Particle Accelerators: From Big Bang Physics to Hadron Therapy

293 Pages·2015·10.8 MB·English

by  Ugo Amaldi (auth.)

Particle Accelerators:
From Big Bang
Physics to
Hadron Therapy
Ugo Amaldi
Particle Accelerators: From Big Bang Physics
to Hadron Therapy
ThiSisaFMBlankPage
Ugo Amaldi
Particle Accelerators:
From Big Bang Physics
to Hadron Therapy
With the Collaboration of Adele La Rana
Translated by Geoffrey Hall
UgoAmaldi
CERN
Europ.OrganizationforNuclearResearch
Geneva23
Switzerland
ThetranslationofthisworkhasbeenfundedbySEPSSEGRETARIATOEUROPEOPER
LEPUBBLICAZIONISCIENTIFICHE,ViaVald’Aposa7,40123Bologna,Italy;e-mail:
[email protected];www.seps.it.
Translation from the Italian language edition of: Sempre piu` veloci, Copyright © 2012
ZanichellieditoreS.p.A.,Bologna[6331].
Authorized translation from Italian language edition published by Zanichelli. All Rights
Reserved.
ISBN978-3-319-08869-3 ISBN978-3-319-08870-9(eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-08870-9
SpringerChamHeidelbergNewYorkDordrechtLondon
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2014955693
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Coverfigure:Threeimagesshowingthethreeaspectsofparticleacceleratorsdiscussedinthebook:
machines,particlephysicsandmedicalapplications.
Credits:1)Digitalpainting,“InsearchoftheHiggsboson:H->ZZ”:XavierCortada(withtheparticipation
ofphysicistPeteMarkowitz),digitalart,2013;2)ArtisticviewofLHC(Geneva):©CERN;3)Proton
treatmentroomattheMassachusettsGeneralHospitalFrancisH.BurrProtonBeamTreatmentCenter
(Boston,USA):CourtesyIBA
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Preface
Theideaforthisbookgrewgraduallyovertime,takingshapefromalong-standing
enthusiasmforparticleacceleratorswhichoriginatedwhenItookmyfirststepsin
theworldofresearch.Howtoapproachthisthemebecamecleartomewhen,many
yearsago,Ireadwhathadbeenwrittenby“Viki”Weisskopf,DirectorGeneralof
CERNfrom1961to1965:“Therearethreekindsofphysicists,namelythemachine
builders, the experimental physicists, and the theoretical physicists. The machine
buildersarethemostimportantones,becauseiftheywerenotthere,wewouldnot
get into this small-scale region ofspace. If we compare this with the discovery of
America,themachinebuilderscorrespondtocaptainsandshipbuilderswhoreally
developed the techniques at that time. The experimentalists were those fellows on
the ships who sailed to the other side of the world and then landed on the new
islands and wrote down what they saw. The theoretical physicists are those who
stayed behind in Madrid and told Columbus that he was going to land in India.”
ThescientificadventuresanddiscoveriesIrecountinthisbookhavethusasmain
characters the machine builders, neglected heroes of the history of physics who
rarely appear in the many excellent books on particle physics and cosmology
publishedsofar.
During my career, I carried out experiments in fundamental physics at six
different particle accelerators (two in Italy and four at CERN), and I have also
published many papers dedicated to this type of instruments and have taught the
subjectinuniversitycoursesaswell.Ihavehadthegreatgoodfortunetomeet,and
insomecasestoworksidebysidewith,severalamongthosepersonswholaidthe
foundation of these extraordinary machines, which are capable of breaking down
matter into its fundamental constituents but also serve as an invaluable means of
diagnosisandtreatmentofcancer.Thisdoubleaspectofinstruments,attheservice
ofknowledgeontheonehandandintheserviceofhealthontheother,rendersthem
a perfect example of how pure science and applied science are intimately interre-
latedandindivisible.
Thefirsteditionofthisbookwaspublishedasapocket-sizedpaperbackinItaly
inOctober2012.Thefollowingyear,ittooksecondplaceintheNationalPrizefor
vii
viii Preface
ScientificCommunicationawardedbytheItalianBookAssociation,aneventwhich
encouragedmetoexpandthecontentforasuccessoredition,includingmaterialand
personalities which I had to regretfully omit from the first. The result is that the
English version has grown to become a volume twice the size of the Italian one,
withmanymorefiguresandcitations.
For both editions, the collaboration of Adele La Rana, physicist and scientific
writer, has been invaluable; she provided attentive and critical rereading and
innumerable suggestions for much improved explanatory clarity and took respon-
sibilityforthesearchforartworkandthevariouseditorialphases.
The English edition has been much enhanced by the sensitive translation of
Geoffrey Hall, who not only rendered with clarity the spirit of the text but also
contributed – with helpful criticisms and suggestions – to correct errors and
inaccuraciesandtomakethetextmorecomprehensible.
MygratitudeisalsoextendedtoAlvaroDeRujula,FrankCloseandGinoSegre`,
who as scientists and communicators have provided me with important external
perspectives; to Marco Durante, Michael Goitein and Gerhard Kraft, for their
accurate and valuable criticisms of the chapters dedicated to accelerators for
medical applications; to Guido Altarelli, Giorgio Brianti, Roberto Orecchia and
Sandro Rossi, for the careful readings and suggestions; and to Federico Tibone,
formereditor oftheseriesinwhich theItalian editionwasincluded,who contrib-
utedwithcorrectionsandadvicetothelaterimprovementoftheEnglishversion.I
amparticularlythankfultoRamonKhanna,myeditoratSpringer,whobelievedin
the project from the outset and who provided many suggestions and has been
patientwithmeduringmymanydelays.
Finally, I would like to thank Paolo Magagnin, for having helped me produce
severalcomplex,previouslyunpublishedfiguresincludedinthisbook,andDaniele
Bergesio, who lent his enthusiasm for photography to depict the CERN locations
citedatthestartofeachchapter.
Geneva,Switzerland UgoAmaldi
Prologue
TheathleteswhoparticipateintheOlympicGamesrunandswimeverfaster,even
if, with the passing of time, it becomes ever more challenging to beat former
records. Thesame can besaidofthe particlesthattravel at(almost!)the speedof
light in accelerators, those microscopes of the infinitely small. Everyone under-
stands the motivations of athletes andOlympic organisers; physicists’ reasons are
insteadmuchlesscleartonon-experts.
Thequestion“whyaccelerateparticles?”hasbecomeevenmorefrequentsince–
inJuly 2012– physicists from the Large Hadron Collider(or LHC) at the CERN
laboratorynearGenevaannouncedthediscoveryoftheHiggsboson.Itisaquestion
which I will try to answer in this book, beginning with the history of a few
importantphysicaldiscoveriesandsomeofthemaincharactersinvolved.
Aswewillsee,itisastoryinwhichresearchonfundamentalaspectsofnature–from
thestructureofmattertotheoriginoftheuniverse–isinterwovenwithapplicationsof
greatpracticalvalue,inparticularfordiagnosisandtreatmentofourillnesses.
Subatomic Microscopes, Particle Factories
The important development of particle accelerators, devices that usually have a
circularshape,beganabout80yearsago.
Initially,forsomedecades,theywereusedtostudythestructureofmatter:fast
particles,onceaccelerated,weredirectedontoatarget,forexampleasmallpieceof
metal.Observingtheproductsofthecollisionsprovidedinformationonthestruc-
ture of atomic nuclei in the bombarded material. It was rather like exploring the
contentsofadarkenedroombythrowingalotofmarblesintoitandobservingthe
rebounds.
Subsequently,theattentionofphysiciststurnedtothenewparticlesproducedin
the collision between a fast particle and an atomic nucleus. Energy can be
transformed into mass, as predicted by the relationship E¼mc2 discovered by
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