Search

 

PressCNRS international magazine

Table of contents

Prize

Gargamelle Collaboration Rewarded

This year, the European Physical Society has awarded its prestigious High Energy and Particle Physics Prize (HEPP) to the Gargamelle collaboration for the “observation of the weak neutral current interaction”–interactions that involve no exchange of electric charge between the particles concerned. The Gargamelle experiment took place at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) in the early seventies. It was carried out by a collaboration of seven European laboratories, including CNRS labs,1 as well as guests from Japan, Russia, and the US.

gargamelle

© CERN

The first example of the leptonic neutral current. An incoming muon-antineutrino knocks an electron forwards, creating a characteristic electronic shower with electron-positron pairs.


The HEPP prize is awarded every two years for an outstanding contribution to High Energy Physics in experimental, theoretical, or technological areas. It is the first time that the prize is awarded to a large collaboration. The prize was collected on behalf of the joint collaboration at the EPS HEP 2009 Conference in Krakow (Poland), and the medal will be attached to the Gargamelle bubble chamber, on display at CERN.

Notes :

1. Laboratoire de l'accélérateur linéaire (CNRS-IN2P3 / Université Paris-XI) and Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet (CNRS-IN2P3 / École polytechnique).

Top

Back to homepageContactcredits