Moacyr Souza, Guilherme Cardoso, Fernanda G. Garcia,
Carmem da Silva, Sérgio Zimmermann, Ricardo F. Barbosa, J. Rafael Silva and
Moysés Kuchnir (back row, from left), Luciano Piccoli, Eduardo Gregores and
Sérgio Novaes, (front row, from left). Several collaborators were unable to
attend the photo session on October 23rd, 2000, including Monique
Srivastava – she was giving birth to her daughter, Sofia. |
Particle physics has played a very important role in the
development of Brazilian science. Already in the 1930’s, physicists Wathagin,
Pompeia and Damy de Souza Santos carried out some pioneering work at the University
of Sao Paulo. They identified characteristic features of cosmic rays created by
particles entering the earth’s atmosphere.
In 1947, Lattes and Occhialini took part in Powell’s Nobel Prize
winning experiments in the Bolivian Andes, where they used photographic plates
to study the processes leading to the production of secondary particles in
cosmic rays. They discovered the pion, an instable particle that is seven times
lighter than a proton. Today we know that the pion is Nature’s lightest
quark-antiquark combination.
Cesar Lattes returned to
In 1983, Brazilian physicists organized a conference to discuss
the possibility of joining international research collaborations that worked on
the best particle experiments at the high-energy frontier. Former Fermilab
Director Leon Lederman, who attended the conference, offered his support and
helped to establish a Brazilian participation at Fermilab. Soon the first
Brazilians, five physicists and one engineer, traveled to Fermilab.
Since then Brazilians have joined and carried out a variety of
experiments using both colliding beams and fixed-target setups. They are
involved in data analysis, software and hardware development, detector design
and production of detector components. Graduate students receive training both
at their home universities and at Fermilab, seizing the opportunity to get
involved in experimental high-energy physics.
Leading a Portuguese expedition, Pedro Álvares Cabral
discovered
The Amazon rainforest, encompassing the world’s largest
river in volume of water, covers nearly half of the country’s territory. Other
landscapes feature wetlands, semideserts and coastal beaches.
The Brazilian economy is among the ten largest in the world.
Agriculture plays a major role (soybeans, coffee, oranges), but a third of the
country’s economy already comes from the industrial sector. The top two export
products are soybeans and airplanes.
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Links to Brazilian Institutions at Fermilab
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