LEP - The lord of the collider rings at CERN 1980-2000: the making, operation and legacy of the world's largest scientific instrument

Housed by a 4 m diameter tunnel of 27 km circumference, with huge undergroundlabs 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 evercreated 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 timewhen the discovery of the Higgs boson seemed within reach. Written by the main actor in charge of making LEP a reality, this is the definitive account of the great story of a machine and the many thousands of scientists and engineersinvolved INDICE: 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.- UnlovedBut 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.

• ISBN: 978-3-540-89300-4
• Editorial: Springer
• Encuadernacion: Cartoné
• Páginas: 200
• Fecha Publicación: 01/02/2009
• Nº Volúmenes: 1
• Idioma: Inglés