hardback ISBN 9812386998, £73 ($98).

This second edition is an updated version of the book published in 1985. QCD-motivated, it gives a detailed description of hadron structure and soft interactions in the additive quark model, and is aimed at graduate students and researchers in particle and nuclear physics.

Path Integrals and Quantum Anomalies

by Kazuo Fujikawa and Hiroshi Suzuki, Oxford University Press. Hardback 0198529139, £55 ($99.50).

A self-contained introduction to the path-integral method in field theory and its applications to quantum anomalies, this book assumes no previous knowledge beyond advanced undergraduate quantum mechanics. The subjects covered – from Schwinger’s action principle to recent developments in lattice gauge theory – are relevant to particle and high-energy nuclear theory, conformal field theory, applications to condensed matter theory and string theory.

Quark-Gluon Plasma 3

by Rudolph C Hwa and Xin-Nian Wang (eds), World Scientific. Hardback ISBN 9812380779, £87 ($118).

In this review monograph on quark-gluon plasma (QGP), different theoretical and experimental aspects of the effort to produce QGP in relativistic heavy-ion collisions are covered by various experts in the field. This is the third volume in a series on the subject, and the first such monograph to focus on the implications of the experimental results from the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven.

Singular Null Hypersurfaces in General Relativity

by C Barrabès and P A Hogan, World Scientific. Paperback ISBN 9812387374, £36 ($48).

This book presents a comprehensive view of the mathematical theory of impulsive light-like signals in general relativity. Such signals can result from cataclysmic astrophysical events, and as the sub-title of “Light-like signals from astrophysical events” suggests, the topic has applications in relativistic astrophysics and cosmology, as well as in alternative theories of gravity deduced from string theory.

Gravity from the ground up

by Bernard Schutz, Cambridge University Press. Hardback ISBN 0521455065, £30 ($45).

cernboo1_10-04 — **Gravity from the ground up** by Bernard Schutz.

This beautifully produced book is evidently the result of a labour of love by physicist Bernard Schutz, who refers to it as “the book” in the dedication to his daughters. There is a sense that this, more than his advanced textbooks, is the book that Schutz always wanted to write. In it he provides an introductory guide to gravity and general relativity, not only for undergraduates but also for the general reader who yearns for more detail than is often found in more “popular” books on these topics.

The title reveals the structure of the book. Chapter by chapter, Schutz begins with gravity on Earth and then moves out into the solar system, to the stars and galaxies beyond, to finish with the Big Bang and questions currently at the frontiers of research in gravity. On the way the reader first encounters the work of Galileo and Newton and finds out how Einstein stands on their shoulders, then learns how the Sun and other stars live and die, and moves on to discover neutron stars and black holes – exotic objects that now figure frequently in the news as well as in science fiction.

There are many books that cover the same topics, but rare are those that attempt to be simultaneously engaging and didactic. As with Steven Weinberg’s The Discovery of Subatomic Particles (Cambridge University Press 2003), Schutz writes for people who not only want to be amazed but who also want to know how it is that scientists know all the amazing things they talk about on beautifully made documentaries. As the author says, “this book is not a ‘gee-whizz’ tour of the universe: this is a book for people who are not afraid to think”. There is no calculus, no advanced mathematics, but there are equations that require a little high-school algebra. Moreover, recognizing that we live in the computer age, Schutz provides a website to support the book with programs that can be downloaded, and modified, to provide the results of complex calculations and solutions to exercises that are part of the “investigations” presented in the book.

EUROFEL and EUROTeV to receive EU support

The European Commission has selected two projects that are coordinated by DESY for support within the EU’s Sixth Framework Programme.

The EUROFEL and EUROTeV projects were ranked first and second, respectively, in the referees’ evaluation. From 2005 on, they will receive around €9 million each, spread over a period of three years. This corresponds to approximately one-third of the total costs estimated for each project. The remaining two-thirds will be born by the participating research institutions.

The EUROFEL project, in which 16 leading research institutions from five European countries are participating together with DESY, is a design study with the goal of developing jointly the physics and technology needed for the next generation of short-wave radiation sources, the free-electron lasers. Seven such facilities are currently being planned in Europe – in France, Germany, Italy, Sweden and the UK. Although the individual free-electron laser proposals partly differ in their choice of technology, they all share important issues such as the extremely high requirements concerning the quality of the electron beam, or the concepts of radiation generation. These are the issues on which the joint coordinated activities of the 16 participating research teams will concentrate.

The second project that was selected for support – EUROTeV – was proposed by 27 institutes from six European countries, among them DESY as the coordinating institution and CERN. This project’s goal is to focus European research and development activities for the design of an international linear collider for particle physics, and to perform final-phase research and development work on essential components for the facility – in close agreement with the corresponding Asian and American committees.

There is worldwide consensus that such a linear collider is to be the next major accelerator for particle physics. One motive of the EUROTeV proposal is to develop a high-quality European structure that would later evolve into the European branch of the international planning group for a global linear-collider project.

Hands across the Mediterranean

Back in April 2002 AFAS (the French Association for the Advancement of Science) and the “Club de Marseille” jointly convened “WorldMed 2002”, a meeting that was set up to share knowledge between the north and south regions of the Mediterranean. WorldMed’s aim was to show how concrete projects could advance co-operation between countries with different cultures, thereby providing a much-needed stimulus to the political intergovernmental process. The meeting, which was attended by 850 people, of whom 150 came from North Africa, was a huge success and several projects were begun as a result of contacts initiated among the participants. This success suggested a follow-up in the form of periodic meetings to discuss projects and seek potential synergies. For this purpose, smaller meetings, which would focus on a few selected topics and so be easier to organize and permit an even better opportunity for contacts, seemed a promising concept.

The celebration this year of CERN’s 50th anniversary provided a perfect opportunity for the laboratory, with its distinguished tradition along these lines, to initiate the series by hosting the event on 6-7 May. The chosen topics were the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East (SESAME) project, and computing – all of which are familiar to readers of the CERN Courier – together with two applied topics of considerable and obvious relevance: water and energy.

The conference was opened by Pascal Colombani, chairman of AFAS, who stressed the universal value of science and its ability to build bridges between peoples belonging to different cultures and religions, even in cases where they are in bitter political conflict. John Ellis from CERN introduced the first session with an overview of the LHC programme and its worldwide extent. His talk was followed by specific reports of non-member-state participation from countries in North Africa and the Middle East, with Abdeslam Hoummada from Casablanca, Hafeez Hoorani from the National Center for Physics in Islamabad, and Hessamaddin Arfaei from the Institute for Studies in Theoretical Physics and Mathematics in Teheran. The status of possible Egyptian participation was also presented by Mohammed Sherif from Cairo. A subsequent round-table discussion included CERN’s director-general, Robert Aymar, together with Ali Chamseddine of Beirut and Giora Mikenberg of Rehovoth.

The overwhelming impression was of the serious and impressive contributions these relative newcomers to the field are bringing to the building of the ATLAS and CMS detectors. In the case of Pakistan and Iran, the legacy of Abdus Salam as the first Muslim Physics Nobel laureate certainly seems to have played a role in persuading the powers-that-be to support such an apparently esoteric field of research. Another interesting aspect is the case of Morocco, where bilateral ties with the French institute IN2P3 have helped to organize and bring to a high standard a consortium of universities that is now a full member of the ATLAS collaboration.

Herwig Schopper, president of the SESAME Council, presented the UNESCO-backed programme for SESAME, a regional synchrotron light facility to be located in Jordan with statutes analogous to those of CERN. It will be based on parts donated from the BESSY I machine at Berlin, which are in the process of being upgraded to make SESAME competitive and up to international standards. The facility should be operational in 2007 and it is remarkable that in just five years a new international organization has been created. Zehra Sayers of Istanbul outlined the scientific programme and Samar Hasnain of the Daresbury Laboratory described the first generation of beam lines. Nasser Hamdam of the United Arab Emirates recounted his former work at the Advanced Light Source at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and talked about his projects for SESAME when it comes on line.

Joining in the subsequent round-table discussion were Abdeslam Hoummada, Abderrahmane Tadjeddine of LURE, Orsay, Jean-Patrick Connerade of Imperial College, London, and Eliezer Rabinovici of Jerusalem. The first example of a regional facility, SESAME will add a south_south dimension to international scientific collaboration. Indeed, as Schopper noted, UNESCO has agreed in principle that other regional scientific centres could be considered in the future – a point that generated tremendous interest in the audience.

Guy Wormser of IN2P3 and Orsay convened a session on “Fighting the digital divide”, in which Michel Spiro, director of IN2P3, first pointed out the dual importance of broadband access. As a tool, broadband would make data analysis a democratic affair, enabling researchers to do physics based on their talent rather than on their geographic location. More generally, bridging the divide could be meant as bridging the gap between people belonging to different cultures or religions, even though some may presently be in political conflict. This is really the prolongation of a 50-year-old CERN tradition.

Fabrizio Gagliardi of CERN then explained the concept of the computing Grid, stressing that it is not only very powerful but also economical. In addition to being necessary to handle the vast amounts of LHC data, it should also have obvious applications in other fields such as meteorology and genomics. Driss Benchekroun of the University of Hassan II, Casablanca, gave the view of a user from Morocco and outlined plans to update IT infrastructure within the Maghreb. These were in fact realized three weeks later when the Moroccan minister inaugurated MARWAN, a wide-area network connecting Moroccan universities among themselves and to Europe. As Dany Vandromme of the Réseau National de Télécommunications pour la Technologie, l’Enseignement et la Recherche (RENATER) explained, this was made possible because the European intra-university network GEANT had been extended to include a link to a point in each country around the Mediterranean, from Casablanca to Beirut. Lorne Levinson of Rehovot and Alberto Santoro from Rio de Janeiro then joined the round-table discussion, appropriately via an Internet videoconference.

For countries in the sun belt, solar energy is a tremendous resource still waiting to be exploited.

Water desalination and reuse is of crucial interest for semi-arid countries, where there is a strong increase in population. For this discussion Miriam Balaban of the European Desalination Association and Azzedine El Midaoui of Ibn Tofa University in Kénitra, Morocco, had assembled a splendid panel of experts. Richard Morris of Glasgow, Corrado Somariva of Abu Dabi, Valentina Lazarova of the Suez Environnement company, Michel Soulié of the Agropolis Association in Montpellier, Bruce Durham of Veolia Water in the UK, and Mohamed Safi of the Ecole national d’ingénieurs in Tunis, presented all aspects of the progress in this field.

The cost of desalination, which only a decade ago was considered out of reach for non oil-rich countries, has fallen dramatically in the past five years. It is now in the region of €0.50-0.85 per tonne for large installations and further progress can be expected. The energy necessary to pump seawater through a semi-permeable membrane is currently 2 kWh for new installations, compared with 5 kWh for installations built in the 1990s, and close to the thermodynamics limit of 0.7 kWh. The focus is now increasingly on environmental aspects such as the safe disposal of the brine and chemicals, on sound water management and on safe recycling of urban and industrial wastewater for irrigation.

For countries in the sun belt, solar energy is a tremendous resource still waiting to be exploited. Augusto Maccari of ENEA, the Italian national agency for new technologies, energy and the environment in Rome, gave a report on how to harness solar energy as high-temperature heat by using concentrating mirrors and storing the heat in a molten salt at 550 °C. This circumvents the discontinuous nature of solar energy so that electricity can be generated on a continuous basis. This development was under the leadership of Carlo Rubbia, president of ENEA, and the talk was also a preview of the inauguration of the “Archimède” pilot facility (20 MW), which took place on 19 May near Syracuse in Sicily.
• The conference was organized by AFAS with the support of CERN, IN2P3, UNESCO, France Telecom, Veolia and Suez.

Particles and Nuclei: An Introduction to the Physical Concepts

by Bogdan Povh et al., Springer. Paperback ISBN 3540201688, €34.95 (£27.00/$44.95).

Now a standard reference for many undergraduate and more advanced courses, this book is a uniform presentation of nuclear and particle physics split into “Analysis” and “Synthesis” sections. “Analysis” looks at disentangling the substructure of matter, while “Synthesis” shows how the elementary building blocks combine to form hadrons and nuclei. This fourth edition has some new developments, such as double beta decay.

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