Ricarda Laasch | 14 April 2016If you're an electron, a ride in a cavity is pretty much the coolest thing that can happen to you. If you're an accelerator and you need huge numbers of cavities you better make sure they're all of outstanding quality – which is what the X-ray free-electron laser European XFEL under construction in Hamburg has just finished. In a series first published in DESY inForm, we look at how a niobium sheet turns into a curvy beauty.
Category: Around the World | Tagged: cavity, DESY, European XFEL, RI, SCRF, Zanon
Barbara Warmbein | 24 March 2016DESY and KEK are two labs that have a lot in common. They know a lot about accelerators, operated and have operated a number of them in their long and eventful histories. They are their countries’ hubs for particle physics research, but they also run accelerators for photon science. They are national labs that collaborate closely with other institutes and labs from around the world. And, notably, with each other. At the recent DESY KEK Workshop at DESY in Hamburg, Germany, the two therefore decided to extend the existing cooperation agreement by another five years.
Category: Around the World | Tagged: Belle-II, DESY, ILC, KEK, LHC, photon science
Rika Takahashi | 10 March 2016On 26 February, members of the ICFA gathered in a conference room in Tokyo, Japan, for the press conference, explaining the status of accelerator science in the world.
Category: Feature | Tagged: CERN, DESY, Fermilab, ICFA, ILC, KEK
Barbara Warmbein | 12 November 2015[gallery ids="35324,35319,35320,35322,35321,35323,35317"] The German research centre DESY opened its doors to the public on 7 November, a day now known as DESY DAY. More than 18000 visitors came to see real accelerators, braving long queues and Hamburg drizzle to walk through parts of the European XFEL, PETRA or HERA accelerators, to visit DESY's workshops and partner labs on campus, learn about vacuum, magnetism, cryo technology, molecular biology, crystal and much more. Some of them even discovered the Higgs, which was roaming around on campus, happy to be photographed. At the stand of DESY's linear collider groups, visitor could try a magnetic linear accelerator, cable a detector prototype and even play electron in an accelerator tunnel. In a mocked up linac tunnel stretching a couple of metres and ending in a crash mat, children accelerated like electrons in a cavity and even had their average speed measured. "We recorded every of the approximately 3000 runs," explained Marc Wenskat of DESY's linear collider accelerator group, one of more than 1200 volunteers who tirelessly explained to visitors what they do all day, and why. "Considering that most kids had more than one go, we estimate that some 1500 kids visited our stand – probably about equal to the number of children on site!" For the next open day - planned again to coincide with Hamburg's Night of Science in two years - the team is considering to turn the crash mat into a calorimeter to measure the runner's impact and make it even more of a linear collider experience. All images: Axel Heimken, DESY/European XFEL
Category: Image of the week | Tagged: accelerator R&D, DESY, DESYDAY, detector R&D, European XFEL
Barbara Warmbein | 17 September 2015Calorimeter prototypes have been taking showers at CERN – particle showers, that is. Detector developers have just packed up their equipment after finishing a campaign to understand the time structure of hadron showers. And they are happy with what they achieved. Find out how a beer chiller played a role in the test beam as well…
Category: Around the World | Tagged: CALICE, calorimeter, CERN, DESY, detector R&D, Fermilab, KEK, MPI, particle flow, test beam
Mike Harrison | 30 April 2015The organisers arranged a special “Tokyo Event”, to highlight the benefits of the ILC to Japanese society. More than 400 politicians, industry, media and workshop participants heard about the Tokyo Statement, Japanese demographics and followed a panel discussion that included the claim that physicists come across as ignorant. Mike Harrison sums up his impressions.
Category: Director's Corner | Tagged: ALCW2015, CERN, DESY, IPMU, Japan, Tokyo Statement, Tokyo Symposium, TRIUMF, University of Tokyo