Dec 7 2009
More than 100 international scientists took part in the ESS Workshop on particle and medical physics. The participation exceeded the expectations, showing the very large interest for ESS as a unique research tool for fundamental physics.
The European Spallation Source will be the world's most powerful research facility for investigation with neutrons. The scientific planning has already started in order to maximise the scientific opportunites at ESS ten years from now.
The aim of the workshop, held in Lund, Sweden, was to invite the global physics communities to identify the unique research opportunities that the ESS will provide within fundamental and medical physics.
- There is a wide variety of exciting possibilities for physicists at the ESS. One example is neutrino physics: if we learn more about neutrinos, we can learn more about the origins of the universe, says Professor Mats Lindroos, responsible for Accelerator Design and formerly project leader for several CERN facilities.
- ESS could mean the same for high-intensity physics that CERN means for high-energy physics. Now that there is a decision to construct the ESS, it's time for physicists to harvest what is at the doorstep, concludes Professor Lindroos.
- ESS will primarily be a research tool for materials and life science. But if European scientists want to use the unparalleled research opportunities to explore the fundamental nature of matter, we must act and will listen! says Colin Carlile, the ESS Director.
Through the study of particles such as neutrons and muons, scientists can gain knowledge of fundamental phenomena within quantum mechanics and particle physics. ESS can also give astro and nuclear physicists tools for the understanding of some of the secrets of the universe. Within medical physics, ESS can open up new possibilities for the treatment of rare cancers.
The Workshop on Neutron, Neutrino, Nuclear, Muon and Medical Physics at ESS was held on 2-4 December in Lund, Sweden.