The Large Hadron Collider:A Paradigm for International

Collaboration in Physics?

Robert AymarCERN

Large-scale International Collaborations and the Future of Physics

AAAS08 Symposium – Boston – 15 February 2008

22

I. What is CERN? How did it originate?

II. The LHC Project: an international collaboration on the accelerator, experiments and computing.

III. What do we learn for future international collaborations in physics from the CERN/LHC models?

Outline

22

33

I. CERN grew out of a spirit of international collaboration

1949 European Cultural Conference in Lausanne, Switzerland Louis de Broglie first proposed the idea for a European research laboratory:"...Our attention has turned to the question of developing this new international unit, a laboratory or institution where it would be possible to carry out scientific work above and beyond the framework of the various nations taking part...This body could be endowed with greater resources than those available to the national laboratories and could then embark upon tasks whose magnitude and nature preclude them from being done by the latter on their own.

1950 UNESCO General Conference, in Florence:Nobel laureate physicist, Isidor Rabi, tabled a resolution authorizing UNESCO to "assist and encourage the formation of regional research laboratories in order to increase international scientific collaboration…”

Fitted well with the general political will for European collaboration in the post-war period

44

I. 1954: CERN’s official beginnings

The European Organization for Nuclear Research - CERN - came into being on 29 September 1954, when 12 Member States had ratified the Convention (a Treaty).

The Convention states:

“The Organization shall provide for collaboration among European States in nuclear research of a pure scientific and fundamental character.”

It also states that CERN shall organize and sponsor international co-operation in research, promoting contacts between scientists and interchange with other laboratories and institutes.

This includes dissemination of information, and the provision of advanced training for research workers, which continue to be reflected in the current programmes for technology transfer and for education & training at many levels.

The CERN Treaty provides for collaboration between European governments to support the development of a physics discipline in the long term

55

I. CERN…

Seeking answers to questions about the UniverseAdvancing the frontiers of technologyTraining the scientists of tomorrowBringing nations together through science

66

I. CERN has since grown... 2415 staff* 730 Fellows and Associates* 9133 users* Budget (2007) 982 MCHF

(610M Euro)*5 February 2008

Member States: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Observers to Council: India, Israel, Japan, Russian Federation, Turkey, United States of America, European Commission and UNESCO

77

I. Origin of CERN Users

88

I. CERN’s Accelerator ComplexThe World’s Most Complete

88

Not to scale

99

II. The LHC

99

∎ The LHC will provide the highest particle energies ever achieved in the laboratory (7 TeV).

∎ It is a multi-purpose facility: proton – proton and ion - ion collisions.

∎ It will open a new frontier in the quest to understand the Universe.

1010

II. The LHC

1010

The LHC is one of the most ambitious and best-motivated projects in science ever.

• It is the necessary experimental step for high energy physics: without the discoveries of the LHC the field has no future

• Theory is not enough to tell us the truth/reality

It will provide the only way to do experiments to find answers to some of the most fundamental questions:

• Origin of mass• Nature of dark matter• Primordial plasma• Matter vs. Antimatter

1111

II. The LHC

1111

The LHC provides the way to progress in our understanding of the Universe – something that fascinates us all!

The LHC drives the technology and is a frontier training ground for future scientists and engineers.

The results from the LHC will determine the future course of high-energy particle physics.Possible following experiments [ILC/CLIC] are looking/waiting for guidance from the LHC discoveries before being decided

1212

II. The LHC Accelerator: A Machine for Fundamental Science with International Contributions

1212

The LHC Project was originally approved by CERN Council in December 1994 as a two-stage project. However, Council stated that if sufficient interest and financial commitment was forthcoming from Non-Member States, the LHC Project could be completed in one stage.

Due to the commitments by Non-Member States, Council decided unanimously in December 1995 to complete the LHC Project in one stage.

CERN guarantees the success of the machine (from building to operation) and has welcomed worldwide contributions

1313

II. The LHC Accelerator: A Machine for Fundamental Science with International Contributions

1313

The total LHC accelerator investment value is 3,340 MCHF.

Again, the CERN budget has covered the risk in costs, providing the needed contingency and thus guaranteeing the LHC completion.

LHC ProjectValues (MCHF)

Canada 19 In-kindIndia 18 In-kindJapan 119 Cash + In-kind Russia 90 In-kindUSA 178 In-kind + Purchases from US Industries

TOTAL 424

TypeCountry

Commitments from Non-Member States of CERN

1414

II. The LHC Accelerator: A Machine for Fundamental Science with International Contributions

1414

Tests of superconducting magnets (3 years, 24 hours per day)

Teams from India at the CERN test facility

1515

II. The LHC Accelerator: A Machine for Fundamental Science with International Contributions

1515

Transfer line magnets from SPS to LHC (~5km)

Transfer Line: main quadrupole (blue), followed by a corrector (green) and a series of main dipoles (red). All built by Budker Institute for Nuclear Physics (BINP) in Novosibirsk, Russia

1616

II. The LHC Accelerator: A Machine for Fundamental Science with International Contributions

1616

Inner triplet magnets from US and Japan focusing the LHC beams towards the collision points

1717

II. The Four LHC Experiments:Paradigm of global/international scientific endeavours

1717

• Each experiment has its own independent management and governance structure

• CERN is a ~20% partner• CERN steps in when contributor(s) fail to deliver

1818

II. One Example of the Four Experiments: Compact Muon Solenoid - CMS

1818

MUON BARREL

Silicon MicrostripsPixels

ECAL Scintillating PbWO4 crystals

Cathode Strip Chambers Resistive Plate Chambers

Drift Tube Chambers

Resistive Plate Chambers

SUPERCONDUCTINGCOIL

IRON YOKE

TRACKER

MUONENDCAPS

Total weight : 12,500 tOverall diameter : 15 mOverall length : 21.6 mMagnetic field : 4 Tesla

HCAL

Plastic scintillator/brasssandwich

CALORIMETERS

Number of scientists: 2310

Number of institutes: 175

Number of countries: 38

1919

II. One Example of the Four Experiments: Compact Muon Solenoid - CMS

1919

Investment per Funding Agency (kCHF)

United States-DOE, 100 MCHF

Switzerland, 87 MCHF Italy, 68 MCHF

CERN, 103 MCHF

2020

II. The World-wide LHC Computing Grid

2020

The LHC produces 15 Million Gigabytes of data each yearComputing resources are distributed world-wide

2121

II. The World-Wide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG)

2121

2222

II. Enabling Grids for E-SciencE

2222

European Union‘s major Grid project – led by CERN

More than 240 sites in 48 countries

Supporting applications from many scientific domains– High-energy Physics– Biomedicine– Earth Sciences– Computational Chemistry– Fusion– Astronomy– Geophysics– More to come…

2323

III. Models of International Collaboration in Physics

2323

Model 1 - Individual Interest– Training and exchange of ideas/experience/culture

(win-win for the sending and receiving laboratories/institutions).

– Multiple simultaneous collaborations across borders of different states.

– Applicable in large numbers of smaller projects/commitments.

2424

III. Models of International Collaboration in Physics

2424

Model 2 - Collective Interest (at the level of Institutes or States)Example: The LHC project with its experiments

– Build and run a project with consensus on uniqueness, aim and scope.

– Successful completion of the project is guaranteed by the host partner (provides the facility and the larger share of the needed resources).

– Each contributor:• Provides a share in value significantly smaller than its funding for the discipline

at home (i.e. don’t squeeze your domestic programme)• Keeps its own funding rules, management methods, political support systems• Converges/interfaces in terms of tools (e.g. GRID compatibility, EDMS)

2525

III. Models of International Collaboration in Physics

2525

Model 2 - Collective Interest (continued)

– All results are available to all contributors (independent of the level of contributions).

– If one contributor “disappears” the host takes responsibility and steps in.

– Nevertheless, there is a need for long-term stability, commitment and continuity for each contribution.

2626

III. Models of International Collaboration in Physics

2626

Model 3 - The equipartition model (The Dream)

– The extension of Model 2 (towards partnership with “equal” rights and contributions) can be realized only when there exists NO host site (e.g. astrophysics, AMS, satellite, ALMA, space-based): the caveat/risk is when a contributor will be unable to contribute (risking the achievement of the initial intended requirements and performance objectives).

– When a host facility is needed, the model requires political will and agreements transcending beyond pure scientific considerations and towards the common project. It is an important point that the choice/existence of a host is breaking the equipartition model at large.

– Falling back into the CERN model running the institutions for the recognized need of a full discipline (not only running projects). This requires a political agreement through a treaty, not only consensus of scientists.

2727

“Great discoveries and improvements invariably involve the cooperation of many minds.” Alexander Graham Bell

“Competition has been shown to be useful up to a certain point and no further, but cooperation, which is the thing we must strive for today, begins where competition leaves off.” Franklin D. Roosevelt

“In the long history of human-kind (and animal-kind too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed”Charles Darwin

Some final words...

2727

2828

Some Final Words Models of International Collaboration in Physics

– In order for Particle Physics to delve into the most fundamental constituents of matter and the forces acting between them, there is a need to go to larger, more complex and unique instruments that require increased level of resources. Other fields in physics have similar requirements

• Collaboration is the only way to proceed, keeping nevertheless some level of internal competition.

– Is the Large Hadron Collider a paradigm for International Collaboration in Physics?

• I think the answer is yes, and is presently the only credible model to build and operate collectively a large equipment on a given site

• It requires a strong host partner with a stable funding support, which can make collaborators confident that the common project will go to a successful completion.

2929

Some Final Words Models of International Collaboration in Physics

• To go beyond this model towards a global model with equipartition in rights of and contributions from collaborations is very problematic, unless a site facility is not required

• It requires a political agreement at the highest level across the world (global) which is tricky and mostly unrealistic

• The CERN model is a European singularity; it relies on a political agreement throughout European Countries, with a long term vision, to support and develop a full discipline of science, not just one project.

CERN is not a world laboratory; the LHC is a world project, sited at CERN.