Obituaries
Claude Bovet 1935-2002
When Claude Bovet came to CERN in 1963 as a Fellow, he had just finished his studies of Physical Sciences at the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland, and a few months later he received his doctor's degree. Like many young physicists in those days, he stayed on as a staff member for a life-long career, and his would be particularly fruitful.
Bovet entered the accelerator field in the machine proton synchrotron (MPS) division. Under the guidance of Hugh Hereward, a mentor of many young accelerator physicists, he studied slow ejection from the PS. In the mid-1960s a PS improvement programme was conceived for a ten-fold increase in intensity. Helmut Reich realized Bovet's talent, and brought him into the study team. Bovet contributed substantially to the choice of an 800 MeV Booster as the best way of attaining the goal and to the concept of four superposed separate-function rings. The synchrotron injector (SI) division, with Giorgio Brianti as its leader, was created for the construction of this unique accelerator. The challenge of the project and the intense collaboration forged a lifelong friendship between the members of the core team. Bovet made an impact on nearly all aspects of the Booster's design, in particular its optics and the intricate recombination scheme for the beams from the four rings. He gave courses in accelerator physics for newcomers, and co-authored a famous booklet with handy formulae, which many people still carry in their pockets today.
In the midst of the preparations for the Booster, in 1970, Bovet went to the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory for 6 months of intense studies in accelerator physics. This broadened his professional horizons and provided him with international contacts, which he maintained throughout his career.
In 1972, Bovet followed Brianti to the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) project (then called the 300 GeV underground accelerator), to the group responsible for the west and north experimental areas. The secondary beams had to be equipped with beam instrumentation and particle identification, and Bovet was entrusted with the most challenging part - particle identification using the newly invented Ring-Imaging Cerenkov Counter. Its use in the hostile environment, with high precision and reliability, required solutions to a number of difficult optical, mechanical and electronics problems. Bovet applied of all his diverse expertise and plunged deeply into each aspect. The CEDAR, as it was called, was a resounding success.
Later, Bovet became leader of a super-group (comprising five CERN groups) responsible for all SPS external beams and experimental areas, and was SPS deputy division leader to Bas de Raad. In that position, he was fully involved in the preparation for the proton-antiproton collision experiments UA1 and UA2. In 1983, Bovet became responsible for LEP beam instrumentation, and was LEP deputy division leader to Guenter Plass. When in 1986, CERN-wide technical boards were established, Bovet was the natural choice to head the technical board for beam instrumentation.
However, Bovet was not only a physicist with a broad spectrum of interests and expertise. His concern for matters affecting all staff at CERN made him chairman of the Joint Commission for Reclassification and Disability, and a very active member of the Investment Committee of the Pension Fund.
In the last part of his career, Bovet was the founding father of the "European Workshop for Beam Instrumentation and Diagnostics for Particle Accelerators". The first workshop was held in Montreux in 1993. Its success was such that a "DIPAC" is now held every other year, moving from country to country, with the sixth one coming up.
After a fulfilled career, Bovet retired at the end of April 2000, full of plans for many more active years. It was not to be. Soon after retirement, he fell ill, and on 10 August 2002 he passed away. Not only have we lost a colleague of great competence in many fields, we also mourn the loss of a great friend.
Giorgio Brianti and Heribert Koziol.
René Turlay 1932-2002
René Turlay, one of the four discoverers of charge-parity (CP) violation, died on 29 November 2002 after battling with serious illness for more than a year.
Following the advice of Jean Teillac, whom he met at the Radium Institute, Turlay joined the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) at Saclay as a research physicist where he was to have a brilliant career. In 1957, he joined the CEA's high-energy physics laboratory (created by André Berthelot), where he was welcomed by Paul Falk-Vairant and Georges Valladas. His first work with the Saturne synchrotron concerned the study of π meson production in nucleon-nucleon collisions at 2.3 GeV. In 1962, after completing his doctoral thesis on π
Turlay's widely established reputation brought him as a matter of course to CERN, where he undertook a series of experiments on rare disintegrations of K
When the decision was taken in 1980 to build LEP, CDHS formed the embryo of the future ALEPH experiment. Turlay played an active part in the difficult and stimulating R&D phase, so that his group would be involved in the great LEP adventure. It was he who advocated the advantages of the superconducting technology that would be successfully used in the design of the ALEPH solenoid. In 1984 he was appointed to head the department of elementary particle physics (DPhPE). Although this managerial challenge distanced him somewhat from the hands-on physics research that he loved, Turlay devoted himself wholeheartedly to this new task, ever mindful of the need to ensure that Saclay brought the best to the collaborations in which it was involved, especially in the case of CERN. CERN director-general Herwig Schopper's invitation to become chairman of the LEP Committee gave Turlay the opportunity to become actively involved in science once again, and to serve the interests of the high-energy physics community. Between 1991 and 1992, under the aegis of Robert Aymar, head of the CEA's sciences of matter directorate (DSM), he oversaw the transformation of the DPhPE into a larger department, DAPNIA, covering astrophysics, particle physics, nuclear physics and instrumentation. On reaching retirement age, Turlay was appointed scientific adviser to DAPNIA and joined the NA48 collaboration at CERN, applying his passion and expertise to ensure participation by the best teams. With NA48, he took part in the precision measurement of direct CP violation in the neutral kaon system.
Turlay was a member of numerous international committees and learned societies (LEPC, SPC, SSC, IUPAP and SFP), often becoming their chair. He also helped to promote science among the young, and the recognition of the role of women in physics. He was awarded the Holweck Prize, and was made Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur at the behest of the French Ministry of Research for the decisive role he played in the experiments, committees and associations in which he was involved. Turlay managed to arrange for the ceremony to be held at Saclay as a way of publicly expressing his heartfelt gratitude to the technicians, engineers and physicists who had made his work possible.
Turlay was not only a great and highly exacting physicist; he was equally capable of warm and sincere friendship. His worldwide stature as a physicist went hand in hand with enormous integrity and a genuine nobility of character. He continued to serve the cause of Saclay until the final days of his life, and will be sadly missed by all those who had the privilege of coming into contact with him.
Bernard Peyaud, on behalf of René Turlay's friends and colleagues.
New products
Leybold Vacuum has announced that its range ECODry M piston vacuum pump is now offered with a frequency converter built into the motor to allow use in all AC electrical systems worldwide. Details are available from guido.van-der-velde@layboldvakuum.com.
The Kurt J Lesker company has launched the AXXIS modular thin film deposition tool, which supports processes including sputtering, thermal evaporation, electron beam evaporation, PECVD plasma, ion cleaning and others. Details are available from David Collins (email davidc@lesker.com or at http://www.lesker.com.
Thermo Vacuum Generators has introduced its new UHV SoftShut gate valves for beamlines, accelerators, and other ultra-high vacuum (UHV) applications. They provide quiet, low-particle operation, up to 100,000 cycles between maintenance, and are suitable for use in the pressure range from 1500 to 10