The book is a compilation of the most important experimental results achieved during the past 60 years at CERN - from the mid-1950s to the latest discovery of the Higgs particle. Covering the results ...from the early accelerators at CERN to those most recent at the LHC, the contents provide an excellent review of the achievements of this outstanding laboratory. Not only presented is the impressive scientific progress achieved during the past six decades, but also demonstrated is the special way in which successful international collaboration exists at CERN. Contents: Foreword (R-D Heuer) Preface (L Di Lella and H Schopper) The Discovery of the Higgs Boson at the LHC (P Jenni and T S Virdee) Precision Physics with Heavy-Flavoured Hadrons (P Koppenburg and V Vagnoni) Toward the Limits of Matter: Ultra-relativistic Nuclear Collisions at CERN (J Schukraft and R Stock) The Measurement of the Number of Light Neutrino Species at LEP (S Mele) Precision Experiments at LEP (W de Boer) The Discovery of the W and Z Particles (L Di Lella and C Rubbia) The Discovery of Weak Neutral Currents (D Haidt) Highlights from High Energy Neutrino Experiments at CERN (W-D Schlatter) The Discovery of Direct CP Violation (L Iconomidou-Fayard and D Fournier) Measurements of Discrete Symmetries in the Neutral Kaon System with the CPLEAR (PS195) Experiment (T Ruf) An ISR Discovery: The Rise of the Proton–Proton Cross-Section (U Amaldi) Deep Inelastic Scattering with the SPS Muon Beam (G K Mallot and R Voss) Revealing Partons in Hadrons: From the ISR to the SPS Collider (P Darriulat and L Di Lella) Properties of Antiprotons and Antihydrogen, and the Study of Exotic Atoms (M Doser) Muon g–2 and Tests of Relativity (F J M Farley) The Discoveries of Rare Pion Decays at the CERN Synchrocyclotron (G Fidecaro) Highlights at ISOLDE (K Blaum, M J G Borge, B Jonson and P Van Duppen) Readership: Graduate students and researchers in elementary particle physics, and historians of science.
The uranium content and (235)U/(238)U atom ratio were determined in soils and earthworms of an area of Kosovo (Djakovica garrison), heavily shelled with depleted uranium (DU) ammunition during the ...1999 war. The aim of the study was to reconstruct the small-scale distribution of uranium and assess the influence of the DU added to the surface environment. The total uranium concentration and the (235)U/(238)U ratio of topsoils showed great variability and were inversely correlated. The highest uranium levels (up to 31.47 mg kg(-1)) and lowest (235)U/(238)U ratios (minimum 0.002147) were measured in topsoils collected inside, or very close to, the clusters of DU penetrator holes. Regarding the fractionation of uranium in the surface soils, the uranium concentrations in the soluble and exchangeable fractions increased as the total uranium concentration of the topsoils increased. High and rather uniform percentage contents of uranium (24-36%) were associated with the poorly crystalline iron oxide phases of soils. In the U-enriched soils the elevated levels of the element were probably due to the presence of very small, unevenly distributed oxidized DU particles. The total uranium concentration in earthworms was in the range 0.142-0.656 mg kg(-1), with the highest concentrations in Lumbricus terrestris. The juveniles of all three studied species seemed to accumulate uranium more than adults, probably due to age-related differences in metabolism. The (235)U/(238)U ratio in the earthworms was variable (0.005241-0.007266) and independent of both the total uranium contents in soils and the absolute uranium levels in the animals. Bioconcentration was greater at lower U concentrations in soil, probably due to an increasing rate of elimination of uranium by the earthworms as the soil contents of the element increase. The results of this study clearly indicate that DU was added to the soil of the study area. Nevertheless, the phenomenon was very limited spatially and the total uranium concentrations fell within the natural range of the element in soils. Moreover, the absolute uranium concentrations indicate that there was no contamination of the earthworm species studied.
A soil-based geochemical survey was carried out in an area of about 350 km
2 in northern Kosovo around the Zvečan Pb-Zn smelter. The concentrations of As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Sb, Tl, Th, U, Zn ...were determined in 452 topsoil and 82 subsoil samples. High contents of Pb, Cd, As, Sb, Zn and Cu were found in topsoil over a vast area including the Ibar and Sitnica river valleys. The highest concentrations were usually measured close to the Zvečan smelter. In some zones, the lead contents in surface soils exceeded 5000 mg/kg. Arsenic and antimony levels were usually more than 200 and 50 mg/kg, respectively, while cadmium contents were in the range 5-20 mg/kg. South of the Zvečan area, lead, antimony and cadmium pollution was strong in the densely populated urban area of Kosovska Mitrovica and along the agricultural alluvial plain of the Sitnica River. Depending on the chemical element, the pollution extended 15-22 km north and south of the Zvečan smelter. There was a progressive decrease of heavy element concentrations with increasing distance from the smelting plant. The contents of Pb, Zn, Cu, As, Cd, Sb significantly decreased with soil depth; in fact, the pollution only affected the upper 50 cm of soil. Crops were affected by soil pollution and many food-stuffs exceeded the EU standards. Suggestions for soil remediation are given.
This paper reports the results of a study using lichens as biomonitors to investigate the small-scale environmental distribution of uranium and other trace elements in an area of Kosovo (Djakovica) ...heavily shelled with depleted uranium (DU) anti-tank ammunition. The results of total uranium concentrations showed great variability and species-specific differences, mainly due to differences in the exposed surface area of the lichens. The uranium concentrations in lichen samples were rather similar at a site heavily shelled with DU ammunition and at a control site. Unexpectedly, the highest uranium concentrations were found at the control site. The observed U distribution can be explained by contamination of lichen thalli by soil particles. The soil geochemistry was similar at the two sampling sites. The
235
U/
238
U
ratios in the soil samples suggested a modest DU contribution only at the heavily shelled site. Measurements of U isotopes in lichens did not reveal DU pollution at the control site. The U isotopic ratios in lichens at the shelled site showed variable figures; only two samples were clearly contaminated by DU. There were no signs of contamination by other trace elements.
Arsenic contents of soils and higher plants were surveyed in two former Sb-mining areas and in an old quarry once used for ochre extraction. Total As in the soils ranged from 5.3 to 2035.3 mg kg
−1, ...soluble and extractable As from 0.01 to 8.5 and from 0.04 to 35.8 mg kg
−1, respectively. The As concentrations in the different fractions of soil were correlated significantly or very significantly. Sixty-four plant species were analyzed. The highest As contents were found in roots and leaves of
Mentha aquatica (540 and 216 mg kg
−1, respectively) and in roots of
Phragmites australis (688 mg kg
−1). In general, the As contents of plants were low, especially in crops and in the most common wild species. In the analyzed species, roots usually showed the highest content followed by leaves and shoots. Arsenic levels in soils and plants were positively correlated, while the ability of the plants to accumulate the element (expressed by their Biological Accumulation Coefficients and Concentration Factors) was independent of the soil As content. Comparison with the literature data, relationships between the As contents in plants and soils, and biogeochemical and environmental aspects of these results are discussed.
This paper reports the results of a study using lichens as biomonitors to investigate the environmental distribution of depleted uranium (DU) at selected Kosovo sites as a consequence of the use of ...DU ordnance during the conflict of 1999. The results suggested that the use of DU ammunitions did not cause a diffuse environmental contamination in such a way to have caused a detectable U enrichment in lichens. Also isotopic super(235)U/ super(238)U measurements did not indicate the presence of DU particles in lichens, except for some samples at a heavily shelled site, which resulted contaminated by DU.
Hypothetical axionlike particles with a two-photon interaction would be produced in the sun by the Primakoff process. In a laboratory magnetic field ("axion helioscope"), they would be transformed ...into x-rays with energies of a few keV. Using a decommissioned Large Hadron Collider test magnet, the CERN Axion Solar Telescope ran for about 6 months during 2003. The first results from the analysis of these data are presented here. No signal above background was observed, implying an upper limit to the axion-photon coupling g(agamma)<1.16x10(-10) GeV-1 at 95% C.L. for m(a) less, similar 0.02 eV. This limit, assumption-free, is comparable to the limit from stellar energy-loss arguments and considerably more restrictive than any previous experiment over a broad range of axion masses.
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