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[2014] Last Full Day2014-01-31 - Today was our last full day of the trip, but alas no more visits to CERN. Instead we toured the French Alps, further developing and solidifying our relationships with our Finnish friends. We took a two hour bus ride to Chamonix, a French town at the base of Mont Blanc. Mont Blanc is the highest peak in Europe, and sits amid the French portion of the Alps. The weather was fantastic, the scenery was beautiful, and everybody had a tremendous time.
We returned to the hostel at 6pm, enough time to get cleaned up and have one last group dinner. Our final evening meeting was an opportunity to once again thank everyone for a brilliant week, and to exchange contact information so that we can stay in touch in the future.
We returned to the hostel at 6pm, enough time to get cleaned up and have one last group dinner. Our final evening meeting was an opportunity to once again thank everyone for a brilliant week, and to exchange contact information so that we can stay in touch in the future.
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[2014] Third Day at CERN2014-01-30 - We started off for CERN early today, since we were visiting the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS). CMS is on the opposite side of the LHC to the visitor center, so the shuttle ride was significantly longer than before.
We began at the introductory tent, where we were able to touch samples of the wires used in the 3.8 Tesla strong magnetic field created by the solenoid. We also handled the dense lead tungstate that is used in CMS to absorb decay products and measure their energies.
After passing briefly through the control room, mostly vacant due to the shutdown, we were taken toward the detector cavern itself. After seeing down a 100 meter (328 feet) cavern, we were taken to the elevator itself. Before our descent, we donned our visitor hard hats.
We first passed through the counting room, which housed the trigger computers. They take the initial wave of data from the sensors during collisions and select the events that are of interest to the researchers.
Then, for the most exciting visit and for many the highlight of the trip, we were granted the rare permission to enter the CMS cavern and see the detector up close. With no beam in operation and radiation levels well within safe tolerance zones, we were able to get within a few meters of the 14,000 metric ton detector. For several minutes, everyone stood in awe of this massive feat of engineering.
We enjoyed our final lunch at the CERN cafeteria and sadly bid adieu to the CERN campus.
The afternoon was spent in small groups of Finnish and American students as we took a planned tour of Geneva. We had the opportunity not only to see some of the historical sites but also to get to know the students even better. Particular highlights included the United Nations Building, the oldest standing structure in Geneva, and the iconic fountain in Lake Leman.
The evening, and the conclusion of our CERN activities, was brought to a close at a group dinner at a fondue restaurant. A good meal was enjoyed by all, and each member of the group described their favorite moments of our time at CERN.
We look forward to a fun-filled day tomorrow as we continue our group-building activities to forge stronger relationships with the Finnish students.
We began at the introductory tent, where we were able to touch samples of the wires used in the 3.8 Tesla strong magnetic field created by the solenoid. We also handled the dense lead tungstate that is used in CMS to absorb decay products and measure their energies.
After passing briefly through the control room, mostly vacant due to the shutdown, we were taken toward the detector cavern itself. After seeing down a 100 meter (328 feet) cavern, we were taken to the elevator itself. Before our descent, we donned our visitor hard hats.
We first passed through the counting room, which housed the trigger computers. They take the initial wave of data from the sensors during collisions and select the events that are of interest to the researchers.
Then, for the most exciting visit and for many the highlight of the trip, we were granted the rare permission to enter the CMS cavern and see the detector up close. With no beam in operation and radiation levels well within safe tolerance zones, we were able to get within a few meters of the 14,000 metric ton detector. For several minutes, everyone stood in awe of this massive feat of engineering.
We enjoyed our final lunch at the CERN cafeteria and sadly bid adieu to the CERN campus.
The afternoon was spent in small groups of Finnish and American students as we took a planned tour of Geneva. We had the opportunity not only to see some of the historical sites but also to get to know the students even better. Particular highlights included the United Nations Building, the oldest standing structure in Geneva, and the iconic fountain in Lake Leman.
The evening, and the conclusion of our CERN activities, was brought to a close at a group dinner at a fondue restaurant. A good meal was enjoyed by all, and each member of the group described their favorite moments of our time at CERN.
We look forward to a fun-filled day tomorrow as we continue our group-building activities to forge stronger relationships with the Finnish students.
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[2014] Second Day at CERN2014-01-29 - After breakfast, we set out for our second day at CERN. This was a slightly later start to the day, but we were at CERN by 9:30am. In the morning, we visited two museums, giving us a change of pace from running from site to site. The first was the Microcosm center with several interactive demonstrations, including a model of Thomson's cathode ray tube and Rutherford's gold foil experiment. We then crossed over into the Globe, named for its spherical shape, which was full of information relating to CERN: the components of its detectors, the international outreach, and the scientific breakthroughs that made it possible. It also contained Tim Berners-Lee's proposal of the World Wide Web with the comment "Vague but exciting," as well as the first WWW server.
After a lunch at the CERN cafeteria, we met up as a group to discuss the topics assigned to the different schools, Finnish and American: the students were preparing presentations and papers on cosmic rays, antimatter, accelerators and detectors, and the Standard Model of elementary particle physics. Each group gave a brief overview of the material covered by their project as well as the project's current status. Some groups intended on presenting to their entire school, while others were putting together papers to submit to science competitions.
We then visited three locations in quick succession: the first was the Antiproton Decelerator (AD). A portion of the main proton beam is aimed at an iridium target, producing a small amount of antiprotons. These must then be decelerated, and so the technologies of a typical accelerator must be inverted. These slower antiprotons are bombarded with positrons to create a small quantity of antihydrogen, the simplest antimatter atom. Being neutral, however, antihydrogen atoms cannot be trapped using electric or magnetic fields. Trying to trap such neutral antiatoms remains an area of active research, as our guides told us. As the beam was inactive, we were able to actually go down into the accelerator tunnel.
After this, we had a brief visit to the CERN Control Center (CCC). Our guide pointed out the four sections of the control room, which were the Linac/PS, SPS, LHC, and cryogenic monitors.
Our final stop at CERN was the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), which was out of this world... literally! The small but robust detector was sent via Space Shuttle Endeavor to the International Space Station in 2011, and has been collecting data ever since. It was unaffected by the general shutdown, and we were able to see live collection of data about cosmic rays. In the control room we were able to see the seat of experiment leader Samuel C. C. Ting, co-discoverer of the J/psi meson at Brookhaven National Laboratory in the 1970s.
Once again, dinner was enjoyed by all. The evening meeting was brief, as we prepare for an exciting day at CERN tomorrow, the final day of our three day adventure.
After a lunch at the CERN cafeteria, we met up as a group to discuss the topics assigned to the different schools, Finnish and American: the students were preparing presentations and papers on cosmic rays, antimatter, accelerators and detectors, and the Standard Model of elementary particle physics. Each group gave a brief overview of the material covered by their project as well as the project's current status. Some groups intended on presenting to their entire school, while others were putting together papers to submit to science competitions.
We then visited three locations in quick succession: the first was the Antiproton Decelerator (AD). A portion of the main proton beam is aimed at an iridium target, producing a small amount of antiprotons. These must then be decelerated, and so the technologies of a typical accelerator must be inverted. These slower antiprotons are bombarded with positrons to create a small quantity of antihydrogen, the simplest antimatter atom. Being neutral, however, antihydrogen atoms cannot be trapped using electric or magnetic fields. Trying to trap such neutral antiatoms remains an area of active research, as our guides told us. As the beam was inactive, we were able to actually go down into the accelerator tunnel.
After this, we had a brief visit to the CERN Control Center (CCC). Our guide pointed out the four sections of the control room, which were the Linac/PS, SPS, LHC, and cryogenic monitors.
Our final stop at CERN was the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), which was out of this world... literally! The small but robust detector was sent via Space Shuttle Endeavor to the International Space Station in 2011, and has been collecting data ever since. It was unaffected by the general shutdown, and we were able to see live collection of data about cosmic rays. In the control room we were able to see the seat of experiment leader Samuel C. C. Ting, co-discoverer of the J/psi meson at Brookhaven National Laboratory in the 1970s.
Once again, dinner was enjoyed by all. The evening meeting was brief, as we prepare for an exciting day at CERN tomorrow, the final day of our three day adventure.
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[2014] First Day at CERN2014-01-28 - We arrived at CERN on a brisk Tuesday morning after a short tram ride. We started off with an overview presentation by Dr. Marc Goulette on the history of particle physics and what we will be seeing in the coming days.
After that, we saw the "A Toroidal LHC Apparatus" (ATLAS) detector and associated control center. Since the LHC is shut down for maintenance, there was a grand total of two employees manning the controls. ATLAS and "Compact Muon Solenoid" (CMS) co-discovered the Higgs boson. We were not able to go underground at ATLAS, but we did see some of the components and materials that make up the detector.
After that, we saw the proton source and "Linear Accelerator 2" (LinAc), where we learned about how the protons that are eventually collided are generated. The proton pulses are generated by ionizing hydrogen gas. A single 2 liter tank of hydrogen generates (much more than enough for) all the protons used in a year at the LHC (40 million bunches/sec). In roughly 30m, LinAc brings the protons up to 30% of the speed of light.
In the same facility, we saw the "Low Energy Ion Ring" (LEIR), which is used for heavy ion collision experiments. LEIR, is used roughly 6 weeks in a year, and completely ionizes lead atoms and accelerates them to study quark-gluon plasma.
We had lunch facing the "garden", which contained defunct particle detectors from before the 1980s, and surrounded by the Alps and the Jura, which provided a fantastic natural landscape.
We then visited SM18, which tested every single magnet that is in the LHC. The LHC is the first superconducting collider. The magnets are made of a Niobium-Titanium compound, which is cooled to 2.7K by superfluid Helium-3. The magnets generate a 8.4 Tesla magnetic field. There are 1232 magnets, costing more than 500,000 Euro apiece, along the length of the LHC, and each magnet has a small 9mm curvature in order to encompass the full 27km of the collider. These magnets are used to accelerate the protons to up to 14TeV.
We then visited the Computing Center. The Center is just 1/4 the size of Google's server network, and 1/3 the size of Facebook's, but is still a pinnacle of modern cluster architecture. In fact, most of the computing power used to analyze the data generated at the LHC is of an international network of computers, referred to as the "Grid".
We ended the day at CERN with a cloud chamber experiment, in which we built our own cloud chambers and observed cosmic rays. We created an isopropyl alcohol fog that cooled over dry ice to -40C/F. Cosmic rays that interacted with the fog condensed the vapor, leaving a trail of the particle's path. Although this is a very simple setup, the same mechanism was used to create the very first particle detectors. The cosmic rays provide an example of relativistic length contraction, as they are able to pass through the atmosphere unimpeded before reaching the chamber.
Dinner was enjoyed by all, and then we met as a group for our evening meeting in which we discussed plans for Wednesday. Afterwards, we had a wonderful opportunity to discuss school in the different countries and to simply get to know the other students.
After that, we saw the "A Toroidal LHC Apparatus" (ATLAS) detector and associated control center. Since the LHC is shut down for maintenance, there was a grand total of two employees manning the controls. ATLAS and "Compact Muon Solenoid" (CMS) co-discovered the Higgs boson. We were not able to go underground at ATLAS, but we did see some of the components and materials that make up the detector.
After that, we saw the proton source and "Linear Accelerator 2" (LinAc), where we learned about how the protons that are eventually collided are generated. The proton pulses are generated by ionizing hydrogen gas. A single 2 liter tank of hydrogen generates (much more than enough for) all the protons used in a year at the LHC (40 million bunches/sec). In roughly 30m, LinAc brings the protons up to 30% of the speed of light.
In the same facility, we saw the "Low Energy Ion Ring" (LEIR), which is used for heavy ion collision experiments. LEIR, is used roughly 6 weeks in a year, and completely ionizes lead atoms and accelerates them to study quark-gluon plasma.
We had lunch facing the "garden", which contained defunct particle detectors from before the 1980s, and surrounded by the Alps and the Jura, which provided a fantastic natural landscape.
We then visited SM18, which tested every single magnet that is in the LHC. The LHC is the first superconducting collider. The magnets are made of a Niobium-Titanium compound, which is cooled to 2.7K by superfluid Helium-3. The magnets generate a 8.4 Tesla magnetic field. There are 1232 magnets, costing more than 500,000 Euro apiece, along the length of the LHC, and each magnet has a small 9mm curvature in order to encompass the full 27km of the collider. These magnets are used to accelerate the protons to up to 14TeV.
We then visited the Computing Center. The Center is just 1/4 the size of Google's server network, and 1/3 the size of Facebook's, but is still a pinnacle of modern cluster architecture. In fact, most of the computing power used to analyze the data generated at the LHC is of an international network of computers, referred to as the "Grid".
We ended the day at CERN with a cloud chamber experiment, in which we built our own cloud chambers and observed cosmic rays. We created an isopropyl alcohol fog that cooled over dry ice to -40C/F. Cosmic rays that interacted with the fog condensed the vapor, leaving a trail of the particle's path. Although this is a very simple setup, the same mechanism was used to create the very first particle detectors. The cosmic rays provide an example of relativistic length contraction, as they are able to pass through the atmosphere unimpeded before reaching the chamber.
Dinner was enjoyed by all, and then we met as a group for our evening meeting in which we discussed plans for Wednesday. Afterwards, we had a wonderful opportunity to discuss school in the different countries and to simply get to know the other students.
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[2014] Arrival2014-01-27 - We started for Switzerland Sunday night, taking a red-eye to Heathrow, and then connecting to Geneva. We met up with the Finnish teachers and some of the students to take a tram from the airport to the hostel where we are staying. The hostel is extremely close to the Geneva Lake (pictured below).
We toured the city with the Finns in the the evening, seeing some mosaics, cannon, and French graffiti advocating the retention of diplomatic personnel.
We ate dinner at Prima Pasta with a few of the Finnish students and teachers. We returned to the hostel and had an evening meeting to discuss our plans for the next day. It looks like we will have a very busy day at CERN tomorrow, and we are all looking forward to gathering at one of the foremost physics research centers in the world.
We toured the city with the Finns in the the evening, seeing some mosaics, cannon, and French graffiti advocating the retention of diplomatic personnel.
We ate dinner at Prima Pasta with a few of the Finnish students and teachers. We returned to the hostel and had an evening meeting to discuss our plans for the next day. It looks like we will have a very busy day at CERN tomorrow, and we are all looking forward to gathering at one of the foremost physics research centers in the world.
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[2014] Welcome!2014-01-24 - Welcome to our blog! It will be updated daily with information about our time in Switzerland.