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Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Today, in the Dresden Felsenkeller the topping-out ceremony for the joint accelerator laboratory of TU Dresden and Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) is being celebrated. In the underground experimental facility, physicists plan to reconstruct the processes inside stars. About 150 guests, including the Saxon State Minister for Higher Education, Research and the Arts Dr Eva-Maria Stange and Dresden's mayor, Dirk Hilbert, acknowledged the progress of the construction work and the research project.
Keynote speaker at today's ceremony is the Nobel laureate Professor Arthur McDonald, who – in 2015 – received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his discovery of neutrino oscillations, together with Takaaki Kajita.
On the south-western outskirts of Dresden, a unique experimental facility is being built, which is unique in Germany. TU Dresden and HZDR are assembling an underground accelerator in two underground tunnels of the former ice storage facility of the Felsenkeller brewery. Upon completion, the facility will enable investigating nuclear fusion reactions and elucidating in detail how the sun and other stars fuse atomic nuclei in their centre, producing heavier elements. The rocks above the tunnel insulate the experiments from external influences such as cosmic radiation, so that particularly sensitive material research can take place in the accelerator laboratory.
At the end of April, the Pelletron accelerator, which is to be exploited jointly by HZDR and TU Dresden, was installed in the most cavernous particle laboratory in Germany. In 2012, the research centre bought the plant from a British private company that had used it for pharmaceutical development. Since then, the Saxon researchers have equipped it for its new tasks. For the physicists Dr Daniel Bemmerer of HZDR and Prof. Kai Zuber of TU Dresden, a dream comes true with the underground accelerator in the former ice storage of the Felsenkeller brewery. Soon, they will go hunting particles in the underground corridors of Felsenkeller, and will be able to reconstruct the processes inside stars, unaffected by radiation.
"The Felsenkeller Laboratory is a paragon for the lived networking of the Dresden scientific institutions", explained the Rector of the TU Dresden, Professor Hans Müller-Steinhagen. "Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf and TU Dresden are closely interlinked by an intensive cooperation in research and teaching. This invaluable cooperation now culminates in the construction of a jointly operated accelerator laboratory in the former ice storage facility of the Felsenkeller brewery."
In her opening address, the Saxon State Minister of Science and the Arts, Dr Eva-Maria Stange, pointed out: "The particle accelerator in the Felsenkeller laboratory, the possibilities for experimentation for scientists from Germany and abroad take on a new quality. The experimental facility, which is unique in Germany, makes the tunnels a mecca for astrophysics from all over the world. It is a very nice thought to look into the depths of the stars from within the depths of a cellar underneath the city of Dresden. What happens billions of light years away is suddenly very close indeed – an exciting idea and in the truest sense of the word: a magical moment for Saxon research. I would like to thank the actors of HZDR and TU Dresden that their intensive cooperation has made this possible."
Dr Michael Stötzel, Head of Unit 714 at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, on the occasion of the topping-out ceremony: "The researchers at Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf are well-known experts for the development and operation of accelerators and detectors. Their know-how now benefits the accelerator laboratory in the Felsenkeller. It is also foreseen to allocate beam time to visitors, so that they can look into the interior of stars, shielded from cosmic rays. I am sure that the new laboratory, with its unique potential, will quickly establish itself in the international scientific community; and I wish all stakeholders excellent results in the field of research on matter and material research."
Arthur McDonald, the Canadian Nobel Laureate in Physics, sees optimal research conditions in the Felsenkeller laboratory: "This new accelerator in its low-radioactivity underground location will enable measurements of nuclear processes in stars that generate elements from which we and our planet are made."
Professor Peter Joehnk, Administrative Director of HZDR, pointed out: “We are very pleased that this project, initiated by Daniel Bemmerer of HZG and Professor Kai Zuber of TUD, is nearing completion. Here the deepest particles laboratory in Germany and a worldwide unique facility with energy range of 5 mega electron volts was created in the recent months.”
Media Inquiries
Kim-Astrid Magister, TUD
Tel.: +49 (0) 351 463-32398
Email: pressestelle@tu-dresden.de
Dr. Christine Bohnet, HZDR
Tel.: +49 (0) 351 260-2450
Email: c.bohnet@hzdr.de
Caption: Festive topping-out ceremony for the accelerator laboratory in the Felsenkeller.
Dirk Hilbert, Prof. Peter Joehnk, Prof. Hans Müller-Steinhagen, Dr. Eva-Maria Stange, Nobel laureate Prof. Arthur McDonald and Dr. Michael Stötzel
symbolically cut the red ribbon at the entrance to the Felsenkeller laboratory.
Festive topping-out ceremony for the accelerator laboratory in the Felsenkeller.
Robert Lohse
None
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Festive topping-out ceremony for the accelerator laboratory in the Felsenkeller.
Robert Lohse
None
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