Giuseppe Cocconi
Encyclopedia
Giuseppe Cocconi was a former director of the Proton Synchrotron
at CERN
in Geneva
. He is known for is work in particle physics
and for his involvement with SETI
.
, Italy
in 1914. He went to study physics
at the University of Milan
, and then in February 1938, went to the Sapienza University of Rome on the invitation of Edoardo Amaldi
. There he met physicists Enrico Fermi
, and Gilberto Bernardini. With Fermi, he built a Wilson chamber to study the disintegration of meson
s. In August of that year, Cocconi laid the foundation of cosmic ray
research in Milan
. While at Milan, Cocconi supervised Vanna Tongiorgi, who picked cosmic rays as her thesis' subject, and later married her in 1945.
In 1942, Cocconi was nominated professor at University of Catania
, but was engaged by the Italian army to research infrared
phenomena for the Italian airforce until the end of World War II
, in late 1944. He taught at Catania until 1947, when Hans Bethe
made a request that he would join Cornell University
. During his stay at Cornell, Cocconi and his wife performed many experiments there and in Echo Lake located in the Rocky Mountains
, where they demonstrated the galactic and extragalactic origins of cosmic rays. In 1955, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship
. While at Cornell he also wrote, with Philip Morrison
, his most famous paper "Searching for Interstellar Communications", on the 21 cm Hydrogen line
, which turned out to be of vital importance in the SETI
program.
During his sabbatical of 1959–1961, Cocconi helped kick-start the Proton Synchrotron
research program at CERN
, and conducted a series of experiment on proton-proton scattering, and on the cross section of proton
s and neutron
s. He also continued this research at Brookhaven National Laboratory
(BNL). In 1963 he returned at CERN, and discovered with Alan Wetherell, Bert Diddens, and others, that the diffraction peak in proton-proton scattering shrunk with the increase in collision energy. This was interpreted as the "exchange of two Regge Poles", which later became known as the pomeron
.
From 1967 to 1969, Cocconi was CERN's research director, and conceived the Roman pot
, a type of particle detector. Then with a group led by Klaus Winter, he formed the CHARM
collaboration, which worked until the 1980s, which investigated elastic electron-neutrino scattering. He retired in 1979, but kept in touch with the CERN research, and particle physics related research in general.
Cocconi died on 9 November 2008. His colleagues and friends wrote the following in his CERN's obituary:
Proton Synchrotron
The Proton Synchrotron is the first major particle accelerator at CERN, built as a 28 GeV proton accelerator in the late 1950s and put into operation in 1959. It takes the protons from the Proton Synchrotron Booster at a kinetic energy of 1.4 GeV and lead ions from the Low Energy Ion Ring at 72...
at CERN
CERN
The European Organization for Nuclear Research , known as CERN , is an international organization whose purpose is to operate the world's largest particle physics laboratory, which is situated in the northwest suburbs of Geneva on the Franco–Swiss border...
in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
. He is known for is work in particle physics
Particle physics
Particle physics is a branch of physics that studies the existence and interactions of particles that are the constituents of what is usually referred to as matter or radiation. In current understanding, particles are excitations of quantum fields and interact following their dynamics...
and for his involvement with SETI
SETI
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence is the collective name for a number of activities people undertake to search for intelligent extraterrestrial life. Some of the most well known projects are run by the SETI Institute. SETI projects use scientific methods to search for intelligent life...
.
Life
Cocconi was born in ComoComo
Como is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy.It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como....
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in 1914. He went to study physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
at the University of Milan
University of Milan
The University of Milan is a higher education institution in Milan, Italy. It is one of the largest universities in Europe, with about 62,801 students, a teaching and research staff of 2,455 and a non-teaching staff of 2,200....
, and then in February 1938, went to the Sapienza University of Rome on the invitation of Edoardo Amaldi
Edoardo Amaldi
Edoardo Amaldi was an Italian physicist.He was born in Carpaneto Piacentino, son of Ugo Amaldi, professor of mathematics at the University of Padua, and Luisa Basini....
. There he met physicists Enrico Fermi
Enrico Fermi
Enrico Fermi was an Italian-born, naturalized American physicist particularly known for his work on the development of the first nuclear reactor, Chicago Pile-1, and for his contributions to the development of quantum theory, nuclear and particle physics, and statistical mechanics...
, and Gilberto Bernardini. With Fermi, he built a Wilson chamber to study the disintegration of meson
Meson
In particle physics, mesons are subatomic particles composed of one quark and one antiquark, bound together by the strong interaction. Because mesons are composed of sub-particles, they have a physical size, with a radius roughly one femtometer: 10−15 m, which is about the size of a proton...
s. In August of that year, Cocconi laid the foundation of cosmic ray
Cosmic ray
Cosmic rays are energetic charged subatomic particles, originating from outer space. They may produce secondary particles that penetrate the Earth's atmosphere and surface. The term ray is historical as cosmic rays were thought to be electromagnetic radiation...
research in Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
. While at Milan, Cocconi supervised Vanna Tongiorgi, who picked cosmic rays as her thesis' subject, and later married her in 1945.
In 1942, Cocconi was nominated professor at University of Catania
University of Catania
The University of Catania is a university located in Catania, Italy, and founded in 1434. It is the oldest university in Sicily, the 13th oldest in Italy and the 29th oldest university in the world...
, but was engaged by the Italian army to research infrared
Infrared
Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
phenomena for the Italian airforce until the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, in late 1944. He taught at Catania until 1947, when Hans Bethe
Hans Bethe
Hans Albrecht Bethe was a German-American nuclear physicist, and Nobel laureate in physics for his work on the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis. A versatile theoretical physicist, Bethe also made important contributions to quantum electrodynamics, nuclear physics, solid-state physics and...
made a request that he would join Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
. During his stay at Cornell, Cocconi and his wife performed many experiments there and in Echo Lake located in the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
, where they demonstrated the galactic and extragalactic origins of cosmic rays. In 1955, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
. While at Cornell he also wrote, with Philip Morrison
Philip Morrison
Philip Morrison, was Institute Professor Emeritus and Professor of Physics Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology .-Early life and education:...
, his most famous paper "Searching for Interstellar Communications", on the 21 cm Hydrogen line
Hydrogen line
The hydrogen line, 21 centimeter line or HI line refers to the electromagnetic radiation spectral line that is created by a change in the energy state of neutral hydrogen atoms. This electromagnetic radiation is at the precise frequency of 1420.40575177 MHz, which is equivalent to the vacuum...
, which turned out to be of vital importance in the SETI
SETI
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence is the collective name for a number of activities people undertake to search for intelligent extraterrestrial life. Some of the most well known projects are run by the SETI Institute. SETI projects use scientific methods to search for intelligent life...
program.
During his sabbatical of 1959–1961, Cocconi helped kick-start the Proton Synchrotron
Proton Synchrotron
The Proton Synchrotron is the first major particle accelerator at CERN, built as a 28 GeV proton accelerator in the late 1950s and put into operation in 1959. It takes the protons from the Proton Synchrotron Booster at a kinetic energy of 1.4 GeV and lead ions from the Low Energy Ion Ring at 72...
research program at CERN
CERN
The European Organization for Nuclear Research , known as CERN , is an international organization whose purpose is to operate the world's largest particle physics laboratory, which is situated in the northwest suburbs of Geneva on the Franco–Swiss border...
, and conducted a series of experiment on proton-proton scattering, and on the cross section of proton
Proton
The proton is a subatomic particle with the symbol or and a positive electric charge of 1 elementary charge. One or more protons are present in the nucleus of each atom, along with neutrons. The number of protons in each atom is its atomic number....
s and neutron
Neutron
The neutron is a subatomic hadron particle which has the symbol or , no net electric charge and a mass slightly larger than that of a proton. With the exception of hydrogen, nuclei of atoms consist of protons and neutrons, which are therefore collectively referred to as nucleons. The number of...
s. He also continued this research at Brookhaven National Laboratory
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Brookhaven National Laboratory , is a United States national laboratory located in Upton, New York on Long Island, and was formally established in 1947 at the site of Camp Upton, a former U.S. Army base...
(BNL). In 1963 he returned at CERN, and discovered with Alan Wetherell, Bert Diddens, and others, that the diffraction peak in proton-proton scattering shrunk with the increase in collision energy. This was interpreted as the "exchange of two Regge Poles", which later became known as the pomeron
Pomeron
In physics, the pomeron is a Regge trajectory, a family of particles with increasing spin, postulated in 1961 to explain the slowly rising cross section of hadronic collisions at high energies.-Overview:...
.
From 1967 to 1969, Cocconi was CERN's research director, and conceived the Roman pot
Roman pot
The Roman pot is the name of a technique used in accelerator physics. Named after its implementation by the CERN Rome group in the early 1970s, it is an important tool to measure the total cross section of the collisions....
, a type of particle detector. Then with a group led by Klaus Winter, he formed the CHARM
Charm
Charm, charms, charmed or charming may refer to:* A Spell or incantation** any "lucky charm" such as amulets , touch pieces and painted pebbles,*** Italian charm bracelet...
collaboration, which worked until the 1980s, which investigated elastic electron-neutrino scattering. He retired in 1979, but kept in touch with the CERN research, and particle physics related research in general.
Cocconi died on 9 November 2008. His colleagues and friends wrote the following in his CERN's obituary:
Giuseppe enjoyed the respect of great physicists in the world. As a man of culture and vision, he was very curious and attentive to what was going on in the world, and not only in the field of physics. Very kind and always ready to listen, straightforward but humble in his relations with his colleagues, always ready to admire other people’s success, he was happy to share his knowledge with juniors. His refusal of association with academies, and his lack of interest in prizes and honours, as well as his wish not to talk publicly, after his retirement, of his scientific life, are well known. He was a great physicist.
External links
- Publications of G. Cocconi on SPIRESSpiresSpires may refer to:* SPIRES, a database for publications in High-Energy Physics* Speyer , a city in Germany* The Spires, a commercial conference centre, operated out of Church House, Belfast by the Presbyterian Church in Ireland...
- Publications of Giuseppe Cocconi on SPIRESSpiresSpires may refer to:* SPIRES, a database for publications in High-Energy Physics* Speyer , a city in Germany* The Spires, a commercial conference centre, operated out of Church House, Belfast by the Presbyterian Church in Ireland...