A Day at CERN

"This brief book offers an interesting, fun, and widely accessible first-person tour of CERN, the European Center for Nuclear Research, the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. The facilities at CERN include the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a 27-kilometer particle accelerator that straddles the border between Switzerland and France. The LHC was famously used to discover the Higgs boson, a long-sought fundamental particle. Physics historian Depambour (University of Paris) is enthusiastic about all aspects of CERN, especially its role as an agent for peace and international cooperation. The book focuses mainly on the physical layout of the CERN campus and its experimental facilities, but Depambour also includes an introduction to the standard model of particle physics and a history of the search for the Higgs boson. Supporting illustrations and interviews help convey the atmosphere and culture of CERN. The book can be read and enjoyed by virtually anyone interested in modern science, starting with students currently in high school. It will also be welcome as a useful orientation for undergraduates and graduate students whose research interests might eventually take them to CERN.

Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers."

What lies within CERN's entrails? What is the path followed by the particles that are accelerated before they collide? What does the ATLAS detector look like? Does research at CERN find applications in everyday life?

From the accelerator control room to the huge Computing Centre, via the auditorium where the discovery of the Higgs boson was announced in July 2012, I invite you to experience for one day an immersion in the world of research in particle physics! Discovering emblematic installations at CERN, walking through the places where people spend every working day, meeting with researchers in various fields, descending into the ATLAS cavern ... Our visit, whose path will mimic that of the particles during their journey, will be full of anecdotes and surprises.

Follow me for a guided tour of CERN, the largest scientific collaboration in the world!

Sample Chapter(s)
Foreword
A Welcome at CERN's entrance

• Foreword by Frédérick Bordry
• A Welcome at CERN's Entrance
• Interview with Bernard Pellequer: Presentation of CERN
• The Exhibition "Universe of Particles"
• A Brief History of CERN
• Interview with Arnaud Marsollier: CERN Funding
• Entering CERN
• LINAC 2 and LEIR
• The Antimatter Factory
• The Cryomagnets Test Facility
• Interview with Elias Métral: Beam Instabilities
• Interview with Django Manglunki: CERN Control Centre
• A Brief Overview of the Research Conducted by ATLAS
• Arrival at Building 40
• Description of the ATLAS Detector
• Building 40
• Interview with Isabelle Wingerter: ATLAS France
• The ATLAS Weekly Meeting
• The Trigger System
• Interview with Laurent Serin: Test Beam in Prévessin
• The AMS, Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer
• The Self-Service Meal
• Standard Model and Higgs Boson
• The Auditorium
• The Panoramic Terrace of Building 500
• Visit of Buildings 1, 4, 5, 52 and 53
• CERN Clubs and Cordiality of Coffee
• A Brief History of the Search for the Higgs Boson
• Interview with Mélissa Gaillard: The Worldwide LHC Computing Grid
• The Computing Centre
• Interview with David Rousseau: Machine Learning and Particle Physics
• Interview with Alvaro Lopez Solis: Shifts on the ATLAS Detector
• The ATLAS Control Room
• The ATLAS Detector
• Prospects for the Future
• Acknowledgements

Readership: The book is aimed at both informed scientists and the general public, and especially those who know CERN only by name and who are curious to know more about the research being conducted there.