Karsten Heeger

do you like nuclear power?

As a neutrino physicist I find myself in an interesting situation: What others consider from "a threat to the environment" to sometimes an "extreme danger to mankind" I consider a useful tool to study neutrinos and learn more about these mysterious particles that fill our Universe.

Nuclear power plants are a powerful source of (anti)neutrinos. They are poduced in the fission reactions of uranium and plutonioum in the core of a reactor. Neutrinos are completely harmless. They pass right through you, the Earth, and most material to that matter without leaving a trace. For the past five decades scientists have studied neutrinos from the Sun, accelerators, and reactors to find out more about the nature of these particles and what holds our Universe together.

Most western countries have stopped building nuclear power plants and in the US the last one was commissioned in the 1980's. Unsolves issues of spent nuclear fuel storage, Chernobyl, and other nuclear accidents have sensitized the population to the dangers of nuclear technology. But can we live without nuclear power?

Over the past two years we have tried to convince the owners of a power plant in California to engage in a scientific project that would allow us to make a precision study of the neutrinos from the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. Security concerns, environmental concerns, and possible interference with on-site operations amongst other things were cited as reasons for their non-cooperation. Whatever the reason, in the end it reflects the attitude of society towards nuclear power in general. Nowadays nuclear reactors try to avoid the public scence to minimize protests and public concerns. Science and the prospects of an international scientific project could not change that perception.

Now it looks like the project we propose might go to China. Just a few days ago there was an article in the NYTimes about the boom of nuclear power in China. They plan to commission two new reactors a year. Wow! Their pride in this economic achievement shows in their attitude towards science. They are keen to host the experiment and to conduct what might become an important future experiment in neutrino physics. And scientists and representatives from the US have met with people from the highest political level in China to talk about this project.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/15/international/asia/15china.html?oref=login

Do you think I could talk to Dick Cheney about our next neutrino hunt?

On the move ...

Sometimes it feels like I never unpack. My suitcase sits in my living room and I only print out the ticket for my next flight. Packing for my next travel is routine and my laptop has become one of the most valued items. The batteries are always charged .... for the next few hours on an airplane. Friends mock me that I live through my laptop. I guess email is an essential tool for me to stay in touch with friends and colleagues in various time zones across Europe, the US, and Japan.

Particle physics is an increasingly international endavour that involves travelling to places and learning about how science is done in other countries. It was not until I started working on neutrino experiments in Canada, Japan, and now China that I fully appreciated this component of doing experimental research. It is more than just a side aspect of doing research in international collaborations. For most researchers it is a lifestyle. Most of us enjoy doing it, and meeting new people in other countries. Otherwise, we wouldn't keep up this demanding schedule I guess. But it is also an essential part of science.

Meeting people, face-to-face discussions and exchanges are an essential part of planning experiments, doing research, and learning new things. Despite all modern technologies and the uses of email, phone, and video link the human interaction is still an essential part of the scientific discours and of progress in resarch. No matter how good your idea is or the plan you have for doing something. Sometimes you need the informal conversation over a beer to convince your colleague that your idea might work. (Most of the time she convinces you otherwise.)

In the end, progress in particle physics is a collaborative achievement. Only when the entire collaboration agrees that something new has been seen in the experiment and they present it to the scientific community for peer review, then scientific progress has been made.

Until then we continue to travel the World to meet our colleagues and plan for the next experiment.
Tomorrow we are off to a meeting in Hong Kong to plan a new reactor neutrino experiment in China. Planning an experiment overseas.... that's another story to write about.

Continuing the neutrino hunt

A new year, another 365 days of hunting neutrinos. Our experiment runs day and night, and every other day or so a neutrino interacts in our detector. It takes a while to observe enough neutrinos to study their properties. Students and young researchers learn quickly that neutrino experiments can take a long time.

Research in particle physics rarely stops. As experimentalists we usually work together in groups of several dozen or even hundreds of people. And once an experiment is up and running we operate it continuously to look at as many particles as possible.

Every member of the experiment. is an expert on a particular part of the experiment. While individual ideas provide the spark for research, in the end it is the collaborative effort and the collective knowledge that provide the real advancement in this type of research.

For 2005 we have ambitious plans for the upgrade of the KamLAND experiment and the proposal of a new reactor neutrino experiment. The KamLAND experiment in Japan has measured the flux of antineutrinos from power plants and found that electron neutrinos can “disappear” through an effect known as neutrino oscillation. A novel calibration system, a major hardware upgrade to the KamLAND experiment, has been designed and built at Berkeley and is awaiting installation and commissioning in the KamLAND detector. This system will help us better understand how sensitive the detector is to the detection of neutrinos. Together with colleagues and a group of technicians we plan to complete the installation of this system by the summer.

At the same time we are working on studies towards a new reactor neutrino experiment to measure theta13, the yet unknown neutrino mixing angle. After a couple of years of exploratory work we are now preparing a proposal for a new neutrino experiment in China at a nuclear power plant near Hong Kong. This new experiment may start the way for exploring the matter/antimmater difference in neutrinos.

It is difficult to predict progress in research, of course, and I will be curious to see how our plans unfold in 2005…