"What's (the) Matter?", A Show on Elementary Particle Physics with 28 Demonstration Experiments

We present the screenplay of a physics show on particle physics, by the Physikshow of Bonn University. The show is addressed at non-physicists aged 14+ and communicates basic concepts of elementary particle physics including the discovery of the Higgs boson in an entertaining fashion. It is also demonstrates a successful outreach activity heavily relying on the university physics students. This paper is addressed at anybody interested in particle physics and/or show physics. This paper is also addressed at fellow physicists working in outreach, maybe the experiments and our choice of simple explanations will be helpful. Furthermore, we are very interested in related activities elsewhere, in particular also demonstration experiments relevant to particle physics, as often little of this work is published. Our show involves 28 live demonstration experiments. These are presented in an extensive appendix, including photos and technical details. The show is set up as a quest, where 2 students from Bonn with the aid of a caretaker travel back in time to understand the fundamental nature of matter. They visit Rutherford and Geiger in Manchester around 1911, who recount their famous experiment on the nucleus and show how particle detectors work. They travel forward in time to meet Lawrence at Berkeley around 1950, teaching them about the how and why of accelerators. Next, they visit Wu at DESY, Hamburg, around 1980, who explains the strong force. They end up in the LHC tunnel at CERN, Geneva, Switzerland in 2012. Two experimentalists tell them about colliders and our heroes watch live as the Higgs boson is produced and decays. The show was presented in English at Oxford University and University College London, as well as Padua University and ICTP Trieste. It was 1st performed in German at the Deutsche Museum, Bonn (5/'14). The show has eleven speaking parts and involves in total 20 people.Comment: 113 pages, 88 figures. An up to date version of the paper with high resolution pictures can be found at http://www.th.physik.uni-bonn.de/People/dreiner/Downloads/. In v2 the acknowledgements and a citation are correcte

Praktisches Verfahren zur Bemessung von Brückenseilen und -hängern zur Vermeidung Regen-Wind-induzierter Schwingungen

Rain-wind induced vibrations have been widely studied during the last decades. Today it is desirable to use the experience gathered in this field in order to develop a practical design procedure offering both security and economy. After a restricted review of some analytical models, this paper points out the need for a semi-empirical method if the complexity of this design procedure has to be kept at its minimum. Based on measured data collected during field tests and wind tunnel experiments, a new proposal is suggested.Regen-Wind-induzierte Schwingungen waren in den letzten Jahrzehnten Gegenstand umfangreicher Untersuchungen. Es ist deshalb zweckmäßig, die gesammelten Erfahrungen zu nutzen, um praktische Bemessungsregeln für den Sicherheitsnachweis schwingungsanfälliger Bauteile abzuleiten. Nach einem kurzen Überblick über einige in der Literatur vorgeschlagene vollmechanische Berechnungsmodelle zeigt dieser Beitrag, wie mit einer halbempirischen Methode die Komplexität dieser Modelle für den praktischen Nachweis reduziert werden kann. Auf der Grundlage von Daten aus Messungen an Bauwerken und im Windkanal wird ein neuer Vorschlag vorgestellt, der in die Empfehlung ldquoSchwingungsanfällige Zugglieder im Brückenbaurdquo des Arbeitskreises 2.4.2 ldquoSchwingungsdämpferrdquo der Bundesanstalt für Straßenwesen eingegangen ist