Synopses & Reviews
Housed by a 4 m diameter tunnel of 27 km circumference, with huge underground labs and numerous surface facilities, and set up with a precision of 0.1 mm per kilometer, the Large Electron-Positron Collider (LEP) was not only the largest but also one of the most sophisticated scientific research instrument ever created by Man. Located at CERN, near Geneva, LEP was built during the years 1983 - 1989, was operational until 2000, and corroborated the standard model of particle physics through continous high precision measurements. The Author, director-general of CERN during the crucial period of the construction of LEP, recounts vividly the convoluted decision-making and technical implementation processes - the tunnel alone being a highly challenging geo- and civil engineering project - and the subsequent extremely fruitful period of scientific research. Finally he describes the difficult decision to close down LEP, at a time when the discovery of the Higgs boson seemed within reach. LEP was eventually dismantled in 2000, enabling the tunnel to be reused for building the next generation machine, the much more powerful Large Hadron Collider (LHC), an upgrade then called LEP3 and foreseen from the beginning. It became operational just as this account was being completed. Written by the main protagonist responsible for making LEP a reality, this is the definitive inside story of a remarkable machine and the many thousands of scientists and engineers from around the world, whose efforts contributed to the new knowledge it produced.
Review
Aus den Rezensionen: "... In dem Buch kann man weiterhin viel über den Aufbau und die Wirkungsweise der Experimente und über die wichtigsten wissenschaftlichen Ergebnisse erfahren. Das Buch ist allgemeinverständlich geschrieben. Das Standardmodell der Elementarteilchenphysik, die Wirkungsweise eines Speicherrings und der Aufbau der Detektoren werden gut erklärt. Besonders interessant sind auch die Ausführungen, welche die Ausstrahlung des CERN in Politik, Wirtschaft und in das wissenschaftliche Umfeld schildern." (Erich Lohrmann, in: Physik Journal, February/2010, Vol. 9, Issue 2, S. 50)
Review
From the reviews: "Herwig Schopper's energy and vitality remain undimmed, even though he turned 85 this year ... . His book surveys the two decades of the Large Electron-Positron (LEP) collider, extending far beyond his own reign as CERN director-general in the years 1981-88. ... The Lord of the Collider Rings is a valuable addition to particle-physics literature but it is mainly written for insiders." (Gordon Fraser, CERN Courier, Vol. 49 (9), November, 2009) "Being a CERN director-general is not simply a case of being an expert in particle physics and accelerator design, as Herwig Schopper describes in The Lord of the Collider Rings at CERN: 1980-2000 ... . As lab boss for most of the 1980s, Schopper also needed to handle billion-dollar budgets, manage rival teams of ambitious researchers, and deal with politicians ... . the book will be essential material for professional historians looking back on CERN's golden years." (Physics World, March, 2010)
Synopsis
The author of this fascinating volume was director-general of CERN during the crucial period of the collider's construction and recounts vividly the convoluted decision-making, technically challenging construction, and fruitful research at the facility.
Table of Contents
Prelude.- Why LEP and why at CERN?.- The Difficult Decision of LEP's Size and Energy.- The Approval or How to Persuade Governments.- The Tunnelling Adventure.- The Environment - People and Nature.- The Technical Challenge of the Machine.- The "Experiments" - International Institutions by Themselves.- What Have we Learned - Physics Results.- Creating New Technologies.- Unloved But Necessary - Management and Finances.- How to Invite the Pope?.- CERN - Bringing Nations Together.- The Complicated Relation Betwen LEP and LHC.- The Dramatic End of LEP.- Acknowledgments.- Annexes.- Index