Particle Physics Accelerator Simulation




Project Goals

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Your team has been commissioned to produce a interactive exhibit of the CERN accelerator complex and experiements.


The UCL High Energy Physics group collaborates on experiments at large acclerator machines at CERN (Geneva), DESY (Hamburg) and Fermilab (Chicago).


The research group recently constructed an interactive simulation of the CERN accelerators for the Science Museum. As a result, we currently hold a contract with the research council to produce a portable version of this simulation. A software version of such a simulation is also required.


The purpose is to contribute to an exhbition which can be used in in schools, colleges and universities to explain the experiemnts and their principles to GCSE and A level students and the general public.



1. Information Collection

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Research the physics goals of the LEP and LHC machines , as well as the existing Science Museum demo. Produce explanations of this physics suitable for the intended audience(s). Suggest and help implement suitable demonstrations, which may include real data from existing experiments and predicted data from future experiments. You should liaise closely with projects (2) and (3) to make sure your ideas are practical and that they are working towards an appropriate, and similar, goal.



2. Software Simulation

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Produce an interactive animation, suitable for distribution the WWW and CDROM, of the LEP and LHC machines, modelled on the Science Museum demo. The suggested implementation is as a Java Applet, but this may be modified if you think better options are available. You will need information from research project (1).



3. Electronic Model

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Research possible implementations of the same simulation in a more portable hardware form than currently at the Science Museum. The design should be light, small and robust enough to be carried around in the back of a car to various locations. You will need information from research project (1). You should cost the design in both staff time and cash. Demonstration modules may be consturcted if the design

progresses quickly enough.



Resources Available

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You have 4 hours total of consultant time available with the following

people.


Jon Butterworth: General

Dominic Hayes: Electronics, Science Museum Installation

Martin Postranecky: Electronics

Gordon Crone: Software


Your board member is Dr. Jon Butterworth, phone 7318, email

jmb@hep.ucl.ac.uk