Praxis Archives – Page 31 of 179

Miguel Virasoro 1940–2021

On 23 July, the Italian–Argentinian theorist Miguel Ángel Virasoro, one of the founders of string theory and an initiator of complexity studies, passed away. His scientific contributions were outstanding and stimulated an impressive number of subsequent developments. He was an extraordinarily intelligent visionary with a great sense of humour.

Born in Buenos Aires in 1940, Virasoro enrolled in physics at the University of Buenos Aires in 1958. However, in 1966 General Juan Carlos Onganía successfully led a coup d’état in Argentina, establishing a dictatorship that would last until 1973. The faculty of science at Buenos Aires became a centre of opposition: the police broke into the university, massacring the occupants. In the following months, some 300 professors emigrated abroad.

Virasoro finished his thesis working from home; at the end of 1966, as soon as he obtained his doctorate, he moved to the Weizmann Institute, Israel, invited by a newly appointed young Argentinian professor, Hector Rubinstein. A few months earlier, Gabriele Veneziano had also arrived as a graduate student. The three of them, together with Marco Ademollo, began a long series of investigations into the physics of strong interactions that eventually led to string theory. Although the first step towards string theory was Veneziano’s “open-string” model in 1968, those preliminary results established the conceptual framework in which Veneziano’s model could be conceived. A few months later, stimulated by Veneziano’s work, Virasoro extended it to a model describing closed strings.

The Virasoro condition

In the following years, first at the University of Wisconsin, then at Berkeley, Virasoro did brilliant work on string theory. In 1969 he made the fundamental observation that string theory could only be made free of pathologies by fixing a certain parameter. This “Virasoro condition” allowed for the existence of an infinite number of symmetries generated by an infinite set of operators obeying a “Virasoro algebra” – a tool at the basis of countless subsequent studies. The Virasoro condition proved to be a killer for string theory as a description of strong interactions, but it opened the way to the 1974 Scherk–Schwarz reinterpretation of it as a quantum theory of gravity, in which one particular closed string corresponds to the graviton.

In 1973 democracy was restored in Argentina; Virasoro returned to his own country and was elected, still very young, dean of the faculty of science in Buenos Aires, a politically exposed position. In 1975 he accepted an invitation to spend a year at Princeton. During his stay in the US, however, Videla’s 1976 coup d’état brought dictatorship back to Argentina, in a more cruel form than before: many professors and students were slaughtered at the university. Virasoro was not only fired, but he was told that, had he returned to Argentina, he would be arrested or worse.

Virasoro was convinced of the role that theoretical physics could have in building the capacity of developing countries

He moved to Europe, and after a year in Paris, arrived in Italy, first in Turin and then, from 1981, at La Sapienza in Rome, where he remained for 30 years as a full professor, taking Italian citizenship. Having started to investigate the relationship between the emerging theory of quarks and gluons (QCD) and string theory, in 1983 he changed direction. He began to work with Giorgio Parisi on the statistical mechanics of complex systems, first with other Parisian physicists (Marc Mézard, Nicolas Sourlas and Gerard Toulouse) and then with Mézard alone, who had moved to Rome for two years. The group obtained important results on which the bases of the physical theory of complexity rest and also wrote a book on these results. In 1988 Virasoro became passionate about studying how, starting from neural networks, we can understand the functioning of the brain.

From 1995 to 2002 he was called to direct the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste. Sharing the vision of its founder Abdus Salam, Virasoro was convinced of the role that theoretical physics could have in building the capacity of developing countries. He decided to enlarge and diversify ICTP’s scientific programme. Within the condensed-matter group, he established a strong subgroup in statistical mechanics and its applications, which was the beginning of quantitative biology. He established a joint project with the Beijer Institute and the Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei in environmental and ecological economics, and founded an ICTP group devoted to the physics of weather and climate. He also succeeded in rendering compulsory the Italian contribution to the ICTP, and securing a significant increase in the contribution in 2000.

Back in Rome, in the last years before his 2011 retirement, he worked on applications of physical theories to finance, an activity that he continued in Argentina, where he returned, at the Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento. In 2009 he received the Enrico Fermi Prize from the Italian Physical Society and in 2020 was awarded the ICTP Dirac medal for his work on string theory.

Miguel Virasoro cherished the ability to use knowledge learned in one field to make progress on a different one, opening up new vistas. He will be sorely missed.

The inexplicable neutrino

Claustrophobia. South Dakota. A clattering elevator lowers a crew of hard-hat-clad physicists 1500 metres below the ground. 750,000 tonnes of rock are about to be excavated from this former gold mine at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) to accommodate the liquid-argon time projection chambers (TPCs) of the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE). Towards the end of the decade, DUNE will track neutrinos that originate 1300 km away at Fermilab in Chicago, addressing leptonic CP violation as well as an ambitious research programme in astrophysics.

Having set the scene, director Geneva Guerin, co-founder of Canadian production company Cinécoop, cuts to a wide expanse: a climber scaling a rock face near the French–Swiss border. Francesca Stocker, the star of the film and then a PhD student at the University of Bern, narrates, relating the scientific method to rock climbing. Stocker and her fellow protagonists are engaging, and the film vividly captures the human spirit surrounding the birth of a modern particle-physics detector.

I don’t think it is possible to explain a neutrino for a general audience
Geneva Guerin

But the viewer is not allowed to settle for long in any one location. After zipping to CERN, and a tour through its corridors accompanied by eerie cello music, we meet Stocker in her home kitchen, explaining how she got interested in science as a child. Next, we hop to Federico Sánchez, spokesperson of the T2K experiment in Japan, explaining the basics of the Standard Model.

T2K, and its successor Hyper-Kamiokande, DUNE’s equal in ambition and scope, both feature in the one-hour-long film. But the focus is on the development of the prototype DUNE detector modules that have been designed, built and tested at the CERN Neutrino Platform – and here the film is at its best. Guerin had full access to protoDUNE activities, allowing her to immerse the viewer with the peculiar but oddly fitting accompaniment of a solo didgeridoo inside the protoDUNE cryostat. We gatecrash celebrations when the vessel was filled with liquid argon and the first test-beam tracks were recorded. The film focuses on detailed descriptions of the workings of TPCs and other parts of the apparatus rather than accessible explanations of the neutrino’s fascinating and mysterious nature. Unformatted plots and graphics are pulled from various sources. While authentic, this gives the film an unpolished, home-made feel.

Given the density of the exposition in some parts, beyond the most enthusiastic popular-science fans, Ghost Particle seems best tailored for physics students encountering experimental neutrino physics for the first time – a point that Guerin herself made during a live Q&A following the CineGlobe screening: “I was aiming at people like me – those who love science documentaries,” she told the capacity crowd. “Originally I envisaged a three-part series over a decade or more, but I realised that I don’t think it is possible to explain a neutrino for a general audience, so maybe it’s something for educational purposes, to help future generations get introduced to this exciting programme.”

The film ends as it began, with the rickety elevator continuing its 12-minute descent into the bowels of the Earth.

Exploding myths about antimatter

Antimatter captivates the popular imagination. Beatriz Gato-Rivera, a former CERN fellow in theoretical physics and now a researcher at the Spanish National Research Council, recently published a noteworthy book on the subject, entitled Antimatter: What It Is and Why It’s Important in Physics and Everyday Life. Substantially extending her text Antimateria, from the outreach collection “Qué Sabemos De”, this work will also be of interest to experts, thanks to well documented anecdotes of historical interest.

Gato-Rivera sets out with a detailed exploration of the differences between atoms and antiatoms, as well as of matter–antimatter annihilation, motivating the reader to delve into a fairly complete introduction to particle physics: the concepts that underpin the Standard Model, and some that lie beyond. She then focuses on diverse aspects of antimatter science, beginning with the differences between antimatter, dark matter and dark energy, and the different roles they play in the universe. This touches upon the observed accelerating expansion of the universe. In particular, Gato-Rivera discusses dark-matter and dark-energy candidates, attempts to detect dark matter and its relation to the fate of the universe. She also carefully explains the distinction between primordial and secondary antimatter, and their roles in cosmology.

Antimatter by Gato-Rivera — Credit: Springer

Next up, a historical chapter reviews the major landmarks of the discovery of antimatter particles, from elementary antiparticles to anti-hadrons, and anti-nuclei to antiatoms. In particular, the ground-breaking discovery of the first antiparticle, the positron, is described in excellent detail. In a separate appendix, Gato-Rivera passionately clears up a historical controversy about its discovery. The positron was first found in cosmic rays by Carl Anderson and later artificially produced en masse in particle accelerators. Gato-Rivera then turns to a detailed historical overview of cosmic-ray research, from balloon experiments to large-scale ground-based detectors, finally culminating in modern space-based detectors on board satellites and the ISS. The next chapter covers the production of antimatter by particle collisions in accelerators at high energies, including a brief history of the facilities at CERN.

The focus is then put on one of the most interesting and important conundrums in particle physics and astrophysics: the apparent huge asymmetry between matter and antimatter in the observed universe. This touches upon the processes of the primordial creation of matter and antimatter, and on the open question of whether anti-stars, or even anti-galaxies, could exist somewhere in the universe.

Gato-Rivera returns to Earth to discuss current experiments in particle physics such as those at CERN’s Antimatter Factory, asking whether antiatoms really have the same properties as atoms, at least as far as their excitation spectra and gravitational pull is concerned. The author doesn’t shy away from popular questions such as whether antimatter anti-gravitates and would float up away from Earth. While the answers to these questions are firmly predicted in theory, there could be surprises, like the discovery of CP violation in the 1950s, so it is important to actually test these fundamental properties.

Sceptical words dash hopes of using antimatter as an energy source

The book finishes by exploring practical uses of antimatter in everyday life, such as the use of PET scanners to detect positrons emitted from short-lived radioactive substances administered to patients. The same principle is also used in material analysis, for example to test the mechanical integrity of turbine blades. But sceptical words dash any hopes of using antimatter as an energy source: the effort of artificially producing a single gram of antimatter would be prohibitive.

Gato-Rivera’s semi-popular text is comprehensive and well structured, with a minimum of mathematical expressions and technicalities. It will be most profitable for a scientifically educated audience with an interest in particle physics, however, experienced researchers who are interested in the history of the subject will also enjoy reading it.

African physicists begin strategy process

The African Strategy for Fundamental and Applied Physics — **Fundamental and applied** Strategy subjects range from cosmology and computing to instrumentation and education. Credit: CERN/S Sioni/NASA/M Rayner

Africa’s science, innovation, education and research infrastructures have over the years been undervalued and under-resourced. This is particularly true in physics. The African Strategy for Fundamental and Applied Physics (ASFAP) initiative aims to define the education and physics priorities that can be most impactful for Africa. The first ASFAP community town hall was held from 12 to 15 July. The event was virtual, with 147 people participating, including international speakers and members of the ASFAP community. The purpose of the meeting was to initiate a broad and community-driven discussion and action programme, leading to a final strategy document in two to three years’ time.

The first day began with an overview of the ASFAP by Simon Connell (University of Johannesburg) on behalf of the steering committee and addresses by Shamila Nair-Bedouelle (UNESCO assistant director-general for natural sciences), Sarah Mbi Enow Anyang Agbor (African Union commissioner for human resources, science and technology) and Raissa Malu (member of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Presidential Panel to the African Union). These honoured guests encouraged delegates to establish a culture of gender balance in African physics. Later, in a dedicated forum for women in physics, Iroka Chidinma Joy (chief engineer at the National Space Research and Development Agency) noted that women are drastically underrepresented in scientific fields across the continent, and pointed out a number of cultural, religious and social barriers that prevent women from pursuing higher education. Barriers can come as early as primary education: in most cases, girls are not encouraged to take leading roles in conducting science experiments in classrooms. Improved strategies should include outreach, mentorship, dedicated funding for women, the removal of age limits for women wishing to conduct scientific research or further their education, and awards and recognition for women who excel in scientific fields.

Community-driven

Representatives of scientific organisations such as the African Physical Society, the Network of African Science Academies and the African Academy of Science all presented messages of support for ASFAP, and delegates from other regions, including Japan, China, India, Europe, the US and Latin America, all presented their regional strategies. The consensus is that strategic planning should be a bottom-up and community-driven process, even if this means it may take two to three years to produce a final report.

The meeting was updated on the progress of a diverse and well-established range of working groups (WGs) on accelerators, astrophysics and cosmology; computing and the fourth industrial revolution (4IR); energy needs for Africa; instrumentation and detectors; light sources; materials physics; medical physics; nuclear physics; particle physics; and community engagement (CE), which comprises physics education (PE), knowledge transfer, entrepreneurship and stakeholder and governmental-agency engagement. The WGs must also maintain dynamic communications with each other as key topics often impact multiple working groups.

Marie Clémentine Nibamureke (University of Johannesburg) highlighted the importance of the CE WG’s vision “to improve science education and research in African countries in order to position Africa as a co-leader in science research globally”. Convener Jamal Mimouni (Mentouri University) stressed that for ASFAP to establish a successful CE programme, it is crucial to reflect on challenges in teaching and learning physics in Africa – and on why students may be reluctant to choose physics as their study field. Nibamureke explained that the CE WG is seeking to appoint liaison officers between all the ASFAP working groups. Sam Ramaila (University of Johannesburg), representing the PE WG, indicated four main points the group has identified as crucial for the transformation and empowering of physics practices in Africa: strengthening teacher training; developing 21st-century skills and competences; introducing the 4IR in physics teaching and learning; and attracting and retaining students in physics programmes. Ramaila identified problem-based learning, self-directed learning and technology-enhanced learning as new educational strategies that could make a difference in Africa if applied more widely.

On the subject of youth engagement, Mounia Laassiri (Mohammed V University) led a young-person’s forum to discuss the major issues young African physicists face in their career progression: outreach, professional development and networking will be a central focus for this new forum going forwards, she explained, and the forum aims to encourage young physics researchers to take up leadership roles. So far, there are about 40 members of the young-people’s forum. Laassiri explained that the long-term vision, which goes beyond ASFAP, is to develop into an association of young physicists affiliated to the African Physical Society.

We are now soliciting inputs for the development of the African Strategy for Fundamental and Applied Physics

The ability to generate scientific innovation and technological knowledge, and translate this into new products, is vital for a society’s economic growth and development. The ASFAP is a key step towards unlocking Africa’s potential. We are now soliciting inputs for the development of the African Strategy for Fundamental and Applied Physics. Letters of interest may be submitted by individuals, research groups, professional societies, policymakers, education officials and research institutes on anything they think is an issue, needs to be improved, or is important for fundamental or applied physics education and research in Africa.

10th anniversary for HASCO school

The 10th International Summer School on Hadron Collider Physics (HASCO) took place at the University of Göttingen from 18 to 26 July. After more than a year of lockdown and social isolation, we wanted to again give our young students the opportunity to attend courses and ask questions in person, meet international students of similar age, and junior and senior scientists from the particle-physics community. The school welcomed 40 undergraduate students and lecturers virtually and 50 in person. For the latter group, a highlight was a historical walkabout to the private houses of Max Born, Werner Heisenberg, Emmy Noether, Maria Goeppert-Mayer, David Hilbert, Richard Courant, James Franck and Max Planck. Students spent a week in discussion with lecturers from the University of Göttingen, partner universities and CERN. The focus was on the fundamentals of quantum field theory and current issues in hadron-collider physics, including quantum chromodynamics and jets, statistical methods of data analysis, the top quark, supersymmetry and the Higgs boson. A special focus this year was on machine learning and artificial intelligence.

From sea quarks to sea shanties

Social media apps — **Web 2.0** Social media has turned into the cornerstone of science communication, with apps like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook becoming key players in reaching the general public

After being shown the app by her mother during lockdown, ATLAS physicist Clara Nellist downloaded TikTok and created her first two “shorts” in January this year. Jumping on a TikTok trend, the first saw her sing a CERN-themed sea shanty, while the second was an informal introduction to her page as she meandered around a park near the CERN site. Together, these two videos now total almost 600,000 views. Six months later, another ATLAS physicist, James Beacham, joined the platform, also with a quick introduction video explaining his work while using the ATLAS New Small Wheels as a backdrop. The video now has over 1.7 million views. With TikTok videos giving other social-media channels a run for their money, soon more of the high-energy physics community may want to join the rising media tide.

Surfing the wave

From blogs in the early 2000s through to Twitter and YouTube today, user-generated ‘Web 2.0’ platforms have allowed scientists to discuss their work and share their excitement directly. In the case of particle physics, researchers and their labs have never been within closer reach to the public, with a tour of the Large Hadron Collider always just a few clicks away. In 2005, as blogs were mushrooming, CERN and other players in particle physics joined forces to create Quantum Diaries. As the popularity of blogs began to dwindle towards the late noughties, CERN hopped on the next wave, joining YouTube in 2007 and Twitter in 2008 – at a time when public interest in the LHC was at its peak. CERN’s Twitter account currently boasts an impressive 2.5 million followers.

While joining later than some other laboratories, Fermilab caught onto a winning formula on YouTube, with physicist Don Lincoln fronting a long-standing educational series that began in 2011 and still runs today, attracting millions of views. Most major particle-physics laboratories also have a presence on Facebook and Instagram, with CERN joining the platforms in 2011 and 2014 respectively, not to mention LinkedIn, where CERN also possesses a significant following.

Particle physics laboratories are yet to launch themselves on TikTok. But that hasn’t stopped others from creating videos about particle physics, and not always “on message”. Type ‘CERN’ into the TikTok search bar and you are met with almost a 50/50 mix of informative videos and conspiracy theories – and even then, some of the former are merely debunking the latter. Is it time for institutions to get in on the trend?

Rising to the moment

Nellist, who has 123,000 followers on TikTok after less than nine months on the site, believes that it’s the human aspect and uniqueness of her content that has caused the quick success. “I started because I wanted to humanise science – people don’t realise that normal humans work at CERN. When I started there was nobody else at CERN doing it.” Beacham also uses CERN as a way of capturing attention, as illustrated in his weekly livestreams to his 230,000 followers. “If someone is scrolling and sees someone sitting in a DUNE cryostat discussing science, they’re going to stop and check it out,” he says. Beacham sees himself as a filmmaker, rather than a “TikTok-er”, and flexes his bachelor’s degree in film studies with longer form videos that take him across the CERN campus. “There is a desire on TikTok to know about CERN,” he says.

**New communication** A screenshot from of Clara Nellist’s TikTok account (@particleclara), where she is discussing the new tetraquark discovered by LHCb earlier this year Credit: TikTok

TikTok is different to other social-media platforms in several ways, one being incompatibility. While a single piece of media such as a video can be shared across YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc., this same media would not work on TikTok. Videos can also only be a maximum of three minutes, although the majority are shorter. This encourages concise productions, with a lot of information put across in a short period of time. Arguably the biggest difference is that TikTok insists that every video is in portrait mode – creating a feeling of authenticity and an intimate environment. YouTube and Instagram are now following suit with their portrait-mode ‘YouTube Shorts’, and ‘Instagram Reels’ respectively, with CERN already using the latter to create quick and informative clips that have attracted large audiences.

Nellist and Beacham, both engaging physicists in their own right who the viewer feels they can trust, create a perfect blend for TikTok. While there are some topics that will always generate more interest, they have a core audience that consistently returns for all videos. This gives a strong sense of editorial freedom, says Nellist. “While it is important to be aware of views, I get to make what I want.”

Changing demographics

When CERN joined Twitter in 2008, says James Gillies, head of CERN communications at the time, young people were a key factor as CERN tried to maximise its digital footprint. But things have changed since then. It is estimated that there are over 1 billion active TikTok users per month, and according to data firm Statista, in the US almost 50% of them are aged 30 and under, with other reports stating that up to 32.5% of users are between the ages of 10 and 19. Statista also estimates that only 24% of today’s Twitter users are under 25 – the so-called ‘Gen-Z’ who will fund and possibly work on future colliders.

If you want to lead the conversation, you have to be part of it
James Gillies

Another reason for CERN to enter the Twitter-verse (and which facilitated the creation of Quantum Diaries), says Gillies, was to allow CERN to take their communication into their own hands. Although Nellist and Beacham are already encouraging this discussion on TikTok, they are not official CERN communication channels. Were they to decide to stop or talk about different topics, it would be hard to find any positive high-energy physics discussions on the most popular app on the planet.

Whilst Nellist believes CERN should be joining the platform, she urges that someone “who knows about it” should be dedicated to creating the content, as it is obvious to TikTok audiences when someone doesn’t understand it. Beacham states, “humans don’t respond to ideas as much as they respond to people.” Creators have their own unique styles and personalities that the viewers enjoy. So, if a large institution were to join, how would it create this personal environment?

**Impressive views** A still from James Beacham’s TikTok account (@jbbeacham), where he is teasing his livestream that took place in the DUNE cryostat. Credit: TikTok

The ATLAS experiment is currently the only particle-physics experiment to be found on the platform. The content is less face-to-face and more focused on showing the detector and how it works – similar in style to a CERN Instagram story. Despite being active for a similar amount of time as Nellist and Beacham, however, the account has significantly fewer followers. Nellist, who runs the ATLAS TikTok account, thinks there is room for both personal and institutional creators on the platform, though the content should be different. Beacham agrees, stating that it should show individual scientists expressing information in an off-the-cuff way. “There is a huge opportunity to do something great with it, there are thousands of things you could do. There are amazing visuals that CERN is capable of creating that can grab a viewer’s attention.”

Keeping up

There may be some who scoff at the idea of CERN joining a platform that has a public image of creating dance crazes rather than educational content. It is easy to forget that when first established, YouTube was seen as the place for funny cat videos, while Twitter was viewed as an unnecessary platform for people to tell others what they had for breakfast. Now these two platforms are the only reason some may know CERN exists, and unfortunately, not always for the right reasons.

Social media gives physicists and laboratories the opportunity to contact and influence audiences more directly than traditional channels. The challenge is to keep up with the pace of change. It’s clearly early days for a platform that only took off in 2018. Even NASA, which has the largest number of social-media followers of any scientific institution, is yet to launch an official TikTok channel. But, says Gillies, “If you want to lead the conversation, you have to be part of it.”

Rare isotopes aplenty at FRIB

The 400 kW SRF linac — **Going straight** At the heart of the FRIB scientific programme is the 400 kW SRF linac. The heavy-ion accelerator comprises 46 cryomodules, assembled in-house by FRIB staff from industry-supplied components. Credit: FRIB

The $730 million Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) at Michigan State University (MSU) is scheduled to come online in early 2022 – a game-changer in every sense for the US and international nuclear-physics communities. With peer review and approval of the first round of experimental proposals now complete, an initial cohort of scientists from 25 countries is making final preparations to exploit FRIB’s unique capabilities. Their goal: to open up new frontiers in the fundamental study of rare and unstable isotopes as well as identifying promising candidate isotopes for real-world applications.

The engine-room of the FRIB scientific programme is an all-new 400 kW superconducting radiofrequency (SRF) linac. In short: the world’s most powerful heavy-ion driver accelerator, firing beams of stable isotopes at targets of heavier nuclei (for example, carbon or beryllium). Amid the chaos of flying particles, two nuclei will occasionally collide, fusing to form a rare and unstable isotope – a process that ultimately delivers high-intensity beams of rare isotopes to FRIB’s experimental end-stations and a suite of scientific instruments.

Funded by the US Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE-SC), and supported by MSU cost-share and contributions, FRIB will operate as a traditional big-science user facility, with beam-time granted via merit review of proposals and access open to all interested researchers. Here, FRIB’s scientific director, Bradley Sherrill, tells CERN Courier how the laboratory is gearing up for “go-live” and the importance of wide-ranging engagement with the international user community, industry and other rare-isotope facilities.

What are the overarching objectives of the FRIB scientific mission?

**Bradley Sherrill**, FRIB scientific director: “Developing the talent pipeline is part of the organisational DNA at FRIB.” Credit: MSU

There are four main strands to the FRIB science programme. For starters, user experiments will generate a wealth of data to advance our understanding of the nucleus – how it’s put together and how we can develop theoretical nuclear models and their approximations. At the same time, the research programme will yield unique insights on the origins of the chemical elements in the universe, providing access to most of the rare isotopes involved in extreme astrophysical processes such as supernovae and neutron-star mergers. Other scientists, meanwhile, will use isotopes produced at FRIB to devise experiments that look beyond the Standard Model, searching for subtle indications of hidden interactions and minutely broken symmetries. Finally, FRIB will generate research quantities of rare isotopes to feed into R&D efforts on next-generation applications – from functional medical imaging to safer nuclear reactors and advanced detector technologies.

What is FRIB’s biggest differentiator?

The 400 kW SRF linac is the heart of FRIB’s value proposition to the research community, opening up access to a much broader spectrum of rare isotopes than hitherto possible – in fact, approximately 80% of the isotopes predicted to exist. It is worth noting, though, that FRIB does not exist in isolation. It’s part of a global research ecosystem, with a network of collaborations ongoing with other rare-isotope facilities – among them RIKEN’s RI Beam Factory in Japan, RAON in Korea, ISOLDE at CERN, FAIR in Germany, GANIL in France and ISAC at TRIUMF in Canada. Collectively, FRIB and this global network of laboratories are well placed to deliver unprecedented – and complementary – advances across the nuclear-science landscape over the coming decades.

Is it realistic to expect broader commercial opportunities to emerge from FRIB’s research programme?

There’s a high likelihood of FRIB yielding spin-off technologies and commercial applications down the line. One of the game-changers with FRIB is the quantities of rare isotopes the beamline can produce with high efficiency – a production scheme that enables us to make a broad swathe of isotopes relatively quickly and with high purity. That capability, in turn, will enable potential early-adopters in industry to fast-track the evaluation of novel applications and, where appropriate, to figure out how to produce the isotopes of interest at scale (see “FRIB’s bumper harvest will fuel applied science and innovation”).

How is FRIB engaging with the scientific user community across academia, industry and government agencies?

FRIB enjoys strong links with its future users – both here in the US and internationally – and meets with them regularly at planning events to identify and coordinate research opportunities. Earlier this year, in response to our first call for proposals, we received 82 project submissions and six letters of intent from 130 institutions across 30 countries. Those science proposals were subsequently peer-reviewed by the FRIB Programme Advisory Committee (PAC), an international group of nuclear science experts which I convene, to yield an initial set of experiments that will get underway once FRIB commences user operations in early 2022.

Those PAC-recommended experiments align with national science priorities across the four FRIB priority areas: properties of rare isotopes; nuclear astrophysics; fundamental interactions; and applications for society. The headline numbers saw 34 (out of 82 requested) experiments approved with a projected 4122 facility-use hours. There are 88 institutions, 24 US states and 25 countries represented in the initial experimental programme.

FRIB’s bumper harvest will fuel applied science and innovation

An excess of useful radioisotopes will be formed as FRIB fulfils its basic science mission of providing rare-isotope beams to feed a broad-scope international user programme. For the FRIB beams to reach high purity, though, the vast majority of these “surplus” isotopes will end up discarded in a water-filled beam dump – stranded assets that go unused and remain largely unexplored.

With this in mind, the DOE-SC Office of Nuclear Physics, through the DOE Isotope Programme, has awarded FRIB scientists $13 million in funding over the next four years to build up FRIB’s isotope harvesting capabilities. The hope is that systematic recovery of the surplus isotopes – without impacting FRIB’s primary users – could open up novel lines of enquiry in applied research – from biochemistry to nuclear medicine, and from radiothermal generators to nuclear-weapons stockpile stewardship.

“This grant is about broadening the scientific impact of FRIB,” says Greg Severin, lead investigator for the harvesting project at FRIB. “While physicists at FRIB are making ground-breaking fundamental discoveries, our team will be supporting exciting opportunities in applied science.”

In 2018, the DOE-SC awarded Severin and colleagues an initial grant to prove that isotope harvesting is feasible. Their proof-of-concept involved building a small-scale isotope harvester in FRIB’s predecessor, the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at MSU.

Now, with follow-on funding secured, Severin’s team is scaling up, with construction of a dedicated Isotope Harvesting Vault at FRIB in the works and set for completion in 2024.

See also “Isotope harvesting at FRIB: additional opportunities for scientific discovery” (J. Phys. G: Nucl. Part. Phys. 2019 46 100501).

What are the opportunities for early-career scientists and engineers at FRIB?

Developing the talent pipeline is part of the organisational DNA here at FRIB. There’s a structured educational framework to pass on the expertise and experience of senior FRIB staff to the next generation of researchers, engineers and technicians in nuclear science. MSU’s Accelerator Science and Engineering Traineeship (ASET) programme is a case in point. ASET leverages multidisciplinary expertise from FRIB and MSU colleagues to support specialisation in four key areas: physics and engineering of large accelerators; SRF technology; radiofrequency power engineering; and large-scale cryogenic systems.

There’s a high likelihood of FRIB yielding new spin-off technologies as well as commercial applications

Many MSU ASET students supplement their courses through participation in the US Particle Accelerator School, a national programme that provides graduate-level training and workforce development in the science of particle beams and associated accelerator technologies. At a more specialist level, there’s also the MSU Cryogenic Initiative, a unique educational collaboration between the university’s college of engineering and FRIB’s cryogenics team. Meanwhile, we continue to prioritise development of a more diverse workforce, partnering with several academic institutions that traditionally serve under-represented groups to broaden participation in the FRIB programme.

In what ways does FRIB ensure a best-practice approach to facilities management?

Sustainability and continuous improvement underpin all FRIB working practices. We are an ISO14001-registered organisation, which means we measure ourselves against an international standard specifying requirements for effective environmental management. That’s reflected, for example, in our use of energy-efficient superconducting technologies, and also our efforts to minimise any helium wastage through an exhaustive capture, recovery and reuse scheme within FRIB’s cryogenic plant.

We also have an ISO 9001-registered quality management system that guides how we address scientific user needs; an ISO 45001-registered occupational health and safety management system to keep our workers safe; and an ISO 27001-registered information security management system.

How important is FRIB’s relationship with industry?

Our strategic partnerships with industry are also significant in driving organisational efficiencies. The use of standard industry components wherever possible reduces maintenance and training requirements, minimises the need for expensive product inventory, and lowers our operational costs. We engage with manufacturers on a co-development basis, fast-tracking innovation and knowledge transfer so that they are able to produce core enabling technologies for FRIB at scale – whether that’s accelerator cavities, superconducting magnets, or vacuum and cryogenic subsystems.

On your way to Cyclotron Road?

**Rachel Slaybaugh**, Cyclotron Road division director: “Cyclotron Road fellows are collaborative team players by default.” Credit: LBNL

Entrepreneurial scientists and engineers take note: the next round of applications to Cyclotron Road’s two-year fellowship programme will open in the fourth quarter, offering a funded path for early-stage start-ups in “hard tech” (i.e. physical hardware rather than software) to fast-track development of their applied research innovations. Now in its sixth year, Cyclotron Road is a division of the US Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley, California) and is run in partnership with non-profit Activate, a specialist provider of entrepreneurship education and training.

Successful applicants who navigate the rigorous merit-review process will receive $100,000 of research support for their project as well as a stipend, health insurance and access to Berkeley Lab’s world-class research facilities and scientific expertise. CERN Courier gets the elevator pitch from Rachel Slaybaugh, Cyclotron Road division director.

Summarise your objectives for Cyclotron Road

Our mission is to empower science innovators to develop their ideas from concept to first product, positioning them for broad societal impact in the long term. We create the space for fellows to commercialise their ideas by giving them direct access to the world-leading scientists and facilities at Berkeley Lab. Crucially, we reinforce that support with a parallel curriculum of specialist entrepreneurship education from our programme partner Activate.

What are the benefits of embedding the fellowship programme at Berkeley Lab?

Cyclotron Road is not a one-size-fits-all programme, so the benefits vary from fellow to fellow. Some of the fellows and their teams only loosely make use of Berkeley Lab services, while others will embed in a staff scientist’s lab and engage in close collaborative R&D work. The value proposition is that our fellows have access to Berkeley Lab and its resources but can choose what model works best for them. It seems to work: since 2015, Cyclotron Road fellows have collaborated with more than 70 Berkeley Lab scientists, while the organisations they’ve founded have collectively raised more than $360 million in follow-on funding.

What do you look for in prospective Cyclotron Road fellows?

We want smart, talented individuals with a passion to develop and grow their own early-stage hard-tech venture. Adaptability is key: Cyclotron Road fellows need to have the technical and intellectual capability to pivot their business plan if needed. As such, our fellows are collaborative team players by default, coachable and hungry to learn. They don’t need to take all the advice they’re given in the programme, but they do need to be open-minded and willing to listen to a range of viewpoints regarding technology innovation and commercial positioning.

Explain the role of Activate in the professional development of fellows

Activate is an essential partner in the Cyclotron Road mission. Its team handles the parallel programme of entrepreneurship education, including an onboarding bootcamp, weekly mentoring and quarterly “deep-dives” on all aspects of technology and business development. The goal is to turn today’s talented scientists and engineers into tomorrow’s technology CEOs and CTOs. Activate also has staff to curate strategic relationships for our fellows, helping start-ups connect with investors, industry partners and equipment suppliers. That’s reinforced by the opportunity to link up with the amazing companies in Cyclotron Road’s alumni network.

How does Cyclotron Road benefit Berkeley Lab?

There are several upsides. We’re bringing entrepreneurship and commercial thinking into the lab, helping Berkeley scientists build bridges with these new technology companies – and the innovators driving them. That has paybacks in terms of future funding proposals, giving our researchers a better understanding of how to position their research from an applications perspective. The knowledge transfer between Cyclotron Road fellows and Berkeley Lab scientists is very much a two-way process: while fellows progress their commercial ideas, they are often sparking new lines of enquiry among their collaborators here at Berkeley Lab.

How are you broadening participation?

Fellows receive a yearly living stipend of $80,000 to $110,000, health insurance, a relocation stipend and a travel allowance – all of which means they’re able to focus full-time on their R&D. Our priority is to engage a diverse community of researchers – not just those individuals who already have a high net worth or access to a friends-and-family funding round. We’re building links with universities and labs outside the traditional technology hot-spots like Silicon Valley, Boston and Seattle, as well as engaging institutions that serve under-represented minorities. Worth adding that Cyclotron Road welcomes international applicants in a position to relocate to California for two years.

Further information on the Cyclotron Road fellowship programme: https://cyclotronroad.lbl.gov/.

Arthur M Poskanzer 1931–2021

Arthur M (Art) Poskanzer, distinguished senior scientist emeritus at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), passed away peacefully on 30 June 2021, two days after his 90th birthday. Art had a distinguished career in nuclear physics and chemistry. He made important discoveries of the properties of unstable nuclei and was a pioneer in the study of nuclear collisions at very high energies.

Born in New York City, Art received his degree in physics and chemistry from Harvard in 1953, an MA from Columbia in 1954, and a PhD in Chemistry from MIT in 1957 under Charles D Coryell. He spent the first part of his career studying the properties of nuclei far from stability produced in high-energy proton collisions. After graduating from MIT, he joined Gerhard Friedlander’s group at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), which was using the Cosmotron to produce beta-delayed proton emitters and neutron-rich light nuclei. In 1966 he moved to the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory (now LBNL) and continued to study nuclei far from stability at the Bevatron in collaboration with Earl Hyde, Joe Cerny and others. He also began his long connection to research in Europe as a Guggenheim fellow at Orsay in 1970–1971, during which he worked with Robert Klapisch’s group on a ground-breaking experiment at the CERN Proton Synchrotron measuring the masses of sodium isotopes.

Soon after Art’s return to Berkeley, beams from the SuperHILAC were injected into the Bevatron, creating the Bevalac, the world’s first high-energy nuclear accelerator. Together with Hans Gutbrod he led the Plastic Ball Project. Analysis of its data in 1984 by Art and Hans Georg Ritter identified directed flow, the first definitive demonstration of the collective behaviour of nuclear matter in nuclear collisions. In 1986 the experiment was moved to CERN and the collaboration with GSI continued with a series of experiments at the Super Proton Synchrotron. During these years, Art made two more extended visits to CERN as a Senior Alexander von Humbold Fellow: first in 1986–1987 working on the WA80 experiment, and then in 1995–1996 on NA49.

From 1990 to 1995 Art was the founding head of LBNL’s relativistic nuclear collisions programme, bringing together local groups to plan an experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) under construction at BNL. This resulted in the proposal for STAR, one of the two large multi-purpose RHIC detectors. Art stepped down as programme head in 1995 and returned to research, authoring a seminal paper with Sergey Voloshin on methods for flow analysis and leading the measurement of elliptic flow by STAR. After his retirement in 2002, he remained active for a further decade, leading the successful search for higher order flow components at STAR, and enthusiastically mentoring many postdocs and young scientists.

Art was a well-known and well-loved member of the heavy-ion community. For his work on nuclei far from stability, he was awarded the Nuclear Chemistry Prize of the American Chemical Society in 1980. For the discovery of collective flow, he was awarded the Tom Bonner Prize of the American Physical Society in 2008. This rare “double” is a lasting tribute to his half-century career at the frontiers of nuclear science.

Science Gateway under construction

Science Gateway foundation stone — **First stone** (from left) Architect Renzo Piano, CERN Director-General Fabiola Gianotti, Geneva state councillor Antonio Hodgers and chairman of Stellantis and the FCA Foundation (the main donor) John Elkann with the symbolic foundation stone, adorned with the newly unveiled Science Gateway logo. Credit: M Brice/CERN

On 21 June, officials and journalists gathered at CERN to mark “first stone” for Science Gateway, CERN’s new flagship project for science education and outreach. Due to open in 2023, Science Gateway will increase CERN’s capacity to welcome visitors of all ages from near and afar. Hundreds of thousands of people per year will have the opportunity to engage with CERN’s discoveries and technology, guided by the people who make it possible.

The project has environmental sustainability at its core. Designed by renowned architect Renzo Piano, the carbon-neutral building will bridge the Route de Meyrin and be surrounded by a freshly planted 400-tree forest. Its five linked pavilions will feature a 900-seat auditorium, immersive spaces, laboratories for hands-on activities for visitors from age five upwards, and many other interactive learning opportunities.

“I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the many partners in our Member and Associate Member States and beyond who are making the CERN Science Gateway possible, in particular to our generous donors,” said CERN Director-General Fabiola Gianotti during her opening speech. “We want the CERN Science Gateway to inspire all those who come to visit with the beauty and the values of science.”

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