LEP - The Lord of the Collider Rings at CERN 1980-2000 (eBook)

Foreword 5
Prologue 6
Contents 8
Chapter 1 Why LEP and Why at CERN? 12
Is Curiosity-Driven Research Justified? 12
Colliders Surpass Accelerators 14
The Stage for a World Facility 17
The Birth of LEP 19
References 21
Chapter 2 The Difficult Decision of LEP's Size and Energy 22
The Optimization of Construction Cost 22
The LEP Studies 25
References 28
Chapter 3 The Approval, or How To Persuade Governments 29
The Unification of CERN 29
Adapting to the Austere Conditions 32
The Final Proposal -- with the LHC in Mind 33
The Painful Approval Procedure 36
The Thorny Consequences of a Limited Budget 38
References 40
Chapter 4 The Tunnelling Adventure 41
The Different Elements of Civil Engineering 41
The Geology and Hydrology 44
The Choice of the Final Position 45
The Tunnelling Strategy 48
The Civil Engineering -- Expectations and Reality 52
Geodesy 59
The Arbitration 60
What Else? 61
References 62
Chapter 5 The Environment -- People and Nature 63
Dialogue with the Population 63
Radiation Safety -- Hazards for the Population? 64
Legal Problems 65
The Environmental Study -- Étude d'Impact 67
Energy Consumption 68
Additional Measures 69
References 70
Chapter 6 LEP -- The Technical Challenge 71
How Does a Collider Work? 72
The `Concrete' Magnets 75
The Vacuum System 79
The Radio-Frequency Accelerating System 81
Copper Cavities 81
Superconducting Cavities 85
Other Components 88
Transport in Tunnel 88
Control System 90
Conventional Equipment and Safety 91
Injection System 92
The Final Steps 94
Installation and Dismantling 94
Dismantling 95
The First Collisions 96
References 99
Chapter 7 The LEP Experiments -- Institutions in Themselves 100
The Approval of the LEP Detectors 100
A Meeting in the Swiss Alps and Letters of Intent 101
The LEP Experiments Committee 103
The Conditional Approval 104
A Typical Detector and Detection Methods 107
The Four LEP Detectors 111
Data Acquisition and Evaluation 117
Organization and Management of the Collaborations 119
References 121
Chapter 8 What Have We Learned from LEP? -- Physics Results 122
What Is the Standard Model? 124
Building Blocks of Matter 124
The Forces of Nature 127
Symmetries -- the New Paradigms 130
The Symmetries of the Standard Model 131
The Z Factory -- Results from LEP 1 133
Results for the Weak Interaction 136
Results for the Strong Nuclear Force 139
Results from LEP 2 141
W Particle Production 141
Looking for the Invisible -- the Top Quark 144
The Higgs Particle -- Disappointment but! 146
Hints Beyond the Standard Model 147
Summary of LEP Results 149
References 150
Chapter 9 Creating New Technologies 152
Basic Research Leads to Quantum Jumps in New Technologies 152
The Technological `Spin-Off' 154
Transfer Through Patents and the World Wide Web 154
Joint-Development Contracts 155
Technology Transfer by Procurement 157
Technology Transfer by People 159
References 161
Chapter 10 Unloved but Necessary -- Management and Finances 162
The Kendrew Committee 162
The Abragam Committee 164
Personnel Policy 167
The LEP Management and Budget 170
The Total CERN Budget 172
References 175
Chapter 11 How To Invite the Pope? -- VIP Visits 176
References 187
Chapter 12 CERN -- Bringing Nations Together 188
References 192
Chapter 13 The Complicated Transition from LEP to the LHC 193
References 199
Chapter 14 The Dramatic Last Period of LEP 200
References 204
Acknowledgments 205
Appendix: CERN Organigram 1984 206
Appendix: Leading CERN Staff During the LEP Project 207
Glossary 209
Index 213