Cern News

Beam Gas Curtain: a new instrument for LHC Run 3

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will soon be restarted 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

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.

_____

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

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.

_____

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

Arts at CERN and Copenhagen Contemporary to collaborate through Collide International award

Today, we are pleased to announce a three-year partnership between CERN and Copenhagen Contemporary through Collide, Arts at CERN’s flagship international residency programme.

Arts at CERN is designed to generate creative connections between science and the arts through a broad programme of artistic residencies, art commissions and exhibitions. Over the past decade, Arts at CERN has brought arts and science together in new configurations, in collaboration with leading cultural institutions around the globe. The Collide residency programme was established in 2012 to foster networks with international organisations, creating new links between art and fundamental science worldwide.

Copenhagen Contemporary is Copenhagen’s international art centre, displaying installation art created by world-renowned artists and new emerging talents. Located in the former B&W welding building and offering 7000 m2 of industrial halls, Copenhagen Contemporary displays large-scale installation art and creates collaborative partnerships and events across cultural genres, locally and internationally. Since 2016, Copenhagen Contemporary has hosted exhibitions featuring, among others, James Turrell, Carsten Höller, Pierre Huyghe, Bruce Nauman, Yoko Ono, Anselm Kiefer, Wu Tsang, and Larissa Sansour.

“For over 10 years, the Collide programme has allowed us to forge bonds of a new kind with different cities across our Member States,” explains Charlotte Warakaulle, CERN’s Director for International Relations. “We are delighted to see this international network expand with Copenhagen, which has such important traditions in particle physics, technology development, innovation and artistic expression. Bringing these dimensions together in Copenhagen will enable us to take these vital, creative encounters across communities even further.”

“At Copenhagen Contemporary we are excited and proud to bring the prestigious Collide programme to Scandinavia and offer artists a unique opportunity to develop their work in dialogue with world-leading scientists and researchers. Art and science share a deep curiosity to understand the world and our place in it. But their methods and end goals are different. Through art, the great conversation about the human condition is constantly renewed. We want to make this programme an opportunity to investigate how technology affects our life and might change our destiny,” says Marie Laurberg, Director of Copenhagen Contemporary.

The first edition of Collide Copenhagen has now been officially launched. Artists from any country in the world are invited to submit their proposals for a fully-funded two-month residency, split between CERN and Copenhagen Contemporary. The selected artist or artistic collective will devote this period to artistic research and artistic exploration, working side-by-side with physicists, engineers, laboratory staff and the Arts at CERN and Copenhagen Contemporary teams. For the first edition and the following annual calls, in 2024 and 2025, Arts at CERN and Copenhagen Contemporary will invite artists to reflect on the impact of science and research in contemporary culture. Proposals that consider the role of advanced technologies and novel scientific models as major topics in contemporary culture are welcome. Collide Copenhagen is especially aiming for artistic proposals that reflect on themes such as artificial intelligence, the modelling and analysis of vast datasets, the emergence of quantum technologies, and the interpretation of these themes from philosophical and ethical standpoints. The artists selected for the 2023–2025 editions will become part of an ambitious exhibition at Copenhagen Contemporary in 2025, investigating technology’s impact on humanity.

The application deadline is 8 May 2023. Conditions and guidelines for the call are on the Arts at CERN website. An international jury of experts will review the proposals and the decision will be announced in late June 2023.

angerard Fri, 03/17/2023 - 11:17 Publication Date Thu, 03/23/2023 - 14:00

Arts at CERN and Copenhagen Contemporary to collaborate through Collide International award

Today, we are pleased to announce a three-year partnership between CERN and Copenhagen Contemporary through Collide, Arts at CERN’s flagship international residency programme.

Arts at CERN is designed to generate creative connections between science and the arts through a broad programme of artistic residencies, art commissions and exhibitions. Over the past decade, Arts at CERN has brought arts and science together in new configurations, in collaboration with leading cultural institutions around the globe. The Collide residency programme was established in 2012 to foster networks with international organisations, creating new links between art and fundamental science worldwide.

Copenhagen Contemporary is Copenhagen’s international art centre, displaying installation art created by world-renowned artists and new emerging talents. Located in the former B&W welding building and offering 7000 m2 of industrial halls, Copenhagen Contemporary displays large-scale installation art and creates collaborative partnerships and events across cultural genres, locally and internationally. Since 2016, Copenhagen Contemporary has hosted exhibitions featuring, among others, James Turrell, Carsten Höller, Pierre Huyghe, Bruce Nauman, Yoko Ono, Anselm Kiefer, Wu Tsang, and Larissa Sansour.

“For over 10 years, the Collide programme has allowed us to forge bonds of a new kind with different cities across our Member States,” explains Charlotte Warakaulle, CERN’s Director for International Relations. “We are delighted to see this international network expand with Copenhagen, which has such important traditions in particle physics, technology development, innovation and artistic expression. Bringing these dimensions together in Copenhagen will enable us to take these vital, creative encounters across communities even further.”

“At Copenhagen Contemporary we are excited and proud to bring the prestigious Collide programme to Scandinavia and offer artists a unique opportunity to develop their work in dialogue with world-leading scientists and researchers. Art and science share a deep curiosity to understand the world and our place in it. But their methods and end goals are different. Through art, the great conversation about the human condition is constantly renewed. We want to make this programme an opportunity to investigate how technology affects our life and might change our destiny,” says Marie Laurberg, Director of Copenhagen Contemporary.

The first edition of Collide Copenhagen has now been officially launched. Artists from any country in the world are invited to submit their proposals for a fully-funded two-month residency, split between CERN and Copenhagen Contemporary. The selected artist or artistic collective will devote this period to artistic research and artistic exploration, working side-by-side with physicists, engineers, laboratory staff and the Arts at CERN and Copenhagen Contemporary teams. For the first edition and the following annual calls, in 2024 and 2025, Arts at CERN and Copenhagen Contemporary will invite artists to reflect on the impact of science and research in contemporary culture. Proposals that consider the role of advanced technologies and novel scientific models as major topics in contemporary culture are welcome. Collide Copenhagen is especially aiming for artistic proposals that reflect on themes such as artificial intelligence, the modelling and analysis of vast datasets, the emergence of quantum technologies, and the interpretation of these themes from philosophical and ethical standpoints. The artists selected for the 2023–2025 editions will become part of an ambitious exhibition at Copenhagen Contemporary in 2025, investigating technology’s impact on humanity.

The application deadline is 8 May 2023. Conditions and guidelines for the call are on the Arts at CERN website. An international jury of experts will review the proposals and the decision will be announced in late June 2023.

angerard Fri, 03/17/2023 - 11:17 Publication Date Thu, 03/23/2023 - 14:00

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.

_____

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