Interaction PointEvents and Happenings

in the SLAC CommunityFebruary 1996 Vol. 7, No. 2

SLAC Theorists Predict Hydrogen Antiatoms

by P.A. Moore

WITH ANTIATOMS now beingproduced in the laboratory, theantiworld may be here. An atomof antihydrogen was produced atthe CERN laboratory in Europerecently, but the theory behind itsproduction belongs to SLAC. In1993, Stanley Brodsky and CharlesMunger (SLAC) and Ivan Schmidt(Universidad Federico SantaMaria, Chile) published a paperthat described a process to createan atom of antihydrogen. An ordi-nary hydrogen atom has one posi-tive proton being orbited by anegative electron; with an anti-hydrogen atom, this is reversed.

The international team of CERNscientists lead by Prof. WalterOelert took negatively chargedantiprotons and passed themthrough a gas. Some of the antipro-tons passed through the gas unaf-fected, while others interacted withthe gas to form electron-positronpairs. Most of the antiprotons andpositrons moved out of the gas andwent their separate ways; but in afew rare instances, a positron wasattracted to the antiproton.

How important is this discoveryof laboratory-created antimatter?With three-fourths of our universecomposed of hydrogen, scientistsstudy this element to learn about ouruniverse. The study of antihydrogenaffords science the opportunity tocontinue research on the symmetrybetween matter and antimatter.

According to Munger, "Ourtheories of matter demand that the

frequencies of light emitted byhydrogen and antihydrogen beexactly identical; any deviation ofnature's true law from our theorywould have profound conse-quences." Munger and his col-leagues will test this hypothesis bymeasuring the Lamb shift inhydrogen in future Fermilabexperiments.

Can scientists now see the anti-world in this atom of antimatter?A poetic question, anticipated byWilliam Blake (1757-1827).

"To see a world in a grain of sandAnd a heaven in a wild flower,Hold infinity in the palm

of your handAnd eternity in an hour."

-Auguries of Innocence

Not since the beginning of the Universe...

Physicists announced January 4 that they had created the first atoms of anti-matter. Here is how they did it:

Antiprotonspass through ...A beam ofantiprotons (neg-atively chargedprotons) is shotinto xenon gas.

...Xenon gas, creating antielec-trons that can combine with...Some pass through unaffectedwhile others interact with thexenon to form antielectrons (posi-tively charged electrons). Theynormally exit the gas in separatepaths.

...Antiprotons, tocreate antimatter.

In very rare instances,the antielectrons areattracted to, andbegin to orbit, theantiprotons, creatingantihydrogen.

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Stanley Brodsky (left), Ivan Schmidt (center), and Charles Munger (right).

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Sherwin helps create Red Cross Web siteTHE FAMILIAR RED CROSSsurrounded by easy-to-followgraphic instructions introducesInternet surfers to the NationalAmerican Red Cross (Red Cross)World Wide Web (WWW) site(http://www.crossnet.org). Hyper-text links quickly lead users toimportant emergency information(such as disaster preparednessinstructions and local blood driveschedules) and up-to-date factsabout Red Cross activities in suchdiverse places as Bosnia, the Vir-gin Islands, and Marin County.The site was the brain child ofGreg Sherwin (Software Engineerin the Controls Department) andhis friend, Gunjan Sinha (ParsekCommunications).

Greg, a disaster services volun-teer for eight years, felt that creat-ing a Palo Alto Chapter WWW siteseemed an excellent way to edu-cate volunteers and donors, pro-mote Red Cross services, providea means of communicationbetween volunteers and chapters,and actively show the publicwhere their donations were going.In addition, chapter informationnormally found in a monthlynewsletter could be updatedinstantaneously on the Web.

While experimenting with theWWW, Greg stumbled across Gun-jan, another Red Cross volunteer,who was also working on a WWWsite. In true Silicon Valley fashion,the two began to meet over bot-tomless cups of cafe latte andmultigrain muffins, furiously writ-ing down their ideas on used nap-kins. They pooled their napkindata, along with other ideas andresources, to launch a nationalWWW site for the Red Cross andits 2,400 chapters.

Greg and Gunjan initially usedtheir own money to buy andassemble the necessary computersand computer network, and creat-

Greg Sherwin

ed most of the site's components.They wrote software and carefullyconstructed WWW pages thatwould be user-friendly and pro-vide important, interesting infor-mation.

Greg became the systemadministrator, maintaining thesite, updating local information onblood drives, sending informationfrom National Headquartersabout volunteers in OklahomaCity after the Oklahoma Citybombing, and fielding an oddassortment of compliments, sug-gestions, and requests, from siteusers. For example, a family whohad last heard of their grandfatherin China during World War IIwanted to know if the Red Crosscould help to locate him.

After the site was featured in aprominent charity-oriented jour-nal article, the idea caught on atthe Red Cross National Headquar-ters in Washington, and moneywas allocated to upgrade the sys-tem and purchase a server. Thismeant that Greg and Gunjan couldexpand their services, apply newtechnologies, track user questions,and access data. Other chapters

flooded them with requests fortips on how to set up their ownsites. Today, Red Cross chaptersall over the world are linked toeach other on the WWW.

Greg and Gunjan relinquishedcontrol of the local site to theNational Headquarters in thesummer of 1995, although theystill maintain the site and con-tribute to its content.

In addition to expanding thenotion of volunteerism, Greg hasobtained intellectual fulfillmentfrom the experience of creating aWWW site. His greatest satisfac-tion came from finally being ableto apply his computer knowledgeto assist the Red Cross. Greg'sefforts have also brought himfame, though not fortune-lookfor his insights into designing andmaintaining Web sites (and a mugshot to boot) in the upcomingbook Secrets of the Webmasters, byCharles Deemer, published byResolution Business Press, Inc.

-Ann McKillop

Welcome Guestsand New EmployeesMichael Benes, Mechanical Fabri-cation; Martin Byrd, Jr. MechanicalFabrication; Michelle DeCamara,Environmental Protection & Restora-tion; Marcos Esterman, Jr., Accel-erator Theory & Special Projects;Alexandr Korol, ExperimentalGroup E; Jeff Lwin, PEP-II B Facto-ry; Gregory Maudsley, AcceleratorOperations; Nancy McNiel, Techni-cal Information Services; PhillipNguyen, BaBar; Noritsugu Oishi,Experimental Group A; GaryPeterson, Mechanical Fabrication;Glenn Scheitrum, Klystron; JohnSchmerge, SSRL; Alfred Suarez,Mechanical Fabrication; Joseph"Jay" Venti, Mechanical FabricationAdministration; StephenWeathersby, Accelerator Opera-tions.

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Lana andTHINK PITCH-BLACK dark-ness. Extreme claustrophobia.Sweaty, warm breath you can onlysense, not see. For vacationingLana Smith of the FacilitiesDepartment and her friend Greg,these were sensations experiencedwhile hurricane Alexander blewover Cozumel, a small island offthe coast of Mexico.

Lana, Greg, and the otherguests were warned by the hotelstaff that Alexander was approach-ing at 128 mph, only two days aftertheir arrival. Since there was noquestion of leaving the island safe-ly, Greg and Lana got as muchinformation as they could and thencreated a refuge in the safest place-their windowless bathroom.They taped their hotel room win-dows to prevent broken glass fromflying into the room, arranged bed-ding on the bathroom floor, andbarricaded the door with the mat-

Alexandertress. Then they waited. Lying incramped positions, in silence, andcomplete darkness.

The storm began with a shrillnoise like an approaching freighttrain, quickly followed by thesound of roof tiles scattering, win-dows shattering, and their neigh-bors' screams. Their ears poppedfrom the sheer pressure of thewind. The doors bowed in and outand threatened to break anyminute. Despite the strong wind,Lana and Greg began to sweatuncontrollably. To keep sane, theykept telling themselves that theyhad done all they could to be safeand would come out of the experi-ence alive and well. Still, the com-bination of stress and boredomwas unbearable.

The hurricane blasted theisland continuously for 18 hours.When it was all over, Lana andGreg realized just how much their

extra precautions had paid off-they were shaken, stiff, and hun-gry but unhurt. Only two sets ofwindows in the entire hotelremained intact-theirs was one ofthem. People who had not takenextra precautions were injured byflying glass and were drenchedduring the entire storm. Lana andGreg walked around in a daze,seeing the devastation that litteredthe streets and wishing they hadstayed home.

Although the recent Bay Areastorms gave her a sense of deja vu,thoughts of the hurricane rarelyenter Lana's mind, perhapsbecause she did all she could to besafe and keep control over the situ-ation. Lana's advice to others in asimilar predicament: Don't loseyour head, follow emergencyinstructions precisely, and avoidtropical islands during the hurri-cane season.

-Ann McKillop

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Deborah DixonDEBORAH DIXON died January27 after a lengthy illness. She was44. Debbie started working inSLAC's Personnel Department in1968 while she was a senior inhigh school. Later she moved tothe Accounting Department,where she worked in AccountsPayable and Payroll for manyyears. In 1988 Debbie transferredto the Research Division, whereshe was a program planner.

A funeral mass attended by morethan 300 people was held on Febru-ary 1 at St. Francis of Assisi CatholicChurch in East Palo Alto. Friends,family, and community leadersattending the service testified toDebbie's interest in people and hercommittment to her community.

A tree will be planted in Debbie'smemory at SLAC. For informationabout the tree, call Cindy Imelli atext. 4243. The family has asked thatdonations be made to a scholarshipfund established by the alumni ofRavenswood High School. Dona-tions to the scholarship may be sentto Ravenswood High School AlumniAssociation, Inc., c/o Ms. MarthaHanks, 1184 Laurel Avenue, EastPalo Alto, CA 94303-1015. Debbie issurvived by her husband LouisCharles, her sons Duane and Jason,and a granddaughter.

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Richard EarlyRICHARD EARLY died on Janu-ary 4 of pneumonia. He was 61.Dick received his BS in Engineer-ing Physics from the University ofCalifornia, and his master's inphysics from San Jose State Uni-versity. Dick began working atSLAC in 1965 as an experimentalphysicist in the Research Division.In 1975 he transferred from theResearch Division to the TechnicalDivision, where he remained untilhis death. Over the years, Dickconcentrated more and more onmagnet programs, becoming aworld expert in the design of mag-nets of all kinds, so much so thathe was considered by many to beone of the foremost magnetdesigners in the world. "He had anintuitive understanding of theproperties of iron in magneticfields. He left his mark on the endstations, in the beam switch yard,on PEP, in SLC-in other words,everywhere magnets are used atSLAC," reminisced Steve St. Lorantof Experimental Facilities.

A memorial gathering was heldon February 7, where friends andcolleagues remembered Dick forhis kindness, his helpfulness, andhis corny jokes. A tree will beplanted at SLAC in Dick's memory.Dick is survived by his wife Joan, adaughter, and two sons.

Frank MenezesFRANK MENEZES died at hishome of a heart attack on Decem-ber 24, 1995. He was 43 years old.Frank started working at SLAC in1972 in the labor pool. He movedto the Purchasing Department,became an assistant Stores manag-er in 1985, and was made assistantmanager of Metal Stores in 1989.

Frank is remembered by hissupervisor Jerry Belk as "One ofthe most-loved persons at SLAC.Everyone respected him for hishigh moral character." Friends andcolleagues reflected a similar recol-lection of Frank, "If you had aproblem or just needed someoneto talk to, Frank was always thereto listen and offer you support. Hewill be missed."

An avid gardener, Frank lovedto take care of his many roses. Afragrant rose tree, called "FrenchPerfume," was planted in Frank'smemory in front of Building 81,and a dedication ceremony washeld in February. Frank is sur-vived by his wife Jill, their twochildren, Brandon, 5, andMatthew, 3, and by his daughter,Cindy, from a previous marriage.Anyone wishing to make a contri-bution to the family can contactLeslie Normandin at ext. 4350.

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WinterTHE STANFORD String Quartetperformed to an almost-full houseat the SLAC Auditorium on Janu-ary 30. Friends and spouses joinedthe staff for this special noonrecital including Beethoven'sQuartet Opus 95 ("Serioso") andRavel's String Quartet.

In the spirit of the Super Bowl,the quartet was honored at half-time. SLAC's Deputy Director andthe quartet's friend Sidney Drellpresented the group with a covet-ed beam tree that he described as"our dance of particles in the keyof e-." According to violinistSusan Freier, this award will join aframed copy of their first programon Ben's shelf in the quartet'spractice room.

The melodic interpretation ofBeethoven's Opus 95 wound tocrescendos and enraptured theaudience. Aficionados and new-comers to the classics listened tothis lively mid-winter concert withheads nodding and toes tapping.Following the concert, Pisin Chen(Accelerator Theory & Special Pro-jects) and Max Dresden (visitingscholar) agreed that "the thirdmovement of Beethoven was verypowerful." Greg Loew (TechnicalDivision) felt the first selectionwas "very sad." An enthusiastic

THE PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICEis continuing to offer monthly stafftours, modeled after its specialtours for VIP visitors. The generalSLAC tours offered for staff mem-bers unfamiliar with the siteinclude an orientation covering thephysical site as well as some histo-ry of lab facilities. Following ashort talk, the bus transports thegroup to many areas of the lab.Attendees are requested to wearflat, comfortable shoes and arewelcome to bring cameras.

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Stanford String Quartet members.Violinists Phillip Levy and SusanFreier, violist Benjamin Simon, cellistStephen Harrison.

Gene Holden (Operational HealthPhysics) thought aloud, "Theywere wonderful! What a nice wayto spend lunch."

After Beethoven vibrated theirmutes off, the quartet put themback on for Ravel in the key of F.According to violinist PhillipLevy, Ravel's only string quartetwas "received with extremelymixed reviews" at the time it waswritten. The quartet played thefirst movement, pausing briefly toturn their sheet music. The secondmovement was played pizzicato-"with lots of plucking." The third

Staff who have taken one of thegeneral tours (which include anorientation talk and visits to theKlystron Gallery, the hill over theResearch Yard, and the SLD experi-mental hall), may subsequentlyattend one of the Staff AcceleratorsTours, which are scheduled onlyoccasionally, and which includeSPEAR/SSRL, the B Factory, and

lab spiritsmovement was slow, featuring"lots of viola," giving StephenHarrison (a founding member ofthe quartet) a chance to display hisdexterity before the fourth andfinal section. The features mostenjoyed by the audience werequite challenging to the perform-ers whose smooth interactionsbelied the difficulty of the piece.

Exuberant lab staff memberscommented on the success of theevent. Suggestions for future cul-tural events ranged from LivelyArts performances to a monthlymusic series. "I think we should dothis once a week," exclaimed anexcited Brad Youngman (Experi-mental Facilities Department).Roger Erickson (AcceleratorDepartment) wondered, "Do theydo this just for fun?" and Jan Cre-hore (Mechanical Design) sighed,"That was really wonderful!"

If you have suggestions or con-tacts for a March noon-time event,please call Nina Stolar (ext. 2282)or send e-mail to nina@slac.stan-ford.edu. The winter quarter is asplendid time to present staff withsomething to lift our spirits andthis delightful performance cer-tainly did the trick.

Nina Stolar

the Next Linear Collider (NLC). Onthese tours technical hosts explainthe equipment and describe cur-rent research efforts. The exactstops vary due to operational runs.

To sign up for a general SLACtour or one of these special tours,please call the Public Affairs Office(ext. 2204).

-Nina Stolar

Tour Date Time Meeting RoomAccelerators February 22 1:00 PM Auditorium

Accelerators March 21 9:00 AM Auditorium

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recital

NecessaryTHE ENVIRONMENT, SAFETY,and Health (ES&H) Divisionrecently conducted a process,specified by the DOE StandardsCommittee, to define SLAC's envi-ronment, safety, and health stan-dards. These standards are bothnecessary (because of regulation)and sufficient to ensure that theSLAC ES&H program will meet thegoals of SLAC management.

It is expected that this Neces-sary and Sufficient (N&S) processwill result in a modification of theSLAC contract to include a definedset of standards. The SLAC set ofstandards includes all the federaland state regulations that apply toSLAC operations. Although verylittle will change operationallybecause of this N&S process, it hasallowed SLAC to eliminate the DOEorders that specify how we are tocomply with these standards.

New citizen

and SufficientSLAC will now have more freedomto manage its ES&H compliance,and it is expected that the burdensof DOE oversight will be reduced.

During the N&S process, theES&H staff solicited comments andsuggestions from SLAC about theES&H standards that should apply.The staff were also asked theiropinion about how well the ES&Hprogram functions. Over 20 indi-viduals responded, providing com-ments on medical services, training,electrical and laser safety require-ments, self assessments, chemicalinventories, and general attitudes.All concerns are being considered,though some will take longer toaddress. The following concernshave already been addressed by theES&H management.

Medical Services

standardsexists at SLAC and plans are beingmade to improve the program.The Stanford University programis open to all SLAC employees. TheStanford health care providers alsooffer wellness programs.

There are no first aid kits in theworkplace.

First aid kits are not providedbecause:

+ Medical must be informedof all workplace injuries.

+ The seriousness of an injuryis not always obvious.

+ A tetanus booster may beneeded.

+ Individuals may not be ade-quately trained in first aid.

Stores will stock a supply ofBand-AidsTM to use on minor cutsand scrapes until medical attentionis obtained.

SLAC needs a wellness program.A wellness program already See N&S, page 7

ON JANUARY 9 Maria Lomberabecame a naturalized US citizen, agoal she has worked toward forfive years. Lombera, who isemployed by the Diamond Janitor-ial Service, has worked at SLACsince 1986, first in Building 24(ES&H) and more recently in Build-ing 40 (Central Lab). Lombera'snext goal is to get her collegedegree.

-Evelyn Eldridge-Diaz

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N&S, continued from page 6.

TrainingToo much training is required.Generally, SLAC has offered

ES&H-related training based onrequirements stipulated in statutes,regulations, and DOE Orders. Train-ing requirements for employees aredetermined by supervisors, whohave the Task Hazard Survey avail-able to guide them.

Too much time is required forRadiological training.

ES&H is working to reduce thetime requirement, particularly forretraining. In addition, ES&H isoffering self-study guides, comput-er-based training options, and chal-lenge exams for qualified people.

Radiological course content levelwas sometimes inappropriate.

It is difficult to provide trainingat a level that will challenge every-one in a work force as diverse asSLAC's. The course content is contin-uously evaluated based on require-ments and course evaluations.

Electrical and Laser SafetySafety requirements are greater at

SLAC than at other facilities.In reality, the electrical and

laser safety requirements at SLACare consistent with the FederalOccupational Safety and Healthregulations, the National ElectricalCode, and American NationalStandards Institute standards. Ifyou think there are more practicalways to apply these standards, theES&H staff welcomes your specificsuggestions.

Self AssessmentThe Self Assessment process is too

time consuming and redundant.Self Assessment at SLAC has

been implemented in a mannerconsistent with past DOE expecta-tions. The self assessment program

will be redesigned to make it rele-vant to the N&S set and more use-ful for SLAC.

Chemical InventoryThe annual inventory is unneces-

sary.Annual chemical inventories

are a regulatory requirement withwhich SLAC must comply.

General AttitudesSLAC displays a lack of trust in its

employees by requiring excessive andcomplex ES&H rules.

The requirements of the ES&Hprogram are determined by regu-lations, national codes, or consen-sus standards. It may be possibleto improve the implementation ofthose requirements at SLAC. Thisrequires communication betweenthe ES&H staff and the staff of theline organizations, and coopera-tion in the implementation of theES&H program.

ES&H staff should get into the fieldmore often to effect this communica-tion and cooperation.

ES&H staff have been directedto do just that and you should beseeing evidence of increased inter-action. The ES&H performance atSLAC to date has been comparablewith the top 25% of industries per-forming similar functions. Withopen communication and coopera-tion from all personnel, this isexpected to continue.

Ken Kase

Safety tipof the month

LAST MONTH we suggestedWorld Wide Web sites for informa-tion on assessing your own vulnera-bility to earthquake hazard and onmitigating the damage from andpreparing for an earthquake.

This month's top picks are forgeneral emergency information.First, the home page of the Ameri-can Red Cross (with SLAC's ownGreg Sherwin, of MCC, serving asthe volunteer web master [see story,p. 21).

http://www.crossnet.org/We also recommend the home

page for the Federal EmergencyManagement Agency (FEMA).

http://www.fema.gov/Both locations provide a wealth

of information on classes, prepar-ing for and recovering from disas-ters, and information on currentlarge emergencies.

Rich Huggins

The Interaction Point © 1996, is published by Technical Publications of Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. Editor: Evelyn Eldridge-Diaz.Deadline for articles is the first of every month. Items are published on a space-available basis and are subject to edit. Information on how towrite for The Interaction Point is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.slac.stanford.edu/pubs/slaconly/tip/tip.html. Submissionsmay be sent electronically to TIP@SLACVM or by SLAC mail to TIP, MS 68. Phone: 926-4128.

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Friends and colleagues ofProfessor Emeritus JosephMurray were saddened to learnof his death on January 29. Amemorial article will be pub-lished in the March InteractionPoint.

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New assistant to the DirectorP.A. MOORE was appointed inJanuary to the position of Assis-tant to the Director for PublicAffairs. Moore has been at SLACfor three years working primarilyin education. Her new responsibil-ities include media relations andspecial projects. Her special inter-est is to increase the public's awar-ness of SLAC's outstanding scienceresearch.

Physician [IF YOU EXPERIENCE a work-related injury or illness and wouldlike to receive medical care fromyour personal physician, pleasestop by the Medical Department(A&E Building, Room 137,ext. 2281) to fill out a PhysicianPredesignation Form. If you havenot filled out this form, you must

)redesignationobtain all medical care for the first30 days of treatment of a work-related injury or illness from theStanford Prompt Care Unit at theStanford Hospital or the Occupa-tional Health Department of thePalo Alto Medical Clinic. After 30days, you may seek medical carewith a doctor of your choice.

-Sharon Haynes

Training Opportunities at SLACTHE WINTER/SPRING issue ofTraining Opportunities at SLAC isnow available on the WWW at

http://www.slac.stanford.edu/pubs/slaconly/trngopps/trngopps.html.In addition to the usual sections

on ES&H, Wellness, and Professional

Development courses, the currentissue also contains a new section onComputer Education at SLAC, alsoavailable on the WWW at

http://www.slac.stanford.edu/comp/edu/edu.html.

St. Patrick's Day with Kevin CarrA Traditional Irish Folktales Session

YOU DON'T want to miss thiswonderfully captivating story-tellingsession. Kevin's last performanceat SLAC received rave reviews.While telling these folktales, Kevinartistically plays his fiddle, bag-pipes, or drum.

-Sylvia Ong

When:March 12,12:00 to 1:00 PM

Where:Training and Confer-ence CenterQuad C/D

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P. A. Moore

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