BEIJING, Sept 7 (ZXIN) -- "Accelerators in the field of high-energy physics research have many applications, such as killing mold in Dunhuang murals. "After the high-energy synchrotron radiation light source is built, it can regulate and improve the performance of nanomaterials, and even produce new materials." "Irradiation application is a very typical industrial application, for example, fruit can be irradiated during long-distance transportation to delay ripening and achieve the purpose of freshness." "Now there are a large number of users of pharmaceutical companies in synchrotron radiation, which is to test the molecular structure of the produced drugs to see which ones need to be improved, which is very important for people's health." "In 1988, a VAX785 computer from the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences became China's first node on the Internet." ......
To the public, high-energy physics research is quite high-end and mysterious, seemingly not much related to ordinary people, but in fact it is not. At a roundtable forum held in Beijing on September 5, a number of academicians and experts clearly stated during exchanges and discussions that high-energy physics is closely related to the daily life of the public, and the "grounded" figure of high-energy physics can be seen in the fields of supporting high technology, energy and environment, life and health, information and artificial intelligence, and high-energy physics is not "high cold".
At this roundtable forum of academicians and experts co-sponsored by the Innovation Service Center of Beijing Association for Science and Technology, the Documentation and Information Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Academician Zhou Zhonghe of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Academician Wang Yifang, Academician Chen Hesheng, Researcher Wei Long, Researcher Pan Weimin, Researcher Chen Gang, and researcher Yang Zhi, director of the Department of Nuclear Medicine of Peking University Cancer Hospital, focused on the theme of "High Energy Physics is Not "High Cold", "On the Sword" Application of high-energy physics and technology achievements.
The Academician Expert Roundtable Forum "High Energy Physics is Not "High Cold" was held in Beijing, and Academician Zhou Zhonghe, Researcher Pan Weimin, Researcher Wei Long, Academician Wang Yifang, Academician Chen Hesheng, Researcher Chen Gang, Researcher Yang Zhi (from left to right) exchanged discussions at the forum. Photo by China News Network reporter Sun Zifa
Academician Wang Yifang said that high-energy physics, also known as particle physics, studies the deepest structure of matter, and in the past few hundred years, the understanding of the structure of matter has been from molecules, atoms, nuclei, nucleons to quarks, through five levels of development, "so that we have a very basic and very profound understanding of matter, but also brought us fruitful scientific and technological achievements, so that our daily life has been changed to a considerable extent."
He said that a basic method of high-energy physics research is to use accelerators to study the deep structure of matter, which can generally accelerate electrons and protons, and its applications have also been found in various aspects, including irradiation modification, sterilization, structural imaging and so on. There are currently about 35,000 accelerators worldwide, half of which are in hospitals, for example for radioisotope production, medical examinations, cancer treatment, and a large number of accelerators for sterilization, modification, breeding, safety inspection, and accelerator-driven nuclear transmutation for spent fuel processing in nuclear power plants.
Accelerators have many applications, such as irradiation accelerators, which are used for food preservation, medical device disinfection, cable processing, material modification, and can also be used to sterilize, such as mold in Dunhuang murals. Through the accelerator can be generated beam directly used to treat cancer, such as gamma rays, protons, heavy ions, through the accelerator to produce protons, protons to produce neutrons, through the capture of neutrons can also treat cancer, etc., high-energy physics research and its derivatives of various technical means, so that now cancer treatment has a new means.
These detectors can also be used for radiation safety monitoring in combination with other means, such as dose alarms, portable gamma cameras, portable source finders, alarms, entry and exit inspections, channel inspections and industrial special equipment.
Wang Yifang pointed out that a variety of trace elements in the environment have attracted much attention, and the nuclear analysis technology method of high-energy physics research is actually the most sensitive method for detecting trace elements, far beyond the general chemical and physical methods.
As the chief commander of the large scientific device "High Energy Synchrotron Radiation Light Source" (HEPS) project, researcher Pan Weimin pointed out that the high energy synchrotron radiation light source is the largest scientific and technological infrastructure invested by the state during the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, it is China's first high-energy light source, but also the first fourth generation light source, its completion on schedule to reach the goal, will bring great improvement to the national science and technology.
In the past, the means were limited, the performance of nanomaterials largely depends on the size of the nanoparticles, and generally seen is an average effect, after the completion of the high-energy synchrotron radiation light source, the high-energy light source can finely detect the nanoparticles, so that the nanomaterials can be regulated, can improve the performance of nanomaterials, and even produce new higher-performance materials.
He also said, for example, the precision detection of large important workpieces, if the workpiece has tiny cracks, it is very dangerous in high-speed operation, high-energy synchrotron radiation light source can achieve high temporal and spatial resolution and strong penetration ability, can detect such large precision workpieces, can find tiny cracks.
Academician Chen Hesheng said that neutron scattering research materials have several characteristics, one is that neutrons are not charged and have magnetic moments, and magnetic materials can be studied; The second is to interact with the nucleus and distinguish between light elements and isotopes; Third, the penetration ability is very strong, can penetrate about 7 cm of steel and more than 20 cm of aluminum, which can be used for large-scale industrial testing; Fourth, it is able to see the dynamic process, which can study many properties of crystals well.
Neutron scattering is widely used, including non-destructive testing of high-speed rail wheels and axles, various large engineering components, etc., which must be detected by neutron scattering, "Our country now has a large number of metal fatigue residual force problems involving the national economy and people's livelihood, and neutron scattering is urgently needed to solve."
Researcher Wei Long said that irradiation applications, also known as irradiation processing, are a very typical industrial application, mainly the use of high-energy gamma rays or the use of accelerators, through ionization physical, chemical and biological effects, can play an inactivation, sterilization, material modification and other effects. For example, during the long-distance transportation of fruits, it can be delayed by irradiation to achieve the purpose of freshness. In addition, irradiation processing can also be used for sterilization, complete sanitize of cold chain viruses, etc.
Chen Hesheng added that irradiation is closely related to life, and the instant noodle seasonings and duck necks that everyone eats have been irradiated and disinfected, and high-grade cables have also been treated by irradiation accelerators, and their chemical molecular structure changes and are not easy to burn.
Researcher Yang Zhi believes that from X-ray to CT, MRI, and then to more advanced PET imaging, there are a series of equipment and technologies related to high-energy physics, including positron drugs used for PET imaging that also need to be produced by medical accelerators, and it can be said that high-energy physics technology is very closely related to people's health. In addition, the knowledge of high-energy physics will be used in early prevention and intervention methods such as a series of trace element detection and analysis in the public living environment and imaging equipment required by new diagnostic technologies. He hopes that in the future, we can make better use of high-energy physics technology and some new technologies of high-energy institutes, preferably combined with medicine, and play an exemplary role in the field of medicine and medical technology transformation, so as to better benefit mankind.
"High-energy physics research is a very complex process, whether it is collider experiments, or cosmic ray observation, etc., a series of experimental devices are very large, need to build a detection device, often tens of thousands or even millions of sensors, can collect a lot of data." Researcher Chen Gang pointed out that to collect these data into a study from different directions or different aspects, in order to see the physical process clearly, the big data we are talking about today is actually doing this.
He believes that high-energy physics has made great contributions to modern computer high technology or new technologies. Such as the current particularly hot topics, such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, etc., will have very important applications in particle physics, and the development of high-energy physics has also greatly promoted these technological progress.
The Academician Expert Roundtable Forum "High Energy Physics is Not "High Cold" was held in Beijing, and Academician Zhou Zhonghe, Researcher Pan Weimin, Researcher Wei Long, Academician Wang Yifang, Academician Chen Hesheng, Researcher Chen Gang, Researcher Yang Zhi (from left to right) listened to the questions of the audience at the forum. Photo by China News Network reporter Sun Zifa
Paleontologist Zhou Zhonghe is the host of this roundtable forum, laughing that he is an enthusiast of high-energy physics. He said that from sunlight to a lot of artificial light, such as lasers, X-rays, synchrotron radiation light, etc., in different types of fossil research including human fossils are used a lot, an important means of fossil research is to observe its characteristics, in the past fossil repair or sample analysis sometimes caused damage to specimens, synchrotron radiation light is now used more and more, that is, can achieve a non-destructive, high-precision three-dimensional restoration or analysis of chemical elements and molecules without destroying the specimen. This is ideal for research and conservation.
Zhou Zhonghe said that in recent years, CT technology and synchrotron radiation light source technology have been widely used in paleontological research, and many good results have been achieved, and he is very looking forward to the future application of high-energy synchrotron radiation light source under construction.
Wang Yifang finally stressed that for the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, high-energy physics research is fundamental, and for long-term development, it is necessary to do a good job in the fundamentals. For the society and the public, since high-energy physics has so many applications, it is more necessary to support the development of high-energy physics. (End)