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HiLumi News: New CERN niobium–tin magnet energises the HL-LHC programme

The magnet programme is one of the keystones of the HL-LHC project. At its heart is the development of triplet quadrupole magnets, which will focus the very intense beam around the collision points at ATLAS and CMS. The niobium–tin compound from which the coils are built allows them to reach the 12 T magnetic fields required by the HL-LHC.

Despite the complexity of Nb3Sn coils and magnet manufacturing, as of early 2023, the technology is being validated for use inside particle accelerators. Twenty 4.2-metre-long magnets (MQXFA) are being produced in the United States – seven of which have successfully passed their individual tests and will be assembled two by two in cold masses as an in-kind contribution to the HL-LHC.

The third prototype of the longer version of the magnet developed at CERN (MQXFBP3, 7.2-m-long) was the first to reach nominal current, plus an operational margin, in a test carried out in late 2022. After this success, the results of the months-long test of its successor, MQXFB02, had teams across the HL-LHC project celebrating: not only does this new magnet also reach nominal current plus operational margin, but it does so with a larger temperature margin. Moreover, it demonstrated resilience in an endurance test to simulate its long-term behaviour in the HL-LHC. A similar test was carried out on a US magnet in 2022.

MQXFB02 is the fruit of the second leg of the “three-leg” strategy that was implemented after performance limitations were observed in the first two MQXFB prototypes. This second leg involved technical improvements in the magnet assembly to eliminate the coil overstress during keying and bladdering operations. Powering for the test started in November 2022 and ended at the beginning of March this year. 

(Image: CERN)

The quadrupole magnet reached nominal current, plus a 300 A operational margin (16.53 kA), with two quenches at 1.9 K in the first powering cycle. At 4.5 K, it quenched at nominal current plus 200 A, thus proving a temperature margin of ~2.7 K. This performance limitation is similar to that observed in the first three prototypes, but at a higher current level. The magnet’s resilience was assessed through three warm-up and cool-down cycles, which all reached nominal current at 1.9 K without quenches. Over more than three months of testing, a total of 500 powering cycles and 48 high current quenches, both provoked and spontaneous, were performed – none of them caused performance degradation. This combination of performance and resilience is the base of the acceptance criteria for operation in the HL-LHC.

Given these good results, the magnet will be recovered from its cold mass and, in April 2023, a new cold mass will be manufactured, including, this time, a nested corrector from the CIEMAT collaboration. The cold mass will then be tested again, in its final configuration, in SM18 in 2024.

anschaef Tue, 03/21/2023 - 13:58 Publication Date Tue, 03/21/2023 - 13:56

Computer Security: Upcoming password considerations

Protecting your password is of the utmost importance, as that password grants or denies access to your computing account and, with it, access to your private life, your work and all the data you value most. While the CERN Computer Security team does its best to identify exposed and disclosed passwords and to figure out anomalies in your login patterns, the time has come to improve even further.

Today, your CERN password is the only protection against unauthorised attackers seeking to access CERN’s plethora of web services. If your password was lost, exposed or stolen by such a malicious evil, there would be severe consequences for the operation of CERN’s accelerators, experiments and IT infrastructures. It’s therefore vital that your password itself be as protected as possible. The deployment of so-called two-factor authentication provides, for example, silver-bullet protection for your CERN account. But two-factor authentication might not be enough.

Therefore, on the first day of next month, the Computer Security group and the identity management team are planning to:

• Enforce password resets for passwords that are also used by someone else at CERN, and we’ll let you know who that was so you can check for other areas of interest (“This password is already used by user stefan24. Please try a different one.”);
• Provide more password creativity assistance by employing Microsoft’s MathGPT tool to distinguish between weak (“ n→p+e-+v ”) and strong (“ Δ0→p+π- ”) passwords;
• Require that passwords are typed using the “Courier New” or “Comic Sans MS” fonts only. That will it make harder for phishers to replay your password;
• Enforce two-factor authentication for anyone who fell for the annual clicking campaigns in 2020, 2021 or 2022. Discussions are ongoing at the management level as to whether those people should even be denied access to all CERN computing resources forever;
• Introduce an additional two-factor authentication method requiring simultaneous login to Google Workspace as well as Microsoft’s Azure AD within a time window of one minute (the latter value is still subject to fine-tuning);
• Investigate together with the HSE unit and, in particular, the Medical Service the feasibility of deploying three-factor authentication throughout CERN. Besides the usual factors “something you know” (i.e. passwords) and “something you have” (a hardware token like your smartphone), both of which are already used today, the third factor would be “something you are” and would be based on probing your DNA/blood sample;
• Create a dedicated “CQCB” API for high-frequency and, thus, resource-consuming remote access requests, which led in the past to denial of service and service blockage;
• Add the new “ZoomID” authentication feature to the CERN Single Sign-On portal. “ZoomID” allows you to log in using your facial characteristics (like Face ID on Apple devices). The registration portal will open soon.

Once again, protecting your password is paramount to protect your work at CERN, CERN’s accelerators, experiments and IT infrastructure, and the Organization’s data against any malicious evil. Given the difficulties and resistance we faced when deploying two-factor authentication to certain “critical” communities at CERN, we believe these new measures will further improve the ease and fun of signing into CERN while delivering the best possible level of account protection.

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Do you want to learn more about computer security incidents and issues at CERN? Follow our Monthly Report. For further information, questions or help, check our website or contact us at Computer.Security@cern.ch.

anschaef Tue, 03/21/2023 - 13:32 Byline Computer Security team Publication Date Tue, 03/21/2023 - 13:07

Beware the deaf threat: noise awareness campaign

Noise in the workplace is an occupational hazard that, besides affecting your hearing, can also cause fatigue, stress, sleeping difficulties and cardiovascular disorders and diminish the quality of your work. Certain noise levels can affect concentration, hinder verbal exchange or prevent workers from perceiving warning signs. We all differ in our sensitivity to noise levels: one person can feel auditory discomfort at a noise level that might not disturb others.

Being frequently exposed to loud noise puts us at risk of irreversible hearing loss. In most cases, victims of hearing loss suffer damage during their youth but only feel the consequences on a daily basis much later, when age-related deafness may compound it. By the age of 60, it can be so pronounced that subjects may no longer be able to follow a conversation. Although hearing aids provide valuable support, they can never replace the human ear.

CERN has defined rules that limit the risk of exposure to noise at work, such as the General Safety Instruction on the Protection of Workers against Noise. The corresponding exposure and action limits and the associated actions defined in CERN’s Safety Guideline on Noise are primarily designed to prevent the risk of hearing loss. Hearing is considered to be at risk from a level of 80 decibels during an eight-hour working day. If the instantaneous level is extremely high (over 135 decibels), any exposure, even of very short duration, is dangerous.

Anyone likely to be exposed to noise in their workplace should, together with their supervisor, check the risk exposure level. When all means of collective protection against noise have been exhausted, personal protective equipment (PPE) should be used. For PPE to be effective, it needs to sufficiently attenuate the noise to which one is exposed, be as comfortable as possible and be worn before entering and at all times during work in the noisy area. PPE should be removed only after leaving the area. The range of hearing-related PPE available in the CERN stores catalogue has been selected based on the advice of the CERN Medical Service and the acoustics specialist in the HSE unit.

The HSE unit has also established a map of qualitative noise risk levels in CERN buildings. The map is available on the GIS Portal*.

Noise is all around us and, to raise awareness about its impact and how to mitigate it, the Medical Service and the HSE acoustics expert are launching an information campaign. This will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 28 and 30 March and 4 April, at Restaurant 1, Building 774 and Restaurant 2, respectively. Come along to find out more!

For more information and resources concerning noise in the workplace, please visit the HSE webpage: https://hse.cern/safety-risks/noise.

______   * To access the noise map: click on the “Data” tab > “Thematic Map” > “Safety Management” > “Noise Risk”. anschaef Tue, 03/21/2023 - 12:55 Byline HSE unit Publication Date Tue, 03/21/2023 - 12:50

Beam Gas Curtain: a new instrument for LHC Run 3

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will be restarted on 27 March 2023 following its year-end technical stop. During this stop, new instruments were installed in the LHC tunnel, including the Beam Gas Curtain (BGC).

After ten years of development, the BGC will start taking data on the LHC’s proton beam this year during Run 3. It will provide precise 2D images of the alignment of the proton beams, making data taking more precise. The BGC instrument was designed for the high-luminosity upgrade of the LHC as part of a collaboration between CERN’s Beam Instrumentation group, Liverpool University, the Cockcroft Institute and GSI.

Watch an animation of how the BGC works below:

 

ckrishna Tue, 03/21/2023 - 11:54 Byline Chetna Krishna Publication Date Tue, 03/21/2023 - 13:00

First-stone ceremony of the CERN Library renovation

On Monday, 6 March 2023, the Scientific Information Service (RCS-SIS) and the Site and Civil Engineering department (SCE) celebrated the first-stone ceremony of the CERN Library renovation.

Members of the Scientific Information Policy Board, the library renovation project team and current and former SIS colleagues joined the ceremony at the construction site. Speeches by Mar Capeans, Head of the SCE department, and Joachim Mnich, Director for Research and Computing (RCS), emphasised the importance of the library as a physical space in today’s world, and the value of collaboration across CERN departments. This was followed by a moving speech by Christiane Standley, who shared memories of her life-long career as a CERN librarian and reminded guests of the importance of peace in Europe.

A time capsule was inserted into the new wall replacing the previous entrance. This capsule contains photos of the library over the years, personal messages from a range of library users and librarians, as well as the key holder used to open the old library desk. The time capsule is now sealed inside the wall for future generations to discover.

The CERN Library team looks forward to serving the CERN community in the renovated premises in autumn 2023. In the meantime, you can find the temporary library in 3/1-015 or send your requests by e-mail to library.desk@cern.ch.

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See more photos of the event on: https://cds.cern.ch/record/2851660.

anschaef Tue, 03/21/2023 - 11:12 Byline CERN Library Publication Date Tue, 03/21/2023 - 11:07

CERN openlab holds annual technical workshop and announces new leader

Last week, CERN openlab held its annual technical workshop at CERN. CERN openlab is a unique public–private partnership between CERN and leading tech companies, which works to drive innovation in the computing technologies needed by CERN’s research community.

The ambitious upgrade programme for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) poses significant computing challenges. When the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) comes online in 2029, around ten times the computing capacity of today will be required. Simply spending more money to buy more equipment isn’t an option; instead, IT experts across CERN are finding ways to work smarter.

CERN openlab is central to this work. Today, 30 R&D projects are carried out through this collaboration, addressing challenges related to the next generation of supercomputers, known as “exascale”; artificial intelligence (AI); and quantum computing. CERN openlab also runs projects aimed at sharing knowledge and expertise with research communities beyond particle physics. All these projects were presented at the two-day technical workshop, which was held in the CERN Council Chamber.

The event was attended by 145 people (in person and online), including representatives of member companies Intel, Oracle, Siemens, Micron, Google, IBM, Roche and Comtrade. As well as discussing ongoing projects, the workshop provided an excellent opportunity for considering emerging challenges and identifying opportunities for mutually beneficial collaboration.

At the event, Maria Girone was announced as the new head of CERN openlab. Girone, who has served as CERN openlab’s Chief Technology Officer since 2016, recently received a prestigious Italian award and founded the Swiss chapter of the Women in High-Performance Computing advocacy group.

Alberto Di Meglio, who has served as the head of CERN openlab since 2013, is now responsible for running CERN IT’s new Innovation section. This section, created as part of the CERN IT department’s new strategy, includes CERN openlab, the CERN Quantum Technology Initiative, and IT-related projects funded by the European Commission.

At the workshop, Di Meglio presented the CERN IT department’s new Innovation Roadmap, which will be published in June. This roadmap addresses five main objectives:

1. Introduce heterogeneous computing infrastructures and software-engineering services/tools;
2. Scale up data management, data storage and databases towards the requirements of the HL-LHC;
3. Support the introduction of AI technologies in the community;
4. Keep the CERN IT department at the forefront of R&D;
5. Enable open science and boost CERN’s positive impact on society.

“CERN openlab has played an important role in making sure CERN’s computing infrastructure is ready to meet the challenges of LHC Run 3,” says Di Meglio. “This roadmap will set out how the CERN IT department will help drive the innovation needed to meet the massive computing challenges posed by the HL-LHC.”

“I would like to thank Alberto for his excellent stewardship of CERN openlab over the past decade,” says Enrica Porcari, head of the CERN IT department. “During his time, the collaboration has roughly trebled in size, with CERN openlab also growing to include collaborations involving other research organisations. There has also been significant growth in the popular CERN openlab Summer Student programme.”

“I am looking forward to establishing new collaborations and exploring new, emerging technologies through CERN openlab,” says Girone. “This workshop, the first we have held in person at CERN since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, was an excellent way to get this work started.”

abelchio Mon, 03/20/2023 - 14:33 Byline Andrew Purcell Publication Date Mon, 03/20/2023 - 14:29

CERN openlab holds annual technical workshop and announces new leader

Last week, CERN openlab held its annual technical workshop at CERN. CERN openlab is a unique public–private partnership between CERN and leading tech companies, which works to drive innovation in the computing technologies needed by CERN’s research community.

The ambitious upgrade programme for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) poses significant computing challenges. When the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) comes online in 2029, around ten times the computing capacity of today will be required. Simply spending more money to buy more equipment isn’t an option; instead, IT experts across CERN are finding ways to work smarter.

CERN openlab is central to this work. Today, 30 R&D projects are carried out through this collaboration, addressing challenges related to the next generation of supercomputers, known as “exascale”; artificial intelligence (AI); and quantum computing. CERN openlab also runs projects aimed at sharing knowledge and expertise with research communities beyond particle physics. All these projects were presented at the two-day technical workshop, which was held in the CERN Council Chamber.

The event was attended by 145 people (in person and online), including representatives of member companies Intel, Oracle, Siemens, Micron, Google, IBM, Roche and Comtrade. As well as discussing ongoing projects, the workshop provided an excellent opportunity for considering emerging challenges and identifying opportunities for mutually beneficial collaboration.

At the event, Maria Girone was announced as the new head of CERN openlab. Girone, who has served as CERN openlab’s Chief Technology Officer since 2016, recently received a prestigious Italian award and founded the Swiss chapter of the Women in High-Performance Computing advocacy group.

Alberto Di Meglio, who has served as the head of CERN openlab since 2013, is now responsible for running CERN IT’s new Innovation section. This section, created as part of the CERN IT department’s new strategy, includes CERN openlab, the CERN Quantum Technology Initiative, and IT-related projects funded by the European Commission.

At the workshop, Di Meglio presented the CERN IT department’s new Innovation Roadmap, which will be published in June. This roadmap addresses five main objectives:

1. Introduce heterogeneous computing infrastructures and software-engineering services/tools;
2. Scale up data management, data storage and databases towards the requirements of the HL-LHC;
3. Support the introduction of AI technologies in the community;
4. Keep the CERN IT department at the forefront of R&D;
5. Enable open science and boost CERN’s positive impact on society.

“CERN openlab has played an important role in making sure CERN’s computing infrastructure is ready to meet the challenges of LHC Run 3,” says Di Meglio. “This roadmap will set out how the CERN IT department will help drive the innovation needed to meet the massive computing challenges posed by the HL-LHC.”

“I would like to thank Alberto for his excellent stewardship of CERN openlab over the past decade,” says Enrica Porcari, head of the CERN IT department. “During his time, the collaboration has roughly trebled in size, with CERN openlab also growing to include collaborations involving other research organisations. There has also been significant growth in the popular CERN openlab Summer Student programme.”

“I am looking forward to establishing new collaborations and exploring new, emerging technologies through CERN openlab,” says Girone. “This workshop, the first we have held in person at CERN since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, was an excellent way to get this work started.”

abelchio Mon, 03/20/2023 - 14:33 Byline Andrew Purcell Publication Date Mon, 03/20/2023 - 14:29

Around a hundred budding young programmers took part in the DevoXX4Kids workshops at CERN

On Saturday, 11 March 2023, CERN hosted DevoXX4Kids – a day of workshops dedicated to programming, robotics and electronics. Around a hundred children aged between 4 and 15 took part in the event.

In the morning session, at the Globe of Science and Innovation, the Minis (aged 4–6) discovered the basics of screen-free programming, thanks to the Cubetto robot and the board game Robot Turtles. In the afternoon session, the Kids (aged 7–10) were introduced to coding using CodeCombat and made their own video games using the Kids-lab.io platform.

The Teens (aged 11–15) spent the day at IdeaSquare, where they learned about the electronics of the Internet of Things, robotics using the Poppy Ergo Jr, Thymio and Bitbot:XL robots, and HyperText Markup Language (HTML).

The DevoXX4Kids initiative was launched in 2012 with the aim of providing, developing and bringing together tools and running workshops to familiarise children and teenagers with programming and IT systems in a fun way. Some 450 events have been held so far worldwide, reaching more than 8000 children. This was the third event to be held at CERN, the two previous ones having taken place in 2017 and 2020.

All the photos from the event can be found here.

thortala Tue, 03/14/2023 - 09:39 Publication Date Tue, 03/14/2023 - 09:23

Around a hundred budding young programmers took part in the DevoXX4Kids workshops at CERN

On Saturday, 11 March 2023, CERN hosted DevoXX4Kids – a day of workshops dedicated to programming, robotics and electronics. Around a hundred children aged between 4 and 15 took part in the event.

In the morning session, at the Globe of Science and Innovation, the Minis (aged 4–6) discovered the basics of screen-free programming, thanks to the Cubetto robot and the board game Robot Turtles. In the afternoon session, the Kids (aged 7–10) were introduced to coding using CodeCombat and made their own video games using the Kids-lab.io platform.

The Teens (aged 11–15) spent the day at IdeaSquare, where they learned about the electronics of the Internet of Things, robotics using the Poppy Ergo Jr, Thymio and Bitbot:XL robots, and HyperText Markup Language (HTML).

The DevoXX4Kids initiative was launched in 2012 with the aim of providing, developing and bringing together tools and running workshops to familiarise children and teenagers with programming and IT systems in a fun way. Some 450 events have been held so far worldwide, reaching more than 8000 children. This was the third event to be held at CERN, the two previous ones having taken place in 2017 and 2020.

All the photos from the event can be found here.

thortala Tue, 03/14/2023 - 09:39 Publication Date Tue, 03/14/2023 - 09:23

Accelerator Report: The CERN accelerator complex is awakening from hibernation

The 2022–2023 year-end technical stop (YETS) is defined as 17 weeks beam-to-beam in the LHC, which is two weeks longer than the standard YETS and was introduced in response to the energy crisis. The last LHC beam of 2022 was dumped in the early morning of Monday, 28 November; 17 weeks later, on Monday, 27 March 2023, we plan to inject the first beam of the year into the LHC.

Although this first beam is a single-bunch beam with reduced intensity, the injector complex needs to be commissioned well in advance. The LINAC4 hardware therefore already began recommissioning on Monday, 13 February, only 11 weeks after the accelerator was stopped. During that time, maintenance was carried out, and a new, more efficient, H- source was installed. In the subsequent beam commissioning period that started on 20 February, the beam was brought through LINAC4, all the necessary parameters were adjusted and the performance of the new source was tested using the higher intensity beam. After the first accelerating structure, the radio-frequency quadrupole (RFQ), the beam current usually measures 25 mA. With the new source, the experts managed to bring this up to 35 mA, an increase of 40% with a similar transmission efficiency. For the 2023 physics run, 25 mA will remain the default current, but further studies to push the performance of LINAC4 and the PS Booster are planned for later this year.

On Friday, 3 March, following two weeks of hardware commissioning, the beam was injected into the PS Booster at 10.15 a.m. In just over an hour, the beam had been captured, accelerated, synchronised, and extracted to the beam dump. This is the point where the tedious work of adjusting the machine starts, after which the various operational beams will be set up and fine-tuned. The first beam will have to be ready for when the PS completes its two-week hardware commissioning period on Friday, 10 March. The PS will then have one week to prepare the first beam for the beam commissioning of the SPS, which today is about halfway through its three-week hardware commissioning period. It will then be the turn of the SPS to prepare the single-bunch LHC beam to be delivered to the LHC on Monday, 27 March, to awaken the LHC from its hibernation.

Throughout the accelerator complex, various beam types will then be re-adjusted to be delivered for physics, starting with the PS East Area around Easter and followed by the other fixed-target facilities in the subsequent weeks. The first collisions in the LHC are expected around 22 April, heralding the start of a relatively short but intense physics run that is scheduled to end on 30 October.

anschaef Thu, 03/09/2023 - 13:15 Byline Rende Steerenberg Publication Date Thu, 03/09/2023 - 13:13

Accelerator Report: The CERN accelerator complex is awakening from hibernation

The 2022–2023 year-end technical stop (YETS) is defined as 17 weeks beam-to-beam in the LHC, which is two weeks longer than the standard YETS and was introduced in response to the energy crisis. The last LHC beam of 2022 was dumped in the early morning of Monday, 28 November; 17 weeks later, on Monday, 27 March 2023, we plan to inject the first beam of the year into the LHC.

Although this first beam is a single-bunch beam with reduced intensity, the injector complex needs to be commissioned well in advance. The LINAC4 hardware therefore already began recommissioning on Monday, 13 February, only 11 weeks after the accelerator was stopped. During that time, maintenance was carried out, and a new, more efficient, H- source was installed. In the subsequent beam commissioning period that started on 20 February, the beam was brought through LINAC4, all the necessary parameters were adjusted and the performance of the new source was tested using the higher intensity beam. After the first accelerating structure, the radio-frequency quadrupole (RFQ), the beam current usually measures 25 mA. With the new source, the experts managed to bring this up to 35 mA, an increase of 40% with a similar transmission efficiency. For the 2023 physics run, 25 mA will remain the default current, but further studies to push the performance of LINAC4 and the PS Booster are planned for later this year.

On Friday, 3 March, following two weeks of hardware commissioning, the beam was injected into the PS Booster at 10.15 a.m. In just over an hour, the beam had been captured, accelerated, synchronised, and extracted to the beam dump. This is the point where the tedious work of adjusting the machine starts, after which the various operational beams will be set up and fine-tuned. The first beam will have to be ready for when the PS completes its two-week hardware commissioning period on Friday, 10 March. The PS will then have one week to prepare the first beam for the beam commissioning of the SPS, which today is about halfway through its three-week hardware commissioning period. It will then be the turn of the SPS to prepare the single-bunch LHC beam to be delivered to the LHC on Monday, 27 March, to awaken the LHC from its hibernation.

Throughout the accelerator complex, various beam types will then be re-adjusted to be delivered for physics, starting with the PS East Area around Easter and followed by the other fixed-target facilities in the subsequent weeks. The first collisions in the LHC are expected around 22 April, heralding the start of a relatively short but intense physics run that is scheduled to end on 30 October.

anschaef Thu, 03/09/2023 - 13:15 Byline Rende Steerenberg Publication Date Thu, 03/09/2023 - 13:13

CERN and SESAME engage with Bahrain

CERN, the CMS collaboration and SESAME (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) were the special guests of the Info Days held at the University of Bahrain on 14 and 15 February 2023. The event, which brought together representatives from these communities, was jointly sponsored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the University of Bahrain and the Shaikh Ebrahim bin Mohamed Al Khalifa Center for Culture and Research. It was an opportunity to showcase the contribution of the Bahraini community to CERN and the CMS experiment, while assessing future opportunities to collaborate with SESAME. The University of Bahrain joined CMS as an associated institute in 2019.

In addition to celebrating past achievements, a range of speakers looked to the future of particle physics and technologic innovation in the Middle East. Along with CERN physicists, SESAME representatives were given a platform to advocate for enhanced collaboration between Bahraini scientists and their laboratory, an international organisation operating the only light source in the Middle East. Talks aimed to increase awareness of the two institutions in Bahrain, encouraging students, researchers and industrial partners to join collaborations, which could bolster particle physics projects and scientific collaboration in the region.

thortala Thu, 03/09/2023 - 10:43 Byline Thomas Hortala Publication Date Thu, 03/09/2023 - 10:42

CERN and SESAME engage with Bahrain

CERN, the CMS collaboration and SESAME (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) were the special guests of the Info Days held at the University of Bahrain on 14 and 15 February 2023. The event, which brought together representatives from these communities, was jointly sponsored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the University of Bahrain and the Shaikh Ebrahim bin Mohamed Al Khalifa Center for Culture and Research. It was an opportunity to showcase the contribution of the Bahraini community to CERN and the CMS experiment, while assessing future opportunities to collaborate with SESAME. The University of Bahrain joined CMS as an associated institute in 2019.

In addition to celebrating past achievements, a range of speakers looked to the future of particle physics and technologic innovation in the Middle East. Along with CERN physicists, SESAME representatives were given a platform to advocate for enhanced collaboration between Bahraini scientists and their laboratory, an international organisation operating the only light source in the Middle East. Talks aimed to increase awareness of the two institutions in Bahrain, encouraging students, researchers and industrial partners to join collaborations, which could bolster particle physics projects and scientific collaboration in the region.

thortala Thu, 03/09/2023 - 10:43 Byline Thomas Hortala Publication Date Thu, 03/09/2023 - 10:42

New ATLAS management team takes the helm

The ATLAS collaboration is a global effort involving almost 6000 physicists, engineers, technicians and other experts. Made up of 182 institutions spread over every populated continent, its multinational efforts require a high level of coordination. Together, a new ATLAS management team will oversee all aspects of the collaboration throughout most of LHC Run 3.

ATLAS spokesperson Andreas Hoecker will work with several familiar faces in the management team. Manuella Vincter (Carleton University) continues as deputy spokesperson. She is joined by deputy spokesperson Stéphane Willocq (University of Massachusetts Amherst), who previously served as ATLAS physics coordinator. Technical coordinator Ludovico Pontecorvo (CERN) will continue in his role for another year, before handing the baton to Martin Aleksa (CERN) in March 2024. David Francis (CERN) continues as resources coordinator and Benedetto Gorini (CERN), who joined the team in October 2022, continues as upgrade coordinator. Stepping down from their roles are deputy spokesperson Marumi Kado (new Director of the Max Planck Institute for Physics, Munich) and, since October 2022, upgrade coordinator Francesco Lanni (new leader of the CERN Neutrino Platform). Both provided invaluable contributions to ATLAS during their terms.

“This is an exciting time for the ATLAS collaboration, as we are undertaking several key objectives simultaneously,” says Andreas. “In addition to collecting and analysing data from the current record-energy operation of the LHC, benefitting from recently installed detector improvements, our broad programme of physics analysis and experiment upgrade will continue apace. Meeting this wide range of goals will require our full commitment and focus of effort.”

In its 30 years of history, the ATLAS collaboration has proven to be a leading source of scientific excellence – a legacy the ATLAS management team plans to build on. “I am confident that ATLAS members will rise to the occasion to meet these challenges,” concludes Andreas. “Our members are a great source of inspiration to me; their ideas and contributions are the driving force behind our experiment’s excellent results. As spokesperson, I will continue to cultivate our longstanding culture of open and inclusive engagement.”

_____

Read the full text on the ATLAS collaboration’s website: https://atlas.cern/Updates/News/New-Management-Team

anschaef Thu, 03/09/2023 - 10:27 Byline ATLAS collaboration Publication Date Thu, 03/09/2023 - 10:20

New ATLAS management team takes the helm

The ATLAS collaboration is a global effort involving almost 6000 physicists, engineers, technicians and other experts. Made up of 182 institutions spread over every populated continent, its multinational efforts require a high level of coordination. Together, a new ATLAS management team will oversee all aspects of the collaboration throughout most of LHC Run 3.

ATLAS spokesperson Andreas Hoecker will work with several familiar faces in the management team. Manuella Vincter (Carleton University) continues as deputy spokesperson. She is joined by deputy spokesperson Stéphane Willocq (University of Massachusetts Amherst), who previously served as ATLAS physics coordinator. Technical coordinator Ludovico Pontecorvo (CERN) will continue in his role for another year, before handing the baton to Martin Aleksa (CERN) in March 2024. David Francis (CERN) continues as resources coordinator and Benedetto Gorini (CERN), who joined the team in October 2022, continues as upgrade coordinator. Stepping down from their roles are deputy spokesperson Marumi Kado (new Director of the Max Planck Institute for Physics, Munich) and, since October 2022, upgrade coordinator Francesco Lanni (new leader of the CERN Neutrino Platform). Both provided invaluable contributions to ATLAS during their terms.

“This is an exciting time for the ATLAS collaboration, as we are undertaking several key objectives simultaneously,” says Andreas. “In addition to collecting and analysing data from the current record-energy operation of the LHC, benefitting from recently installed detector improvements, our broad programme of physics analysis and experiment upgrade will continue apace. Meeting this wide range of goals will require our full commitment and focus of effort.”

In its 30 years of history, the ATLAS collaboration has proven to be a leading source of scientific excellence – a legacy the ATLAS management team plans to build on. “I am confident that ATLAS members will rise to the occasion to meet these challenges,” concludes Andreas. “Our members are a great source of inspiration to me; their ideas and contributions are the driving force behind our experiment’s excellent results. As spokesperson, I will continue to cultivate our longstanding culture of open and inclusive engagement.”

_____

Read the full text on the ATLAS collaboration’s website: https://atlas.cern/Updates/News/New-Management-Team

anschaef Thu, 03/09/2023 - 10:27 Byline ATLAS collaboration Publication Date Thu, 03/09/2023 - 10:20

Feasibility Study for a possible Future Circular Collider (FCC) gets under way on the ground

CERN’s main facility, the LHC, will complete its mission around 2040, and the international particle physics community is already working on various options for the design of the accelerator that will succeed it.

One of these options is the Future Circular Collider (FCC), which would be installed in a tunnel measuring some 91 kilometres in circumference at a depth of between 100 and 400 metres on French and Swiss territory, passing under Lake Geneva.

The scientific value of the FCC was confirmed by the European Strategy for Particle Physics, which was updated by the CERN Member States in 2020, as the most suitable option to take over from the existing facilities.

CERN was therefore tasked by its Member States with initiating the Feasibility Study.

In 2028, depending on the results of the Study, the Member States will take a decision about the project as a whole, and in particular about the prospects for commissioning the FCC in the 2040s.

Two of the possible scenarios for the FCC’s placement. (Image: CERN)

For now, CERN will be conducting initial assessments on the ground in order to refine the existing geological and seismic data as well as the data on the fauna and flora for conservation purposes. The first phase will involve a visual inspection of the areas of land concerned, and will be followed in 2024 by seismic studies and drilling. The project’s environmental aspects, namely the geological characteristics of the tunnel and surface sites and the effects on the landscape, will also be studied.

The results of these assessments will make it possible to refine the placement scenarios and determine which should be prioritised if the project is approved, taking into account both the environmental objectives for the areas on the surface and the underground constraints.

This work is being carried out in conjunction with local stakeholders to ensure that future activities will take all the relevant aspects and different interests into consideration. CERN, France and Switzerland are working together closely to identify and resolve any issues that might arise from the FCC’s planning and construction, which must respect sustainable development principles. In this regard, CERN has already made environmental commitments in all its areas of activity, based on the “avoid–reduce–compensate” principle. It is working with local stakeholders to ensure that the project is adapted to the local area and its priorities and fosters cooperation, along the lines of the initiative that is already in place to recover waste heat from CERN’s accelerators to heat a nearby residential complex.

Timeline of CERN’s main accelerators since the Laboratory was founded and looking ahead to the FCC. (Image: CERN)

Operating as part of one of the most sophisticated scientific complexes in the world, the FCC, if it goes ahead, would optimise and extend the life of the existing infrastructure until the end of the twenty-first century, while helping to further our understanding of the Universe.

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Find out more about the FCC project at: https://home.cern/science/accelerators/future-circular-collider

CERN has created a new website where the public can find out more about the investigations under way in the Swiss canton of Geneva and the French departments of Ain and Haute-Savoie. Go to https://fcc-faisabilite.eu to find out more and to communicate with CERN.

The full press release published on 21 February 2023 is available at: https://home.cern/news/news/accelerators/letude-de-faisabilite-dun-eventuel-fcc-demarre-sur-le-terrain

anschaef Tue, 03/07/2023 - 21:41 Publication Date Tue, 03/07/2023 - 21:34

Feasibility Study for a possible Future Circular Collider (FCC) gets under way on the ground

CERN’s main facility, the LHC, will complete its mission around 2040, and the international particle physics community is already working on various options for the design of the accelerator that will succeed it.

One of these options is the Future Circular Collider (FCC), which would be installed in a tunnel measuring some 91 kilometres in circumference at a depth of between 100 and 400 metres on French and Swiss territory, passing under Lake Geneva.

The scientific value of the FCC was confirmed by the European Strategy for Particle Physics, which was updated by the CERN Member States in 2020, as the most suitable option to take over from the existing facilities.

CERN was therefore tasked by its Member States with initiating the Feasibility Study.

In 2028, depending on the results of the Study, the Member States will take a decision about the project as a whole, and in particular about the prospects for commissioning the FCC in the 2040s.

Two of the possible scenarios for the FCC’s placement. (Image: CERN)

For now, CERN will be conducting initial assessments on the ground in order to refine the existing geological and seismic data as well as the data on the fauna and flora for conservation purposes. The first phase will involve a visual inspection of the areas of land concerned, and will be followed in 2024 by seismic studies and drilling. The project’s environmental aspects, namely the geological characteristics of the tunnel and surface sites and the effects on the landscape, will also be studied.

The results of these assessments will make it possible to refine the placement scenarios and determine which should be prioritised if the project is approved, taking into account both the environmental objectives for the areas on the surface and the underground constraints.

This work is being carried out in conjunction with local stakeholders to ensure that future activities will take all the relevant aspects and different interests into consideration. CERN, France and Switzerland are working together closely to identify and resolve any issues that might arise from the FCC’s planning and construction, which must respect sustainable development principles. In this regard, CERN has already made environmental commitments in all its areas of activity, based on the “avoid–reduce–compensate” principle. It is working with local stakeholders to ensure that the project is adapted to the local area and its priorities and fosters cooperation, along the lines of the initiative that is already in place to recover waste heat from CERN’s accelerators to heat a nearby residential complex.

Timeline of CERN’s main accelerators since the Laboratory was founded and looking ahead to the FCC. (Image: CERN)

Operating as part of one of the most sophisticated scientific complexes in the world, the FCC, if it goes ahead, would optimise and extend the life of the existing infrastructure until the end of the twenty-first century, while helping to further our understanding of the Universe.

_____

Find out more about the FCC project at: https://home.cern/science/accelerators/future-circular-collider

CERN has created a new website where the public can find out more about the investigations under way in the Swiss canton of Geneva and the French departments of Ain and Haute-Savoie. Go to https://fcc-faisabilite.eu to find out more and to communicate with CERN.

The full press release published on 21 February 2023 is available at: https://home.cern/news/news/accelerators/letude-de-faisabilite-dun-eventuel-fcc-demarre-sur-le-terrain

anschaef Tue, 03/07/2023 - 21:41 Publication Date Tue, 03/07/2023 - 21:34

Discover the new LHCb exhibition

The CERN Exhibitions section (IR-ECO-EXH) and the LHCb experiment have developed a new public experience at LHC Point 8, in Ferney-Voltaire (France), where the experiment is located. The design phase of the new exhibit, carried out in collaboration with the Spanish design firm Indissoluble – The Exhibition Factory, which previously worked on the ALICE and Microcosm exhibitions, started in autumn 2020. Last December, only two years later, the installation was already completed and about to welcome its first visitors. The new exhibition has indeed been open to the public since the beginning of the year, and was officially inaugurated on 3 March.

“Working on the new LHCb exhibition has been a challenge also because the work mainly happened during the pandemic. However, the excellent teamwork and the highly collaborative and committed attitude of all the members of the working group made it possible for the exhibition to be designed, delivered and installed on time and within budget,” says Antonella Del Rosso, project leader in the Exhibitions section.

The exhibition hall, where some pieces of the LHCb detector are on display. This is a part of the Cherenkov detector. (Image: Guillaume Max Pietrzyk )

After passing the car park and the gate, visitors enter the LHCb main building and are guided through the exhibition’s four sections, which include a miniature model of the underground cavern featuring the DELPHI and LHCb detectors. The main exhibition hall hosts pieces of the LHCb detector such as the vertex locator, parts of the calorimeters and muon systems, the upstream tracker, the ring-imaging Cherenkov detector and a scintillating fibre tracker.

The highlight of the exhibition is the cinema room: three immersive walls take visitors underground and lead them through the physics of the detector by means of an audiovisual experience (see picture). Different screens and projections mirror the segmented structure of LHCb, with each panel corresponding to a different part of the detector.

All the exhibition points are equipped with interactive touch screens, which provide additional information about the detector system, data acquisition and basics of particle physics. One of the last stops is a sneak peek into the LHCb control room.

The touchscreen panels provide additional information, for example on the identification of particles and data extraction. (Image: Guillaume Max Pietrzyk)

With the new cinema room and the showcased detector parts, the new exhibition is a nice alternative to underground visits, especially when access is impossible during LHC runs, as well as complementing those visits with a first visual input.

Last year, the LHCb experiment welcomed almost 1000 visitors. The new exhibition is now ready for the many more to come.

anschaef Tue, 03/07/2023 - 14:23 Byline Sanje Fenkart Publication Date Tue, 03/07/2023 - 14:13

Discover the new LHCb exhibition

The CERN Exhibitions section (IR-ECO-EXH) and the LHCb experiment have developed a new public experience at LHC Point 8, in Ferney-Voltaire (France), where the experiment is located. The design phase of the new exhibit, carried out in collaboration with the Spanish design firm Indissoluble – The Exhibition Factory, which previously worked on the ALICE and Microcosm exhibitions, started in autumn 2020. Last December, only two years later, the installation was already completed and about to welcome its first visitors. The new exhibition has indeed been open to the public since the beginning of the year, and was officially inaugurated on 3 March.

“Working on the new LHCb exhibition has been a challenge also because the work mainly happened during the pandemic. However, the excellent teamwork and the highly collaborative and committed attitude of all the members of the working group made it possible for the exhibition to be designed, delivered and installed on time and within budget,” says Antonella Del Rosso, project leader in the Exhibitions section.

The exhibition hall, where some pieces of the LHCb detector are on display. This is a part of the Cherenkov detector. (Image: Guillaume Max Pietrzyk )

After passing the car park and the gate, visitors enter the LHCb main building and are guided through the exhibition’s four sections, which include a miniature model of the underground cavern featuring the DELPHI and LHCb detectors. The main exhibition hall hosts pieces of the LHCb detector such as the vertex locator, parts of the calorimeters and muon systems, the upstream tracker, the ring-imaging Cherenkov detector and a scintillating fibre tracker.

The highlight of the exhibition is the cinema room: three immersive walls take visitors underground and lead them through the physics of the detector by means of an audiovisual experience (see picture). Different screens and projections mirror the segmented structure of LHCb, with each panel corresponding to a different part of the detector.

All the exhibition points are equipped with interactive touch screens, which provide additional information about the detector system, data acquisition and basics of particle physics. One of the last stops is a sneak peek into the LHCb control room.

The touchscreen panels provide additional information, for example on the identification of particles and data extraction. (Image: Guillaume Max Pietrzyk)

With the new cinema room and the showcased detector parts, the new exhibition is a nice alternative to underground visits, especially when access is impossible during LHC runs, as well as complementing those visits with a first visual input.

Last year, the LHCb experiment welcomed almost 1000 visitors. The new exhibition is now ready for the many more to come.

anschaef Tue, 03/07/2023 - 14:23 Byline Sanje Fenkart Publication Date Tue, 03/07/2023 - 14:13

Take part in the new seminar series on future colliders

The Future Colliders unit, within CERN’s Research and Computing sector, is launching a new seminar series dedicated to future collider projects. The aim of this new series is to create an information and discussion forum in which to present the various activities related to the different projects being studied: the Future Circular Collider (FCC), the Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) / International Linear Collider (ILC) and the Muon Collider.

“A lot of work is taking place to prepare for a future accelerator facility beyond the LHC,” says Michelangelo Mangano, leader of the Future Colliders unit. “And while the basic motivations for future colliders, and their physics potential, are usually well known, more detailed information about technological challenges and progress, achievements, timelines, etc., is typically confined to internal meetings, and thus less easily available to the CERN community.”

This new seminar series intends to inform the broader CERN community – personnel from different departments as well as users and visitors – about the progress on these projects. The presentations will cover aspects ranging from accelerator and detector design and technology R&D, to civil engineering and environmental issues, to physics targets.

The seminars will take place in CERN’s Main Auditorium approximately once a month, on Tuesdays from 11.00 a.m., with Zoom and webcast transmission.

The first episode of the series will take place on Tuesday, 14 March. It will provide a general overview of the status of the three main projects, as an introduction to the whole series:

“Status of CERN’s future collider projects”
by Daniel Schulte, Steinar Stapnes and Frank Zimmermann

Come and join us!

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More information on Indico: https://indico.cern.ch/event/1260648/.

anschaef Tue, 03/07/2023 - 10:53 Publication Date Tue, 03/07/2023 - 10:51