Rika Takahashi | 10 September 2009One of the most important subject in future high-energy experiments is to search and investigate the Higgs particle – the last missing piece of the Standard Model. Another important subject is the investigation of physics beyond the Standard Model such as supersymmetry. From 31 August to 3 September, the first “GRACE school”, the school for one of the important tools for quests in high-energy physics, was held at KEK in Tsukuba, Japan in cooperation with Kogakuin University.
Category: Feature | Tagged: GRACE, KEK, school, Tsukuba
3 September 2009Still in early stages and several years away from being built, the ILC is garnering key design insights from Cornell scientists, who are creating a prototype of a major ILC component called a damping ring. The two-year project, which involves reconfiguring Cornell's existing electron storage ring (CESR) into a damping ring, is called CESR Test Accelerator (CesrTA).
27 August 2009At the Accelerator Test Facility (ATF) at KEK, researchers around the world are testing the feasibility of their accelerator techniques. Because the ILC beams are very small, very accurate and precise beam diagnostic measurements are required. Physicists from Notre Dame University, US, and Oxford University, UK, visited ATF2 in July to make tests relevant to beam diagnostic measurement.
Category: Feature | Tagged: ATF, beam diagnostic, KEK, Notre Dame University, Oxford University, United Kingdom, United States
20 August 2009Do you remember where you were and what you did exactly five years ago today? People who were working on the ILC then will almost certainly be able to tell you their story of 20 August 2004 – after all it was the day that set the course for the future of the project. During the ICHEP conference in Beijing, the International Committee for Future Accelerators ICFA announced its conclusion that the ILC should be built with 'cold' superconducting rather than 'warm' X-band radiofrequency technology, following the carefully made selection by the International Technology Recommendation Panel or ITRP. Symmetry magazine – itself still in its infancy then – published two gripping stories on the decision making process (The road to Beijing) and on the cold technology (Sold on cold) that make a fascinating anniversary read. Less fascinating but also interesting: the press release ICFA sent out on the day.
Category: Feature | Tagged: cold technology
13 August 2009Helium is the lifeblood of large particle accelerators. As the world’s supply dwindles, the particle physics community must take steps to preserve this precious commodity or learn to live without it.
Category: Feature | Tagged: cryogenics, Helium
Rika Takahashi | 6 August 2009On 7 July, while the Emperor and Empress of Japan were visiting Canada, Nigel Lockyer, the director of TRIUMF, gave a lecture at the Canada – Japan Particle Accelerator Science Symposium at the Embassy of Canada in Tokyo, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Canada. Today, Canada and Japan are partners in numerous international groups and organisations such as the G8, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the Organisation for Co-operation and Development (OECD). This symposium showcased one of many Canada-Japan collaborations: the active partnership in accelerator science.
Category: Feature | Tagged: Canada, Canada-Japan collaboration, Japan, TRIUMF
30 July 2009As we are celebrating the 200th issue of NewsLine, we would like to take the opportunity to conduct a survey about your experience with the newsletter.
Category: Feature | Tagged: survey
Perrine Royole-Degieux | 16 July 2009Ingrid Gregor and her team will have a very busy summer. As a particle physicist, she coordinates a successful device for test beam infrastructures, the EUDET telescope, which is fully booked at CERN during the next four months. In her rare spare time, she also experiences the joys of blogging as she just joined the team of the ILC Quantum Diarists.
Category: Feature | Tagged: DESY, EUDET, EUDET telescope
9 July 2009The International Linear Collider had more than a dozen circuit pixel-detector technologies to choose from for their vertex detectors. Now, they can choose from many more design options thanks to a ground-breaking partnership among national laboratories, universities and industry.
Category: Feature | Tagged: 3-D silicon technology, detector R&D, vertex detector
2 July 2009Just a 15-minute walk from Matsumoto Castle in Nagano prefecture, which is considered a national treasure of Japan, you’ll find Shinshu University, where the International Conference on Photon Detectors, or PD09, was held from 24 to 26 June. The conference was attended by 55 photon-sensor experts in the field of high-energy physics, nuclear physics, cosmic-ray physics and medical science, along with three companies–Hamamatsu, SEIKO EG&G and General Electric–to discuss the recent development of photon-sensors and various applications. In 2007, both the ILC and the T2K neutrino experiment project groups initiated this bi-yearly conference in Kobe to collaborate on the use of the multi-pixel photon counter (MPPC) and other newly developed photon-sensors.
Category: Feature | Tagged: MPPC, photon sensor
