1 Beamline for Schools Schüler werden zu WissenschaftlernGerman Teacher Programme, , Markus Joos GTP, , Markus Joos
2 Back in September... ...two teams of high school students from Poland and the UK were running their experiments in one of CERN’s beamlines GTP, , Markus Joos
3 GTP, , Markus Joos
4 BL4S - taking part BL4S is a worldwide competition for teams of high school students, aged at least 16 years and guided by a teacher (or other adult), to use a fully equipped beam line at CERN’s Proton Synchrotron Teams have to design an experiment which uses a particle beam. They have to submit a written proposal (max words) and a one-minute video Launch: autumn (earlier if possible), proposal submission: 31 March Teams can get support and advice from CERN’s BL4S team or from volunteer physicists from all over the world, mainly via the International Particle Physics Outreach Group (IPPOG) Equipment provided by CERN can be used for the proposed experiments: A beam providing electrons, muons, pions, kaons and protons with momenta between 0.5 and 10 GeV State-of-the-art particle detectors (delay wire chambers, lead glass calorimeters, multi-gap resistive plate chambers, scintillators, silicon pixel detectors) read out by (a simplified version of) the ATLAS data acquisition system “CERN is a symbol of scientific progress itself, and it would be a pleasure for us to work in this magnificent factory of innovation and to be a part, even if a very small one, of the “acceleration of science”. “ I Tauresini – Candidate team of 2016 GTP, , Markus Joos
5 The prizes An invitation to CERN for two teams (up to 9 students and 2 teachers) for days Additional prizes for shortlisted and noteworthy* teams BL4S t-shirts CosmicPi detectors All participants will get a certificate The main prize: All participants will be rewarded with additional knowledge about particle physics T-shirt CosmicPi detector * Teams that made a well motivated but unfeasible proposal GTP, , Markus Joos
6 BL4S – Impact In total ~7000 students have participated since 20142015 2016 2017 Full proposals 292 119 151 180 Countries 50 28 37 43 In total ~7000 students have participated since 2014 2/3 boys, 1/3 girls 1/3 from non member states Teams spent on average 35 hours on making their proposal Short listed teams spent 48 hours (effort pays out…) Two winning teams have written scientific papers about their experiment “Modern physics has always been considered by the scholastic system as a marginal part of the educational plan. For this reason the project has been very appealing for us because it consents to keep in touch with a physics topic that is still unknown for most of the students. “ - Alessyenphysik – Candidate team of 2016 GTP, , Markus Joos
7 BL4S - Impact [2] Celebrities visiting CERN help us to promote BL4S among the target group 2014: Will.I.am (viewed times on YouTube) 2015: The Script (viewed times on YouTube) 2016: Bastille (video on CDS) Even though the impact of BL4S on the Web is still small compared to other activities of CERN, statistics show that BL4S helps to reach special target groups (women, younger people and people in non-member states such as Brazil and India) in an efficient way. National efforts: USA in 2014 and 2015 (and maybe 2016): US highly commended teams were invited to run their experiment in the Fermilab test beam by one of their physicists Italy (INFN): 2015: Team “The fellowship of the ring” was invited to CNAO (Pavia) 2016: Team “Athomos” will be invited to LNS (Catania) GTP, , Markus Joos
8 BL4S - selection The evaluation of the proposals and videos is based on these criteria: motivation of the students creativity feasibility of the proposal demonstration of ability to follow the scientific method Step 1: volunteers from CERN (including member state universities and laboratories) selected the best 20 proposals and 10 winners of a special prize Step 2: a team of accelerator, beamline, detector and physics experts selected 10 proposals and carried them forward Step 3: CERN’s SPS and PS Experiment Committee, SPSC, reviewed the 10 shortlisted proposals and selected the winners, who then were invited to CERN for days to carry out their experiments GTP, , Markus Joos
9 2017 and beyond Ready to continue in 2018Financing and personnel for 2017 secured The 4th edition is on-going Ready to continue in 2018 2019 and 2020 PS switched off for maintenance Evaluating possibility to host BL4S at another institute 2021+: BL4S possible in the refurbished East Hall The main challenge every year: Publicity World wide there are ~470 million students of the right age…. GTP, , Markus Joos
10 T9 Beam line @ PS East AreaFixed detectors: 2 Cherenkov 1 Scintillator 1 Delay wire chamber ~12 m of space for setting up the experiments GTP, , Markus Joos
11 T9 Beam The beam is always a mix of particles of different kinds.There are also muons from the decay of pions and kaons. GTP, , Markus Joos
12 The building blocks: DetectorsScintillator 6 available (more if needed) Trigger Halo detector Cherenkov (limited) particle identification Delay wire chamber Tracking Timepix Small (2x2 cm), high resolution tracking and energy measurement Lead Crystal Calorimeter 20 elements Multi-gap Resistive Plate Chamber Precise time of flight measurement Started to build MicroMegas detectors for tracking Read-out ASIC Timepix GTP, , Markus Joos
13 The building blocks: Magnets and DAQ systemSeveral types of magnets available for separating particles Absorbers: Iron blocks to absorb all particles but muons Data Acquisition: Based on the software used by ATLAS Capable of recording events per second On-line monitoring and histograms GTP, , Markus Joos
14 A typical set-up GTP, , Markus Joos
15 The winners 2016: GTP, 12.4.2017, Markus Joos2014: Odysseus' Comrades from Greece Dominicuscollege from the Netherlands 2016: 2015: Leo4G from Italy Accelerating Africa from South Africa ‘My Mum asked me “What is your team doing in the competition?” To which I replied, “Oh, just proving Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity” ‘ - Achintya Singh, member of 2016 winning team GTP, , Markus Joos
16 The winners of 2016 Both proposals were very challenging.Name of the team: Pyramid hunters Origin: Poland Video: https://youtu.be/fp4FOYXjsUs Proposal: The team wanted to measure the absorption (and scattering) of muons in limestone in order to better understand a muon tomographic survey of the Chephren pyramid in Giza done in 1970. Name of the team: Relatively special Origin: UK Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flKV8dvIM10 Proposal: The teams wanted to measure the Lorentz factor of (relativistic) particles by observing the delay of pions. Some Theory The special theory of relativity states that the speed of light is the same in all reference frames. This leads to changes in properties of an object as it moves faster in the reference frame of an observer. These changes can be in mass, length and time experienced. The factor by which these changes occur is given by the Lorentz factor, 𝛾: 𝛾= 1 1− 𝜐 2 Both proposals were very challenging. Due to limiting factors (time, detectors, beam properties) we had to modify and downscale them a bit… GTP, , Markus Joos
17 Experiment 1: Lorentz factorFinal implementation: Instead of looking for pion decay we measured the time of flight of particles: Use positive beam GeV Measure the TOF of μ/π (undistinguished) Kaons and protons Tag electrons from Cherenkovs Setup: Time of flight Scintillators 1&2 (trigger) Beam MRPC 2 MRPC 1 Cherenkov 2 Cherenkov 1 Expected results: Diagram “Discovery” of deuterons Bonus: - Look for pion decay if time permits GTP, , Markus Joos
18 Experiment 2: Pyramid Setup: Beam Expected result: ? ? ?Final implementation: Measure the absorption of muons as a function of the thickness of a limestone block Setup: Scintillator 1 & 2 Scintillator 1 & 2 Beam Limestone slice Limestone slice Limestone slice Limestone slice Limestone slice Muon filter 2 Muon filter 1 Expected result: Difficulties: We require a clean muon beam with momenta bellow 1 GeV Scattering of the muons => beam gets defocused The muons lose momentum while travelling through the filter: ~1 GeV/80cm of Fe ? Puzzle: ? ? GTP, , Markus Joos
19 BL4S – German proposal1/5 (18 hours)Idea: We want to find information on the different composition of ink of different colors and making. Therefore, we will be using a method similar to the PIXE – Method (Particle – induced X-ray Emission). To compare the making of ink used in banknotes with printer - ink of the same color, we will place common 5 and 10 € notes in the particle beam. When the particles collide, electromagnetic radiation will be emitted, which we then want to evaluate with the calorimeter. Since we have no concrete data or records of this method, we will be using reference specimens. To then compare these to common printer – ink, we will make color schemes of the banknotes with a printer, which we then will analyze in the exactly same way to compare our results with the ones from the banknotes. To avoid miss interpretations we will also be analyzing a blank Paper. Through this method, we will maybe be able to tell the difference between a fake banknote and a real one, by the results of the experiment. What is the world made of, is a question everybody has asked himself in his life. You guys in Geneva are the ones who can answer that question, maybe not now, but we are sure that particle research will one day enlighten us. Implementation: After the secondary beam is created, we will use the two bend magnets to select only positively charged particles and adjust the momentum to 500 MeV, we can sort out particles with higher or lower momentum with the horizontal Collimator. Then we will check the remaining particles with the two Cerenkov detectors and check the speed of the particles with two Scintillators. The beam will then collide with our banknote or the printed paper and emit the electromagnetic radiation we want to analyze. The radiation will then proceed to the calorimeter, where we can measure the energy. GTP, , Markus Joos
20 BL4S – German proposal 2/5 (20 hours)Introduction: In collaboration with the Erlangen Center for Astroparticle Physics we are developing a compact sensor to detect ionizing radiation. The measuring device is part of a climate probe that will be connected to a weather balloon in order to acquire climate data in the atmosphere. The sensor is conceived as scintillation detector that consists of two scintillator plates which are read out by silicon photomultipliers (SiPM). Such a signal is read out by an interrupt pin of an Arduino and is interpreted as a single event. Background: This project is developed as a scientific project for the German student science competition Jugend Forscht Goals: Due to the simplistic data acquiring technique the behavior of the sensor at high fluxes, as they occur in the atmosphere, cannot be predicted. Therefore, measurements at the CERN muon beam line can be used to quantitatively characterise the response and efficiency of the system as function of position of the particle interaction. The T9 beam line with an installed muon filter would be best suited for our needs. Thus we would like to bring our system into the muon beam at CERN. GTP, , Markus Joos
21 BL4S – German proposal 3/5 (12 hours)To investigate how the intensity of electrons and positrons travelling at relativistic speeds through a thin piece of Polaroid plastic and then through different thicknesses of water and/or Sprite changes. Motivation: To have the opportunity to be involved in projects that are important for the future - students have a say in real physics and not just be taught from a textbook. Polaroid: The team started from the polarization of light Sprite: No product placement intended Method: 1. The secondary particle beam enters (…) the experimental area. At this stage, we would like the beam to consist of electrons. 2. The secondary beam then goes to the first scintillator and the count rate of the electrons is found. 3. The secondary beam then goes through the second scintillator, and the count rate is found again. 4. A thin piece of polarised plastic is placed between the two scintillators. 5. Steps 2 to 3 are repeated. 6. The sample with liquid between the plastic Polaroid is placed between the two scintillators and steps 2 to 3 are repeated again. * The liquid could be water or Sprite. We could try it with different thicknesses of the two liquids also. 7. Repeat the whole process with a beam of positrons, but we will need timepix detectors for the gamma rays produced. *We predict that the effect of positrons and electrons will be different, because when the positrons and the plastic meet, the positrons will annihilate and create two gamma rays in opposite directions (Conservation of momentum). We would be very interested in finding out how to detect these photons. 8. Calculate the percentage change in intensity by measuring the percentage change in the number of particles after passing through each sample, with which we can then compare the samples. GTP, , Markus Joos
22 BL4S – German proposal 4/5 (45 hours)Materials: Materials: (Do they redirect the beam?) diamond gold granite steel lead titanium obsidian plastic (e.g. cling film, foam) glass (Lonsdaleit) (Wurtzit-Boronid) Objects: Steak (Does it get roasted?) Eggs (Will they break?) Chocolate (Does it melt?) Paper (Will it burn?) Mirror Contact lenses (Do they still have the same consistency?) Deodorant spray (Does it burst?) Thermos (Does the content get warmer?) Mobile (switched on/off. Do the touchscreen and the display still work?) Infrared camera (Can you see something in a picture?) LED (switched on) Viruses, bacteria (Do they die? Are they still contagious?) Idea: We want to expose different materials and objects to the beamline and look what happens to them. Do the materials distract the line, stop it, interleave or catch fire? We also want to know what happens to the touchscreen of a cellphone and if it still works at all. Moreover, it would be very interesting to know if viruses or bacteria die or still transmit diseases when they are put into the particle accelerator. Method: We expose materials directly to the beam and check if they get interleaved or if the line is distracted into a direction where we have put a detector, which we have installed in front. Afterwards, we want to know if they still have the same properties (hardness, infection risk etc.). GTP, , Markus Joos
23 BL4S – German proposal 5/5 (60 hours)Idea: We are surrounded by radiation every day and everywhere. Largely, this radiation has its origin in space; for instance there is gamma radiation, heat radiation and UV radiation. In order to protect ourselves from this UV radiation, we normally put on some sun lotion. Sun lotion consists of diverse nano particles. At CERN we'd like to find out how those nano-particles effect the radiation, which particles can be detected after crossing a layer of sun scream and what must be changed so that lotions which are similar to sun lotions are able to protect us from other kinds of radiation as well. Physics at school only rarely gives us the chance to practise interesting experiments which let us discover facts we didn’t know before Since all of us are considering to become a scientist one day it would be great to find out more about the daily activities of researchers at CERN. Problem: Quite important for our experiment is that the energy of the rays of a minimum of 0.5 GeV/c is quite too high for our investigations, so that we couldn’t detect anything because the rays might just go through the scream without any significant effect. That’s why we added a water construction to our experimental set-up that already reduces the amount of energy before the beam arrives at our test specimen. The second consequence we draw out of this awareness is to use a thick layer of sun scream. GTP, , Markus Joos