Particles and Nuclei in PANIC
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Particles and nuclei The opening addresses at the International in PANIC Conference on Particles and Nuclei (PANIC) held in Kyoto from 20-24 April were given by (left to right) Y. Yamaguchi (Tokai, President of the Physical Society of Japan), H. Feshbach (MIT, Chairman of the Nuclear Physics Commission of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics), and T. Yamazaki (INS Tokyo, the Conference Chairman). PANIC is the triennal International Conference on Particles and Nuclei, and judging from the latest PANIC, held in Kyoto from 20-24 April there is no need for panic yet. Faced with two pictures — one of nuclei described in nucléon and meson terms, and another of nu cléons containing quarks and gluons — physicists are intrigued to know what new insights from the quark level can tell us about nuclear physics, or vice versa. Summing up at Kyoto, Sir Denys Wilkinson of Sussex suspected it was too early to reconcile the two pictures. Explanations for nuclear effects do not yet demand quarks and gluons, he maintained. As long as traditional approaches work, we do not need to resort to quarks, which 'mind their own business inside hadrons.' Account quantum chromodynamics (QCD the 'EMC Effect' — a variation of ing for the apparent resilience of — the field theory of quarks and nucléon quark structure with the nucléons in nuclei is a more press gluons) on nuclear physics was surrounding nuclear environment. ing problem. taken up by R. Jaffe of MIT. He 'Quark properties do vary,' claimed Earlier in the conference there suspected that the bridge between Jaffe, but suspected that some or had been much debate about poss the quark/gluon picture and the most of the observed effect could ible nuclear effects in nucléon meson/baryon approach might be be explained by nuclear binding. structure, but Wilkinson submitted a difficult one to cross. Quark phy D. von Harrach of Heidelberg, in that while the nucléon should re sics seems to be deeply embedded reply to the question 'Do hadrons spond to its environment there — 'even to flip a quark spin costs keep their free identity in nuclei?', was 'no compelling evidence for 300 MeV, he remarked — so that maintained that a better knowledge change', with some properties the meson/baryon approach can of the contributions from principal varying by only a few per cent look very self-contained. 'Now is (valence) and their accompanying across a wide range of nuclei. not the moment to calculate the ('sea') quarks as well as gluons is Covering the common ground magnetic moment of lead from required. Models are also needed between nuclear and particle phy first principles,' he warned. as the data are 'already richer than sics and its possible extension, Jaffe also took up the topical any single picture'. In response to PANIC plenary sessions were in question of possible strange quark the same question, P. Mulders of tended to be widely comprehensi contributions in the nucléon. 'The NIKHEF outlined how nuclear mea ble, and generally succeeded. All fact that we are asking these ques surements using electron beams subjects were awarded a question tions in 1987 shows how far off provide another probe of nucléon mark to underline that here was a complete theory is,' he com inside nuclei. physics in evolution, and plenty of mented. This was also taken up The controversy around the EMC time was allowed for discussion. by Wilkinson in his summary, Effect and its interpretation was The intensity of the resulting de pointing out that we don't even also highlighted in a parallel ses bate frequently depended on the know yet which quarks have to sion. Frank Close warned of the skill of the session chairmen as be included in a description of ha dangers of trying to rewrite nuclear well as the physics content. drons. physics from these measurements, The question of the impact of Jaffe was the first to confront but pointed out that an underlying CERN Courier, July/August 1987 7 ft Jaffe of MIT — 'not the moment to calculate the magnetic moment of lead'. change of scale does seem to be phase changes resulting from required. hundreds of supercomputer hours. In response to 'What is a realis Interesting possibilities emerge for tic picture of hadrons?\ G. Brown the properties of free quarks. of the State University of New A session on possible interplays York proposed an 'engineering between astrophysics and cosmo approach' rather than recourse to logy on one hand and particle/nu first principles, while A. Migdal of clear physics on the other gave Moscow examined some of the the opportunity for a review of the implications of gluon dynamics. supernova neutrino data recorded Session chairman A. Thomas of by the big underground Kamio- Adelaide advocated the develop kande (Japan — Y. Totsuka) and ment of models to guide the tran Irvine/Brookhaven/Michigan (US sition from QCD to traditional nu — J. Learned) detectors (see May clear physics, 'an urgent task', issue, page 1). As well as catching according to Wilkinson. supernova neutrinos, the upgraded Strangeness provides an addi Kamiokande detector should soon tional lever on quark properties in start to provide useful information nuclei. R. Hayano of Tokyo recalled on neutrinos from the sun. the progress made since the first An electron-positron session 'hypernucleus (synthetic nucleus gave the opportunity for news of containing a strange particle) was Japan's TRISTAN collider (Y. Na- manufactured 35 years ago. While gashima — see also page 3), while interesting effects have been H. Schulz of DESY described the noted, much more information is particle mixing observed by the needed before the exact quark ARGUS detector at the German properties become clear. This DESY Laboratory (see June issue, could come from the 'kaon facto page 16). P. Kienle of Darmstadt show up in as yet untested areas. ries' now being proposed for sev (GSI) gave the latest results on the In addition to the plenary dis eral Laboratories. P. Barnes of monoenergetic electron-positron cussion sessions, there was a wide Pittsburgh showed how hypernuclei signals seen in experiments at range of parallels, where detailed could provide additional informa Darmstadt using heavy ion beams results and ideas flew thick and tion on selection rules to supple (see April 1986 issue, page 22). fast. Especially interesting were ment what has been learned from With increased sensitivity, several the 'circus' sessions on controver weak decays but is not yet com lines are now seen, and new sial topics. In addition to the EMC pletely understood. apparatus will soon be ready to Effect, these included neutrino Of universal interest is the poss extend these investigations. Sum physics and hyperons in nuclei. ible phase change from conven mary speaker Wilkinson admitted Before Wilkinson's conclusion, tional nuclear matter to a to being 'baffled' by these sharp summary talks on the final after quark/gluon plasma, when quarks lines. He is not alone. noon looked at possible future and gluons succeed in breaking The high precision measure directions in attempts to link the loose from their nucléon confine ments needed to test the validity particle and nuclear spheres. H. ment. W. Willis of CERN looked of discrete symmetries and con Lipkin of the Weizmann Institute at how such a phase change could servation laws (such as the com illustrated this in terms of multi- be recognized, and went on to the bined CP charge conjugation/space quark physics, while J. Walecka suggest that initial photoproduction reflection operation) were outlined described the potential of the US signals from the experiments using by B. Holstein (Massachusetts) CEBAF electron machine soon to CERN's high energy nuclear beams and V. Lobashev (Moscow). While be built at Newport News, and G. hint at production of a 'mixed experiments push the limits of ob Garvey of Los Alamos pointed out phase'. A. Ukawa of Tsukuba cov servation back, both speakers sus the need for new intense sources ered computer simulations of such pected that large effects might of hadrons. 8 CERN Courier, July/August 1987 From the success of the Japa presentation by Martin Rees of nese Kamiokande project, M. Ko- More useful overlap Cambridge. The rotation properties shiba of Tokyo believed that big of galaxies and galactic clusters new underground detectors are imply far more matter than is di required to push forward the fron The overlap between nuclear and rectly visible. Possible candidates tiers of particle physics. Useful particle physics was also high for such 'dark matter' range from neutrino signals would be obtained lighted in a UK Institute of Physics massive black holes via Jupiter-like from larger such detectors, he conference held in Birmingham planets to neutrinos, supersymmet- claimed, and advocated setting up from 6-8 April. ric particles, or other still undiscov a worldwide network of them. The conference was held under ered weakly interacting massive B. Povh of Heidelberg looked a lucky star, in the shape of the particles ('wimps'). If dark matter for 'missing links' in the 'hadronic first nearby supernova for over is present in sufficient quantity trinity' encompassing nuclear struc 200 years, which exploded about outside galactic clusters, it could ture, soft hadronic physics (such a month beforehand (see May is eventually halt the present expan as diffraction scattering), and hard sue, page 1). The forethought of sion of the universe. Particle phy hadronic physics (violent collisions the organizers in inviting as a re sics measurements restrict these when a probe particle penetrates view speaker Teg id Jones, freshly possibilities; on the other hand, deep inside a target nucléon, back from the 1MB underground measurements of the cosmic he reaching the quark level).