by Mark Bowen
1997
At a collaboration meeting in Berkeley, Adam Bouchta presents AMANDA’s first neutrino candidates, detected by AMANDA-B4.
Congress and President Bill Clinton approve funding for a new station at the South Pole.
1998
March: IceCube Neutrino Facility Workshop in Irvine (the first IceCube meeting).
June: Super-Kamiokande collaboration, the successor to Kamiokande, announces evidence that neutrinos oscillate. This implies that they have mass, in violation of the standard model of particle physics.
August 25: Gary Hill and Phil Romenesko find two gold-plated neutrinos in data from AMANDA-B10.
August 26: Fred Reines dies.
November: The Madison group presents an automated analysis yielding nine neutrinos at a collaboration meeting in Madison. This the first indication that AMANDA is a working neutrino telescope.
1999
May: In a meeting at NSF headquarters, the officers of the foundation formally embrace IceCube.
November: IceCube proposal submitted to NSF.
1999–00 Antarctic Season
Final AMANDA drilling campaign results in AMANDA-II, nineteen strings. String 18 is comprised entirely of DOMs.
2000
The DONUT collaboration at Fermilab announces the first direct detection of tau neutrinos.
October: IceCube approved under the Clinton administration.
2001
January: John Wiley becomes Chancellor of UW-Madison.
February: IceCube loses funding when the new president, George W. Bush, issues a “no-new-starts” diktat to NSF. With the encouragement of John Wiley, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Fund loans $4.8 million to IceCube.
An external advisory committee chaired by physicist Barry Barish recommends the DOM as the basic detector technology for IceCube.
March: AMANDA collaboration publishes a paper in Nature establishing the feasibility of ice-based neutrino astronomy.
June: Scientists at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) announce the solution to the solar neutrino problem and erase the last lingering doubts about neutrino oscillation.
2002
National Science Board formally funds IceCube.
Masatoshi Koshiba, leader of the Kamiokande collaboration, and 88-year-old Ray Davis share half the Nobel Prize in Physics “for pioneering contributions to astrophysics, in particular for the detection of cosmic neutrinos.”
2003
New South Pole station first occupied.
Jim Yeck becomes Project Director of IceCube.
2004–05 Antarctic Season
First IceCube deployment season results in disaster when Swedish driller Sven Lidström is severely injured in a drilling mishap.
First IceCube string successfully deployed.
2005–06 Antarctic Season
Back on track, the collaboration deploys eight strings.
2006
Bruce Koci dies of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
2010–11 Antarctic Season
December: IceCube collaboration deploys its eighty-sixth and final string.
January: E-mail from John Jacobsen, a computer whiz at Pole, announces “first flight” of full IceCube detector.
2011
April-May: At the IceCube commissioning gala in Madison, Francis Halzen predicts a “five-sigma” discovery within five years.
May: Full IceCube instrument begins taking data.
August: “Bert,” the highest-energy neutrino ever detected, explodes in the middle of the IceCube array.
2012
January: “Ernie,” more energetic than Bert, explodes in the detector.
April: IceCube collaboration announces “an absence of neutrinos associated with” gamma ray bursts, effectively ruling out all current GRB models.
May: IceCube collaborator Aya Ishihara discovers Bert and Ernie.
July: Scientists at CERN announce discovery of the Higgs boson, the last undetected particle in the standard model of particle physics.
October: IceCube collaborators Nathan Whitehorn and Claudio Kopper uncover twenty-six more events at energies near Bert and Ernie’s.
2013
May: At a symposium in Madison, the collaboration reveals their twenty-eight events to the world, characterizing them as “evidence” of the first extraterrestrial high-energy neutrinos ever detected.
November: Paper on the twenty-eight events appears in Science, announcing the birth of neutrino astronomy.
December: Physics World (UK) names IceCube’s discovery of cosmic neutrinos its breakthrough of the year.
2015
February: Per Olof Hulth of Stockholm University dies of pancreatic cancer.
September: Francis Halzen wins the Balzan Prize.
November: Takaaki Kajita of Super-K and Arthur McDonald of SNO share the Nobel Prize in Physics “for the discovery of neutrino oscillations, which shows that neutrinos have mass.”
Notes
Introduction: Making Mistakes
The universe can’t exist … something like that Herzog 2007; philosophicalsociety.com 2012.
detected high-energy neutrinos coming from outer space Aartsen et al. 2013b.
“weirdest” of the seven wonders of modern astronomy Musser 1999.
so successful that it’s beginning to feel like a straightjacket Cho 2013.
goods on ships … the English Channel Francis Halzen got this story from a science historian who walked up to him after he, Francis, had given a talk before a large audience at an American Physical Society meeting in Washington.
our celestial science … remains to be discovered This quote comes from an entertaining review of such surprises entitled “Serendipitous Astronomy” (Lang 2010).
Soon the sun … fox in his tail Bowen 2005, 17–18.
initiate … Antarctica and extend … dimensions AMANDA Collaboration 1998.
one up-going neutrino Sutton 1992, 209; Babson et al. 1990.
Sailors … unforgiving medium Roberts 1992.
Nobel Dreams Taubes 1986.
This Crazy Child
most exciting eight-year period There are innumerable stories and anecdotes about the birth of quantum mechanics and nuclear physics and the remarkable characters who participated in these dramas. Most have been told many times. I have elected to repeat only the most relevant here. My favorite book about those times is Faust in Copenhagen by Gino Segrè (2007). Abraham Pais’s exquisite and unique Inward Bound (1986) is basically the bible for the history of atomic, nuclear, and particle physics up until the time it was written, and chronicles the development of the ideas in a way that only a theorist of Pais’s insight could. On the subject of Pauli himself, I recommend his Writings on Physics and Philosophy (1994), especially the biographical introduction by Enz; the pithy profile in Physics Today by von Meyenn and Schucking (2001), and Peierls’s biographical memoir for the Royal Society (1960).
most ambitious … Bohr-Sommerfeld theory Peierls 1960, 176.
No one … appraisal Einstein 1922; English translation of this quote: von Meyenn and Schucking 2001, 44.
institute had been founded … outside Germany Pais 1982, 450.
I will never … successor Enz 2000, 22; von Meyenn and Schucking 2001, 43.
greater scientist, though not as great a man von Meyenn and Schucking 2001, 43.
letters were copied Ibid., 45–6.
very conscience … turbulent sea Bohr 1960, 4.
supreme judge Enz 1994.
I know … merciless criticism Segrè 2007, 149.
inspired by Pauli’s insights and suggestions von Meyenn and Schucking 2001, 47.
We always benefitted … met with his approval Bohr 1960, 3.
Scourge of God Segrè 2007, 79.
After the second … feminine Ibid., 81.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde This is the name of a chapter
in Miller (2010).
changed his name Miller 2010, 20. Pauli’s father’s given surname was Pascheles.
unclear when he learned of his Jewish heritage Ibid., 22.
festering for more than twenty years Sutton 1992, 10–12. The second chapter of Sutton’s excellent book gives a more detailed account of the experimental developments than I deemed appropriate here.
proving the existence of a spectrum Chadwick 1914.
ruled out secondary processes … going missing Ellis and Wooster 1927.
confirmed and extended Ellis and Wooster’s result Meitner and Oorthman 1930.
He didn’t see … relativity, would not I’m barely revealing the tip of the iceberg of this fascinating, quasi-philosophical debate. Bohr and Pauli had been disagreeing about energy conservation for about six years at that point. Enz (1981) reviews their debate with great insight, and so (it goes without saying) does Pais (1986, 309–13).
I must say … let the stars shine in peace! Bohr 1929; Pauli 1929; Peierls 1983, 222; Sutton 1992, 20–1; Pais 1986, 312.
classically non-describable two-valuedness Pauli 1925; Pauli 1946; see also Pauli 1945.
identifying this property as spin Uhlenbeck and Goudsmit 1925 and 1926.
several experiments Kronig 1928; Rasetti 1929; Heitler and Herzberg 1929.
tentative solution to both There is evidence that Pauli had been discussing his idea with others prior to the writing of this letter. Abraham Pais (1986, 315) has uncovered a letter that Heisenberg wrote to Pauli on December 1, which refers to “your neutrons.” Pauli composed his letter to the radioactive ladies and gentlemen three days later.
I have … electron is constant “Wolfgang Pauli wrote a highly sophisticated and beautiful German,” writes Charles Enz in the preface to a collection of Pauli’s writings on physics and philosophy (Pauli 1994) and he expressed himself with uncommon precision. When it came to translating his works into English, Pauli encouraged literal translation over smooth or vernacular phrasing. I am using Robert Schlapp’s translation of the letter, which is found in Pauli (1958a).
those who say he invented both Brown 1978; Pontecorvo 1982.
It is difficult … neutrino invention by Pauli Pontecorvo 1982.
later generations … elusive particle Wu 1960.
this crazy child … behaved crazily Enz 1994, 19; Pais 1986, 314.
I’ve done a terrible … detected Hoyle 1967. The story of the bet is almost certainly true, but the quote from Pauli is probably impossible to verify. It is almost always reported as “I have done a terrible thing. I have postulated a particle that cannot be detected.” But the only source I can find for that is Fred Reines’s Nobel lecture (1995), in which he asserts that Pauli said it at Caltech, probably at the conference he attended in Pasadena in the summer of 1931. This makes a certain amount of sense, since Walter Baade was working at the Mt. Wilson Observatory, near Pasadena, at that time, but the reason I prefer Hoyle’s version is that it’s only second-hand, whereas Reines’s is third-hand at best and several more decades removed.
public for the first time AAAS 1931, 111; APS 1931.
Physicists will accept … mathematical creation Kaempffert 1931.
he entered … laugh from audience Brown 1978.
never inconvenienced Pauli himself in the least Peierls 1960, 185.
even quite practical … liberated and lightened Enz 1994, 17.
brief stop in Göttingen just at the time of the accident Gamow 1966, 64.
“accident” never happened Peierls 1960, 185.
was still cautious … Mussolini Pais 1986, 317 and 323n104.
at once showed a lively interest … conserved only statistically Pauli 1958a, 199.
threatened with dismissal from the ETH Miller 2010, 120.
And what shall we say … lunatic asylum Jung and de Laszlo 1958, xii, xiv; Miller 2010, 127.
chock-full … myself Atmanspacher and Primas 1997, 371.
rolled around on the floor as he poured out his stories Miller 2010, 129.
Chadwick discovered the neutron Chadwick 1932.
‘Neutrino,’ … through Fermi Bonolis 2005, 497n5. Bonolis is in turn quoting Ugo Amaldi in his preface to Battimelli and Paoloni (1998). She notes that “the word arose in a humorous conversation at the Istituto di via Panisperna. Fermi, [Edoardo] Amaldi, and a few others were present and Fermi was explaining Pauli’s hypothesis about his ‘light neutron.’ To distinguish this particle from the Chadwick neutron, Amaldi jokingly used this funny name.”
Anderson at Caltech detected the positron Anderson 1932; Anderson 1933.
Victor Hess made the first measurements Hess’s “step grandson” Bill Breisky (2012), wrote a wonderful article about his grandfather and the centenary celebration of his discovery in the New York Times.
mountaineers, mine workers, divers and air riders Auger 1985. See also Korff 1985.
The different … ‘in iron’ Brown and Rechenberg 1996, 69.
as much matter as matter is matter Pais 1986, 15.
Dirac equation Dirac 1928a, 1928b.
most beautiful equation in all of physics Pais 1986, 290; AIP 1962; Dirac 1977; Overbye 2002.
postulated the existence of a positively charged “anti-electron” Dirac 1931.
first theory of so-called quantum electrodynamics Dirac 1927.
some scientists began to suspect Iwanenko 1932.
a general clarification Pauli 1958a, 200.
players in the beta ray saga were there There is a photo of the attendees of this historic conference at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Solvay1933Large.jpg.
produced a positron instead of an electron Curie and Joliot, 1934; Pais 1986, 400; Pauli 1958a, 200.
Ellis and his student W. J. Henderson presented results Later published by Henderson alone (1934).
didn’t give in for another three years Bohr 1936. Bohr tended to keep conversations open, as he relished contradiction and the unanswerable question. Abraham Pais (1982, 24) points out that “no one resisted the photon [the quantum of light, proposed by Einstein] longer than Bohr”; and the textbook author David Griffiths (2008, 24n) adds that “he mercilessly denounced Schrödinger’s equation, discouraged Dirac’s work on the relativistic electron theory…, ridiculed Yukawa’s theory of the meson, and disparaged Feynman’s approach to quantum electrodynamics. Great scientists do not always have good judgment—especially when it concerns other people’s work—but Bohr must hold the all-time record.”
Pauli wrote many years later Pauli 1958a, 200.
I gave my ideas … in the discussion It is typical of Pauli’s modesty and disregard for recognition that the only record of his neutrino postulate that he bothered to publish appears as a brief discussion point in an exchange that followed a talk on nuclear structure that Heisenberg delivered at this 1933 Solvay conference. It was written in Pauli’s exquisite French (1934). An English translation by C. S. Wu is found in Brown (1978).
and then for three months … gifted in this respect Atmanspacher and Primas 1997, 371.
They contain … archetypal images Jung 1967, 5–182 (“Tavistock Lectures,” delivered in London in 1935); Miller 2010, 129–30.
identity of the dreamer … kept scrupulously anonymous In his writings, Jung referred to Pauli at various times as “a scientifically educated young man,” “a great scientist,” and “a very famous man, who lives today.”
searching for ways to extend it Pauli’s efforts in this arena took place independently of Jung as well. Atmanspacher and Primas (2006) have written a masterful review.
the no-man’s-land … our times Miller 2010, 147, 291n.
that the observer … completely detached Pauli 1957b, 131–2.
complementary aspects �
� ordering principles Atmanspacher and Primas 1997, 381; 2006, 17.
The Interpretation of Nature and the Psyche Jung and Pauli 1952.
synchronistic [manifestation] … non-rational Atmanspacher and Primas 1997, 378.
Infancy and Youth
electron and neutrino might also be related The French physicist Francis Perrin had guessed that there might be a symmetry between the electron and the neutrino shortly after Pauli sent his letter to the Radioactive Persons in Tübingen (Perrin 1930).
first example of a modern field theory Weisskopf 1972, 17; Brown 1978.
greatest editorial blunder they had ever made Close 2010, 24.
in three more specialized—and less visible—physics journals instead Fermi’s first short paper on the theory (1933), written in his native Italian, was a brief announcement similar to the one he had intended to publish in Nature in English. He then published a more complete treatment in Italian (1934a) with a translation in German (1934b). See also Bonolis (2005, 497n7). Wilson (1968) eventually translated this classic paper into English.
very small with respect to the mass of the electron Fermi 1934a, 1934b.
Peierls and … Bethe, showed Bethe and Peierls 1934.
ingenuity of experimentalists Peierls 1983.
One can only imagine … Fascist Italy in 1934 Bernstein 2001a, 7.
Bohr managed to find her a position in Stockholm Rhodes 1986, 236.
that if you really do … great energy Ibid., 258.
billion trillion nuclei in a single gram of uranium Ibid., 259.
by analogy with the binary fission of bacteria Ibid., 263.
Ettore Majorana I construed this brief synopsis of Majorana’s life from a slightly less brief synopsis by Bruno Pontecorvo (1982, 226–7).
paper he published in 1937 Majorana 1937.
he and his student Seth Neddermeyer detected the particle Neddermeyer and Anderson 1937.
three Italians … demonstrated Conversi et al. 1945; 1946; 1947.
a tall … tennis champion from Pisa Rhodes 1986, 217.