Bruno Touschek's Extraordinary Journey PDF Download

Author: Giulia Pancheri
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031038266
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 493

View

Book Description
This book tells the story of a unique scientific and human adventure, following the life and science of Bruno Touschek, an Austrian born physicist, who conceived and built AdA, the first matter-antimatter colliding-beam storage ring, the ancestor of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN where the Higgs Boson was discovered in 2012. Making extensive use of archival sources and personal correspondence, the author offers for the first time a unified history of European efforts to build modern-day particle accelerators, from the dark times of war-ravaged Europe up to the rebuilding of science in Germany, UK, Italy and France through the 1950s and early 1960s. This book, the result of several years of scholarly research work, includes numerous previously unpublished photos as well as original drawings by Bruno Touschek.

Author: Luisa Bonolis
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3031230426
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 305

View

Book Description
This open access book celebrates the contribution of Bruno Touschek to theoretical physics and particle colliders in Europe. It contains direct testimonials from his former students, collaborators, and eminent scientists, among them, two Nobel Prize winners in Physics, Giorgio Parisi and Carlo Rubbia. It reviews the main developments in theoretical and accelerator physics in the second half of the twentieth century, while at the same time providing an overview of future prospects worldwide. This book is unique in that it will be of interest to historians of physics and also to the younger generation of researchers. Through the contribution of the leading protagonists, the interested scholar will learn about the past, present status, and relevance of both theoretical and experimental accelerator physics. The overview of Bruno Touschek’s life and works across Europe, from pre-war Vienna to Germany, the UK, Italy, and France, adds a human dimension to the scientific narration, while the open access status makes this laudatory book available to anyone with interest.

Author: Edoardo Amaldi
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9789810223694
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 784

View

Book Description
In this important volume, major events and personalities of 20th century physics are portrayed through recollections and historiographical works of one of the most prominent figures of European science. A former student of Enrico Fermi, and a leading personality of physical research and science policy in postwar Italy, Edoardo Amaldi devoted part of his career to documenting, both as witness and as historian, some significant moments of 20th century science. The focus of the book is on the European scene, ranging from nuclear research in Rome in the 1930s to particle physics at CERN, and includes biographies of physicists such as Ettore Majorana, Bruno Touschek and Fritz Houtermans.Edoardo Amaldi (Carpaneto, 1908 - Roma, 1989) was one of the leading figures in twentieth century Italian science. He was conferred his degree in physics at Rome University in 1929 and played an active role (as a member of the team of young physicists known as ?the boys of via Panisperna?) in the fundamental research on artificial induced radioactivity and the properties of neutrons, which won the group's leader Enrico Fermi the Nobel Prize for physics in 1938. Following Fermi's departure for the United States in 1938 and the disruption of the original group, Amaldi took upon himself the task of reorganising the research in physics in the difficult situation of post-war Italy. His own research went from nuclear physics to cosmic ray physics, elementary particles and, in later years, gravitational waves. Active research was for him always coupled to a direct involvement as a statesman of science and an organiser: he was the leading figure in the establishment of INFN (National Institute for Nuclear Physics) and has played a major role, as spokesman of the Italian scientific community, in the creation of CERN, the large European laboratory for high energy physics. He also actively supported the formation of a similar trans-national joint venture in space science, which gave birth to the European Space Agency. In these and several other scientific organisations, he was often entrusted with directive responsibilities. In his later years, he developed a keen interest in the history of his discipline. This gave rise to a rich production of historiographic material, of which a significant sample is collected in this volume.

Author: Misha Shifman
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9814619310
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 555

View

Book Description
This book tells captivating stories of misadventures of two renowned theoretical physicists in the Soviet Union. The first part is devoted to Friedrich (Fritz) Houtermans, an outstanding Dutch-Austrian-German physicist who was the first to suggest that the source of stars' energy is thermonuclear fusion, and also made a number of other important contributions to cosmochemistry and geochemistry. In 1935, Houtermans, a German communist, in an attempt to save his life from Hilter's Gestapo, fled to the Soviet Union. He took up an appointment at the Kharkov Physico-Technical Institute, working there for two years with the Russian physicist Valentin P Fomin. In the Great Purge of 1937, Houtermans was arrested in December by the NKVD (Soviet Secret Police, KGB's predecessor). He was tortured, and confessed to being a Trotskyist plotter and German spy, out of fear of threats against his wife Charlotte. However, Charlotte had already escaped from the Soviet Union to Denmark, after which she went to England and finally the USA. As a result of the Hilter-Stalin Pact of 1939, Houtermans was turned over to the Gestapo in May 1940 and imprisoned in Berlin.The second part consists of two essays that narrate the life story of Yuri Golfand, one of the codiscoverers of supersymmetry, a major discovery in theoretical physics in the 20th century. In 1973, just two years after the publication of his seminal paper, he was fired from the Lebedev Physics Institute in Moscow. Because of his Jewish origin he could find no job. Under such circumstances, he applied for an exit visa to Israel, but his application was denied. Yuri Golfand became a refusnik and joined the Human rights movement, along with two other prominent physicists, Andrei Sakharov and Yuri Orlov. To earn his living, he had to do manual work, repeatedly being intimidated by KGB. Only 18 years later, shortly before the demise of the Soviet Union, did he obtain permission to leave the country, emigrating to Israel in 1990.These personal life stories of two outstanding theorists are interwined with the tragedies of the 20th century and make for compelling reading.

Author: Ugo Amaldi
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 331908870X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 293

View

Book Description
Rather than focusing on the contributions of theoretical physicists to the understanding of the subatomic world and of the beginning of the universe - as most popular science books on particle physics do - this book is different in that, firstly, the main focus is on machine inventors and builders and, secondly, particle accelerators are not only described as discovery tools but also for their contributions to tumour diagnosis and therapy. The characters of well-known (e.g. Ernest Lawrence) and mostly unknown actors (e.g. Nicholas Christofilos) are outlined, including many colourful quotations. The overall picture supports the author’s motto: “Physics is beautiful and useful”. Advance appraisal: “Accelerators go all the way from the unique and gargantuan Large Hadron Collider to thousands of smaller versions in hospitals and industry. Ugo Amaldi has experience across the range. He has worked at CERN and has for many years been driving the application of accelerators in medicine. This is a must-read introduction to this frontier of modern technology, written beautifully by a world expert.” Frank Close, Professor of Physics at Oxford University author of "The Infinity Puzzle" “This book should be read by school teachers and all those interested in the exploration of the microcosm and its relation to cosmology, and in the use of accelerators for medical applications. With a light hand and without formulae the autho r easily explains complicated matters, spicing up the text with amusing historical anecdotes. His reputation as an outstanding scientist in all the fields treated guarantees high standards.” Herwig Schopper, former CERN Director General author of "LEP - The Lord of the Collider Rings at CERN" “This book tells the story of modern physics with an unusual emphasis on the machine-builders who made it all possible, and their machines. Learning to accelerate particles has enabled physicists to probe the subatomic world and gain a deeper understanding of the cosmos. It has also brought numerous benefits to medicine, from the primitive X-ray machines of over a century ago to today's developments in hadron therapy for cancer. Amaldi tells this story in a most fascinating way.” Edward Witten, Professor of Mathematical Physics at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton; Fields Medal (1990)

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Nuclear energy
Languages : en
Pages : 100

View

Book Description

Author: Alexander Wu Chao
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9813108916
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 299

View

Book Description
As accelerator science and technology progressed over the past several decades, the accelerators themselves have undergone major improvements in multiple performance factors: beam energy, beam power, and beam brightness. As a consequence, accelerators have found applications in a wide range of fields in our life and in our society. The current volume is dedicated to applications in energy and security, two of the most important and urgent topics in today's world.This volume makes an effort to provide a review as complete and up to date as possible of this broad and challenging subject. It contains overviews on each of the two topics and a series of articles for in-depth discussions including heavy ion accelerator driven inertial fusion, linear accelerator-based ADS systems, circular accelerator-based ADS systems, accelerator-reactor interface, accelerators for fusion material testing, cargo inspection, proton radiography, compact neutron generators and detectors. It also has a review article on accelerator science and technology in Canada with a focus on the TRIUMF laboratory, and an article on the life of Bruno Touschek, a renowned accelerator physicist.

Author: Aashild Sørheim
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 9783030263379
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 511

View

Book Description
This Open Access biography chronicles the life and achievements of the Norwegian engineer and physicist Rolf Widerøe. Readers who meet him in the pages of this book will wonder why he isn't better known. The first of Widerøe's many pioneering contributions in the field of accelerator physics was the betatron, the second, the linear accelerator, both summarized in a 27 page PhD. The betatron revolutionized the fields of cancer treatment through radiation therapy and also nondestructive testing; hospitals worldwide installed Widerøe's machine and today’s modern radiation treatment equipment is based on his inventions. The most recent renaissance of the linac provides unprecedented x-ray intensities at Free Electron Laser (FEL) facilities in operation and construction worldwide. . Widerøe’s story also includes a fair share of drama, particularly during World War II when both Germans and the Allies vied for his collaboration. Widerøe held leading positions in multinational industry groups and was one of the consultants for building the world's largest nuclear laboratory, CERN, in Switzerland. He gained over 200 patents, received several honorary doctorates and a number of international awards. The author, a professional writer and maker of TV documentaries, has gained access to hitherto restricted archives in several countries, which provided a wealth of new material and insights, in particular in relation to the war years. She tells here a gripping and illuminating story.

Author: Giuseppe Mussardo
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030551695
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 244

View

Book Description
Science, with its inherent tension between the known and the unknown, is an inexhaustible mine of great stories. Collected here are twenty-six among the most enchanting tales, one for each letter of the alphabet: the main characters are scientists of the highest caliber most of whom, however, are unknown to the general public. This book goes from A to Z. The letter A stands for Abel, the great Norwegian mathematician, here involved in an elliptic thriller about a fundamental theorem of mathematics, while the letter Z refers to Absolute Zero, the ultimate and lowest temperature limit, - 273,15 degrees Celsius, a value that is tremendously cooler than the most remote corner of the Universe: the race to reach this final outpost of coldness is not yet complete, but, similarly to the history books of polar explorations at the beginning of the 20th century, its pages record successes, failures, fierce rivalries and tragic desperations. In between the A and the Z, the other letters of the alphabet are similar to the various stages of a very fascinating journey along the paths of science, a journey in the company of a very unique set of characters as eccentric and peculiar as those in Ulysses by James Joyce: the French astronomer who lost everything, even his mind, to chase the transits of Venus; the caustic Austrian scientist who, perfectly at ease with both the laws of psychoanalysis and quantum mechanics, revealed the hidden secrets of dreams and the periodic table of chemical elements; the young Indian astrophysicist who was the first to understand how a star dies, suffering the ferocious opposition of his mentor for this discovery. Or the Hungarian physicist who struggled with his melancholy in the shadows of the desert of Los Alamos; or the French scholar who was forced to hide her femininity behind a false identity so as to publish fundamental theorems on prime numbers. And so on and so forth. Twenty-six stories, which reveal the most authentic atmosphere of science and the lives of some of its main players: each story can be read in quite a short period of time -- basically the time it takes to get on and off the train between two metro stations. Largely independent from one another, these twenty-six stories make the book a harmonious polyphony of several voices: the reader can invent his/her own very personal order for the chapters simply by ordering the sequence of letters differently. For an elementary law of Mathematics, this can give rise to an astronomically large number of possible books -- all the same, but - then again - all different. This book is therefore the ideal companion for an infinite number of real or metaphoric journeys.

Author: Gino Segrè
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 1627790063
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 387

View

Book Description
Enrico Fermi is unquestionably among the greats of the world's physicists, the most famous Italian scientist since Galileo. Called the Pope by his peers, he was regarded as infallible in his instincts and research. His discoveries changed our world; they led to weapons of mass destruction and conversely to life-saving medical interventions. This unassuming man struggled with issues relevant today, such as the threat of nuclear annihilation and the relationship of science to politics. Fleeing Fascism and anti-Semitism, Fermi became a leading figure in America's most secret project: building the atomic bomb. The last physicist who mastered all branches of the discipline, Fermi was a rare mixture of theorist and experimentalist. His rich legacy encompasses key advances in fields as diverse as comic rays, nuclear technology, and early computers. In their revealing book, The Pope of Physics, Gino Segré and Bettina Hoerlin bring this scientific visionary to life. An examination of the human dramas that touched Fermi’s life as well as a thrilling history of scientific innovation in the twentieth century, this is the comprehensive biography that Fermi deserves.