THE FUTURE OF PARTICLE ACCELERATORS ALSO LIES IN PLASMA

Interview with Massimo Ferrario, spokesperson of EuAPS and SPARC_LAB, at Frascati National Laboratories

Among the topics discussed during the annual International Conference on Particle Accelerators (IPAC'23), held last May in Venice Lido, the state of research on plasma accelerators certainly deserves attention: not only for the central role played by Italy, but also for the new and promising scenarios that the advent of this technology seems to shape. A future characterized by the opportunities deriving from easier access to accelerator machines and from an increasingly widespread use of these instruments in different fields. The possibility of realizing a new generation of more compact and cheaper light sources and accelerators, capable of satisfying both the needs of high-energy physics and those of the world of applied research or manufacturing sectors, is in fact the reason for the strong interest in projects that are focusing internationally on the design and development of a plasma particle acceleration technology and its applications. Initiatives like EuPraxia were hence among the themes of IPAC'23 agenda. ...

What is the contribution that basic research can bring to society, in terms of the business and production world, and to the country?

The idea of using a plasma wave to accelerate charged particles is well known, and it dates back to 1979. The principle on which it is based is relatively simple: a plasma as a whole is electrically neutral, containing equal amounts of negatively charged electrons and positively charged ions.

EINSTEIN TELESCOPE

ETIC AND THE ITALIAN CANDIDACY LAUNCHED IN CAGLIARI

At the 13th Symposium of the Einstein Telescope Scientific Collaboration, which was held in Cagliari from 8 to 12 May, on 9 May, the conference hosted an event dedicated to the presentation of the ETIC project, funded with 50 million euro from NRRP funds, under Mission 4 Education and Research coordinated by the Ministry of Universities and Research (MUR).

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RESEARCH

ROWS AND COLUMNS: THE PAPYRI OF HERCULANEUM UNVEIL GRIDS USED TO DELIMINATE THE MARGINS OF A TEXT

Even the ancient scribes who practiced their art on the Herculaneum papyri used different types of grids to delimit the writing surface. The first scientific confirmation of this habit is due to the results of the team of the ERC Advanced Grant 885222-GreekSchools project, coordinated by Graziano Ranocchia, professor of the Department of Philology, Literature and Linguistics of the University of Pisa.

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EXPERIMENTS

VIRGO POSTPONES ENTRY INTO O4 OBSERVING RUN

The Virgo Collaboration has decided to postpone the entry of Virgo in the next observing run (O4), scheduled for May 24th, in order to continue the detector commissioning activities and further increase its sensitivity.

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EXPERIMENTS

THE FLIGHT OF THE MISSION EUSO-SPB2, ON A STRATOSPHERIC BALLOON, HAS ENDED

The NASA stratospheric balloon for the EUSO-SPB2 (Extreme Universe Space Observatory - Super Pressure Balloon) mission in, which Italy also participates thanks to ASI Italian Space Agency and INFN, rose into the sky on the morning of Saturday 13 May.

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TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

THE INFN.OPEN PROJECT STARTS

The launch event of the operational phase of INFN.Open (Open INnovation from Fundamental Nuclear research) was held on Tuesday 23 May at the INFN Gran Sasso National Laboratories.

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PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

EDOARDO BORGOMEO WITH "ORO BLU" WINS THE ASIMOV PRIZE 2023

“Blue Gold. Stories of water and climate change” by Edoardo Borgomeo, published by Editori Laterza, is the popular science book that won the ASIMOV Prize this year. With the announcement of the winning book, the eighth edition of the science dissemination and project prize for high schools, promoted by INFN, ended on 6 May.

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PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

SCIENCE BETWEEN BOOKS AND GAMES: INFN AT THE TURIN BOOK FAIR

From 18 to 23 May in Turin, in the spaces of Lingotto Fiere, the International Book Fair has been back for its thirty-fifth edition with the theme "Through the looking glass". INFN, a cultural partner of the Book Fair, was present at the great event with its own editorial initiatives and educational and teaching projects.

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SCHOOLS

OVER 150 TEACHERS DISCOVERING NEUTRINOS WITH THE PID@HOME COURSE

From Pauli's first hypothesis on the existence of a particle that is almost impossible to reveal, to the confirmation of this hypothesis, up to the great experiments which reveal more and more secrets of the universe by detecting neutrinos.

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SCHOOLS

SCIENZAPERUTTI ANNOUNCES THE RESULTS OF THE COMPETITION "CI VUOLE IL FISICO!"

Over 1,000 students participated with almost 300 teams, coming from 95 different schools, to the annual competition for secondary schools promoted by INFN.

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PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

PINT OF SCIENCE 2023: 23 ITALIAN CITIES BETWEEN BEER AND SCIENCE

The international event for lovers of science and evenings with friends has been back again this year. From 22 to 24 May, many events took place in pubs in 26 countries around the world to talk about science in an informal and engaging way over a beer.

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