BIG BANG - Visitor CentreBIG BANG - Visitor Centre

Rolf Landua

CERN

Goals of BIG BANGGoals of BIG BANG

Provide an exciting and authentic image of CERN

Make particle physics a visual and exciting experience

Make CERN known to a much wider public

Because we need to ...

- Improve the mediation of our goals and results

(CERN depends entirely on public funding)

- Offer an attractive guided tour to our visitors

(no visits to LHC experiments possible)

- Increase the public awareness of CERN

(which does not correspond to its leading role)

- Create a unique educational resource to create interest in fundamental physics

(useful for high schools and the broad public)

Relation of BIG BANG and CERNRelation of BIG BANG and CERN

1998 Small ad-hoc group* forms at CERN ( ‘PRISM’ ).

Goal: define a project replacing the present CERN visits in the LHC era;

financing by sponsorship

1999 DG allocates resources for project study with advisors from

‘Cite de la Science, La Villette, Paris’.

2000 Project study with content definition and site selection, to CERN Directorate.

2001 Directorate takes note of report.

Boundary condition: capital/operation cost covered by sponsoring.

Encourages ‘Business Plan’ and investigation of possible sponsors.

* M. Buhler-Broglin, S. Cittolin, J. Ellis, C. Fabjan, G. Hentsch, H.F. Hoffmann, R. Landua, E. Sanders + architects + administrators

Design (1) - CriteriaDesign (1) - Criteria

Visualize the meaning of these discoveries and create personal involvement by

- elevation above the realities of daily life (human adventure of Science; the Origin of the Universe, the Laws of Nature)

- intellectual stimulation(mysteries of the Universe, link between smallest and largest structures)

- emotional involvement(origin of matter = your origin; if the Laws of Nature were different ?)

- FUN

Link with CERN research by telling and displaying “Stories about Science”

Intellectual and emotional impact by focussing on one subject: the link between

Particle Physics - Big Bang - Evolution of Matter - Our cosmic origins

Design (2) - ConceptDesign (2) - Concept

Gateway

Voyage into Matter

Travel to the First Day

World of CERN

Beyond Human Perception

Virtual Travel Agency

1 - Gateway to the Universe1 - Gateway to the Universe

Our place in space and time

- You are part of the Universe

- See and hear the cosmos in action

(particle tracks, echo of Big Bang)

Entrance ‘dome’

- projection of stars and galaxies

- Spark chamber array

- A/V equipment for multilingual introduction

2. Voyage into Matter - At Large in the Small World2. Voyage into Matter - At Large in the Small World

Experience the smallest dimensions

- ‘See’ the small worlds (microchips, cells, DNA, molecules, atoms, nuclei, quarks, strings?)

- Only one Nature (but different disciplines of Science)

- Hierarchy of particles and forces

“Spiral into matter”

- succession of ‘landscapes’, changing scale

(x 1000) at each transition

- enter at scale of 1 m, finish at Planck scale

Satellites

- hands-on experiments at each level

- demonstration of effects relevant at this length/time scale

Milli-

Micro-

Nano-

Pico-

Femto-

Planck-

3. The Big World - Travel to the first day3. The Big World - Travel to the first day

Witness the Beginning

- Universe is in motion

- There was a beginning

- Evolution of matter and forces

- Cosmic evolution

Planetarium-like theatre

- high quality, entertaining film

- travel back 15 billion years

- witness all significant events in the creation of

‘our’ matter

Satellite stations: Link to the research done at CERN

Origin of mass (ATLAS, CMS)

Broken symmetries (LHCb)

Cosmic soup (ALICE)

Antimatter (AD)

Life - made in stars (ISOLDE)

4. The World of CERN4. The World of CERN

How Particle Physics works :

- Accelerator model with real components

- Real size detector

- CERN technology, applications, WWW

- History, Personalities

- R&D for the Future

Authentic environment

- Accelerator, Detector, Technology exhibits

- Hands-on experiments

SIMULATOR RIDE

- Visitor= proton, gets accelerated, collides

- Transformation into Higgs

- Decay, Tracking in detector

5. Beyond Human Perception (1)5. Beyond Human Perception (1)

Confront the reality ‘beyond human perception’

Experience old and new ‘mysteries’ of physics

- Relativity

- Quantum Physics

- Antimatter

- Vacuum Fluctuations

- Dark Matter, Higgs particle, Supersymmetry

- Higher Dimensions

Interactive Models

- visitor action plus computer simulation

Demonstration Experiments

Virtual reality display

5. Beyond Human Perception (2) - Example: Relativity5. Beyond Human Perception (2) - Example: Relativity

Interactive Model for Special Relativity

- Visitor on computer-controlled bicycle

- Computer displays virtual reality landscape

- Approaching the ‘speed of light’ :

- mass increases (not speed)

- difficulties in sharp bends

- difficult to accelerate more

- Lorentz contraction (landscape!)

- time dilatation

On return - twin brother has become ‘older’

5. Beyond Human Perception (3) - Example: Antimatter5. Beyond Human Perception (3) - Example: Antimatter

Demonstration Experiment: Antimatter

Antiprotons are captured at AD(unique place in the world)

Portable Penning trap brings captured antiprotons to BIG BANG

Annihilation of 100 antiprotons on demand

Visualized by optical (streamer) chamber

6. Virtual Travel Agency6. Virtual Travel Agency

Guided Tour to Virtual Worlds

Some examples:

- Particle Collisions in LHC

- In the first instants of the Big Bang

- Inside an Accelerator

- Inside an atom

- At the outskirts of a black hole

- Another Universe with different Laws of Nature

Virtual Reality environment

- for 30-40 persons plus one guide (teacher, scientist)

- visitor action allows interactive exploration of virtual world

- questions can be asked and answered without leaving the virtual world

BIG BANG - Fact Sheet (1)BIG BANG - Fact Sheet (1)

Location

BIG BANG - Fact Sheet (2)BIG BANG - Fact Sheet (2)

No. of visitors 250’000 per year (target)

Administrated by BIG BANG foundation (CERN + Sponsors)

Floor space 7’500 m2 + experimental area (former UA1)

External space 14’000 m2

Construction time 51 months

Fund raising 2001-2002

Inauguration March 2007

Capital Cost 69 MCHF

(9 MCHF = land, scientific input, administration)

Personnel 50 staff

Operational Cost 7.1 MCHF / year

Revenues 7.1 MCHF / year, through:

Admissions (20 CHF/adult, discount for schools, families, etc.)

Merchandizing, in-kind contributions CERN

Next steps Next steps

- Fundraising brochure and business plan (nearly) complete

- Find sponsors (60 MCHF)

- Decision by CERN to go ahead

- Creation of BIG BANG foundation

- Transform concept into detailed design (needs your help)

- Start construction end-2002