Ireland, CERN and the LHC

There was more coverage of the opening of the LHC in the Irish media over the weekend. My favourite was Ross O’ Carroll Kelly’s piece on the end of the world in The Irish Times on Saturday.

(Three rugger buggers are cowering behind the sofa: “Any last wishes before they hit the button?” – “Yes, I wish I’d studied physics at UCD instead of Orts”).

R.O.C.K. I wish I’d studied physics at UCD instead of Orts

I personally think this sort of coverage gets science into public consciousness far better than any number of earnest articles and letters. More seriously, there was also an excellent article titled ‘Science fact of fiction’ in the same paper on the reporting of ‘nonscience’ such as earth-eating black holes.

Best of all, The Irish Times devoted their Saturday editorial to the LHC, describing the importance of the experiment and bemoaning the lack of participation of Irish scientists due to the fact that Ireland is not a member of CERN. On the same page, they also published a letter of mine on the same subject – not as good as getting an article published, but it’s not every day one’s letter coincides with the theme of the editorial..

Hopefully, all this coverage will help re-ingnite the debate on Irish membership of CERN once more.. .below is my letter

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Madam, – The Irish Times has given exemplary coverage of recent events at Cern, The European Organisation for Nuclear Research, with comprehensive articles, cartoons and other pieces all helping to raise public awareness of this outstanding international scientific centre.

It is a proud moment for Europe, as the experiments at the new particle accelerator will be watched with intense interest by scientists the world over for information on the fundamental structure of matter, and on the evolution of the early universe.

However, as your Science Editor Dick Ahlstrom points out, the participation of Irish scientists in this historic research will be severely limited by the fact that the Republic, almost uniquely among western European nations, is not a member of Cern. This oversight has decimated Irish research in particle physics, despite a proud tradition in the field (Ireland’s only Nobel prize in science was awarded for the splitting of the atomic nucleus by Ernest Walton). More pragmatically, Irish high-tech companies are severely disadvantaged in bidding for the huge contracts available in engineering and information technology at Cern.

So much for our efforts to become a world leader in science and technology. – Yours, etc,

Dr CORMAC O’RAIFEARTAIGH,

Lecturer in Physics, Waterford Institute of Technology

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Update I: it looks like the editorial and my letter have sparked a debate on the topic, there are three letters on the subject in Tuesday’s Irish Times. One of them makes an interesting point:

Madam, – Both you and Dr Cormac O’Raifeartaigh (September 13th) have pointed out that Ireland, almost uniquely among European countries, is not a member of Cern. Surely the reason is simple: the presence of the dreaded word “nuclear” in the organisation’s title…

- Yours, etc,

DAVID SOWBY, Knocksinna Crescent, Dublin 18.

The point here is that Ireland is resolutely anti-nuclear (both power and weapons). Of course, it’s ironic if this is the problem – the name CERN is a misnomer, as it is the physics of elementary particles (not of the nucleus) that is studied at CERN. If you find David Sowby’s suggestion far-fetched consider another letter on the subject in the same paper:

Madam, – Unlike Dr Cormac O’Raifeartaigh (September 13th), I am not at all concerned that Ireland, “almost uniquely among western European nations”, did not pour millions of hard-earned taxpayers’ money into the Cern project.

Whenever I hear the words “nuclear research” other words, such as “Nagasaki” and “Chernobyl” spring to mind and I wish that Ernest Walton and his peers had not “split the atom”. I am sure that if “Irish high-tech companies” have the capability, they will not be “severely disadvantaged in bidding for huge contracts available in engineering and information technology” by our unwillingness to pour millions down the bottomless pit of Cern.

- Yours, etc,

W.J. MURPHY, Malahide, Co Dublin.

I rest my case – perhaps Irish scientists are paying a price for a famous misnomer!

Update II:

Two more letters on the subject in Wednesday’s Irish Times, both of them castigating W.J. Murphy above. Actually, I think they’re a little hard on him – how is Joe Public supposed to guess that the European Organization for Nuclear Research is not involved in nuclear power or weapons? In fairness, it’s a pretty miseading title…here is what one of them said

Madam, – W.J. Murphy (September 16th) says, in a parody of Goering’s remark about Kultur, “Whenever I hear the words ‘nuclear research’ other words, such as ‘Nagasaki’ and ‘Chernobyl’ spring to mind’.

This ridiculous statement demonstrates the widespread ignorance that exists about anything to do with nuclear matters. The words “nuclear research” in Cern’s title refer solely to man’s attempts to discover the basic nature of the matter of which everything in the universe is made. At Cern it has nothing to do with weapons or power.

The comment about Ernest Walton and his peers is merely petty and uneducated. – Yours, etc,

DAVID SOWBY, Knocksinna Crescent, Dublin 18.

True, but a bit harsh, in my opinion

Update III: More letters on the topic in Thursday’s Irish Times. The hapless W. J. Murphy responds to the criticism above by retracting and apologising for the ‘nuclear’ slur, but raises a more difficult issue:

Madam, – David Sowby and George Reynolds (September 17th) are understandably critical of my letter of the previous day, but this is based on a misunderstanding. That is probably my fault: in an attempt to be brief, I grossly over-simplified a complex argument. I would agree with both of their points.

I wonder if they would agree with my substantive point: that the immediate results of the Cern project would not justify the pouring of millions of hard-earned Irish taxpayers money into it and that Irish high-tech companies that have the capability to win contracts in engineering and information technology will not be disadvantaged by this?

I accept that the word “nuclear” means different things to different people. And I should not have referred to Ernest Walton, mea culpa. – Yours, etc,

W J MURPHY, Malahide, Co Dublin

This is the hard question of course: would this money be better spent elsewhere? My own view is that the annual fee (about 10 million) is smaller than some Science Foundation Ireland grants for domestic research – the difference is that CERN is truly world-class work. Just how much it costs to deprive our staff and students the opportunity to work at this level will probably never be known. (We do know for a fact that Irish high-tech companies are seriously disadvantaged in bidding for the most lucrative contracts due to our non-membership, Murphy is quite wrong on this).

Update IV: I have written a new letter to The Irish Times on the above points. They won’t print it, having closed the debate, thus leaving Murphy with the last (incorrect) word. Sigh. I suspect this is why most scientists choose not to get involved in public debate

LHC: D-day at last

So the big news: the first proton beam got all the way around the LHC ring this morning without mishap. Cue much celebration in the CERN control room and around the particle physics community.

There is a live webcast available on the CERN website, although some people are having problems viewing it due to the huge interest. There are also some great updates by physicists at the scene describing the day’s events on blogs such such as US LHC Blog, RESONAANCES, Charm&C, Higgs

The redoubtable Lubos Motl has a great discussion on his blog The Reference Frame explaining why he expects supersymmetry to be seen at the LHC, it’s a very nice piece

For more live postings describing the day’s events, see the list on the international particle physics website interactions.org , it’s almost as good as being there.

P.S. No earth-eating black hole so far…surprise surprise.

Update: the Science Gallery at Trinity College Dublin are celebrating with an open day on the topic, with live feeds, talks and commentary by physicists all day…well worth popping in

Update: a second success… a proton beam successfully completed the loop in the opposite direction in the afternoon, this is way ahead of schedule.

LHC: it’s not the end of the world

The world is not going to end tomorrow (September 10th) and the LHC startup does not constitute a danger to the public, contrary to claims by one or two scientists (non-physicists) that have been widely reported in the media (see here and here for example). Instead, tomorrow marks the beginning of an exciting new era in particle physics – the start of experiments at the world’s most powerful particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.

Below is part of an article on the LHC that I wrote for an Irish newspaper (they may not use it, thanks to a large number of articles on the same topic by people who know little about the subject). The two main points I wanted to highlight were the safety of the experiment, and the fact that Ireland, almost uniquely among EU nations, is not a member of CERN – despite the fact that our only Nobel prize in science is in precisely this area.

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September 2008 marks an important month for European science. This month, measurements begin at the new “atom-smasher” at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research. Long the jewel in the crown of European science, CERN truly becomes the NASA of the sub-atomic world with the opening of its Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s newest and most powerful particle accelerator.

Situated in a vast 27 km-long tunnel deep beneath the Franco-Swiss border, the new machine at CERN is probably the largest scientific experiment on planet earth. The experiments at the facility will be watched with intense interest by scientists the world over for information on the fundamental structure of matter, and on the evolution of the early universe.

How does it work? Beams of the smallest particles of matter travelling almost at the speed of light will be smashed together in head-on collision. Out of the intense energy of collision, exotic short-lived elementary constituents of matter not seen since the Big Bang will be fleetingly created and tracked in giant particle detectors.

Such experiments offer not only a glimpse of the deep structure of matter, but also of the nature of the forces that hold it together. For example, evidence of the existence of the elusive Higgs boson or ‘God particle’ could offer support for the so-called Standard Model of particle physics, confirming that our view of the origin of mass is correct. Glimpses of exotic entities such as ’supersymmetric’ particles could reveal deep connections between all the fundamental forces of nature. Other experiments might reveal the true nature of space and time.

Cosmologists hope that the experiments at CERN might offer insight into the formation of the early universe, as the giant collider will achieve energies not seen since the Big Bang. In particular, a glimpse of certain particles could shed light on the nature of Dark Matter, one of the great puzzles of the universe at large.

Is the LHC safe? This question has recently received much attention in the world’s media. In fact, the accelerator is simply a more powerful version of previous machines and constitutes no danger to the public. Rumours that it could create a giant earth-eating black hole arise from a misunderstanding of the physics of black holes (although there is an intriguing possibility that harmless mini-black holes could be created in the experiment).

The 27km tunnel at CERN: experiments will not destroy the earth

Such research into the realm of the sub-atomic might seem of dubious practical application in today’s world. However, the technical spin-offs of experiments at facilities such as CERN are legendary. In 1990, the world wide web was created by CERN physicist Tim Berners-Lee in order to provide a platform for scientists to share and analyse experimental data. Accelerator technology developed at CERN is now routinely used in important medical applications. Most recently, CERN scientists have pioneered the use of GRID computing, a new type of computing that involves the networking of thousands of computers, in order to facilitate the analysis of vast amounts of data that will be collected at the LHC.

CERN is regularly cited as an outstanding example of European collaboration. Created in the 1950s to counter the brain-drain of European scientists to the U.S., it now provides a world-class facility for the scientists of over 20 European nations, while a host of non-European nations such as China Japan, India, the U.S. and Russia all enjoy associate membership. In fact, there are more American particle physicists working at CERN today than in the U.S.

Europe has reason to be proud, but Ireland has not. The participation of Irish scientists in the historic experiments will be severely limited by the fact that the Republic, almost uniquely among EU nations, is not a member of CERN. This omission has decimated Irish research in experimental particle physics, one of the most fundamental fields of the sciences (with the honourable exception of one group at UCD). It has also rendered it almost impossible for Irish engineers and scientists to bid for the large international contracts in high-tech software and hardware projects, a fact that sits awkwardly with our efforts to become a world leader in science and technology.

Strangest of all, Ireland has a proud tradition in this field of science. In 1932, the Irish scientist Ernest Walton and his Cambridge colleague John Cockcroft built the world’s first particle accelerator and used it to split the atomic nucleus, an achievement for which they were awarded the Nobel prize. This work opened up the field of sub-atomic physics, and a version of their machine is used today as a preliminary accelerator in the new facility at CERN.
One wonders what Walton would have made of the Irish absence at CERN at this historic time…

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P.S. Just about every physicist with a blog is writing about the CERN experiments this week, there is a good list of blogs on the topic on the particle physics website interactions.org