1) Particle physics and cosmology research may seem useless but has led to many important applications and technological advances. 2) José Mariano Gago enthusiastically promoted science, education, and international cooperation in particle physics and cosmology research in Portugal and beyond. 3) While the discoveries of particle physicists and cosmologists may not have obvious practical applications, they have consistently enabled unforeseen technological innovations that have transformed our lives over many decades.

1. Particle Physics & Cosmology
— Useless but Essential —
Sheldon Lee Glashow
Harvard University, Emeritus
Boston University
2 June 2016
Research – Education – Dialogue
Lessons Learnt from Jos´e Mariano Gago
Madrid, Spain

2. JOS´E MARIANO GAGO Enthusiastically Promoted...
...Science & Education in Portugal, as well as International
Cooperation for Research in Cosmology and Particle Physics, both
within and beyond Europe. Surely he was pleased that so many
countries participate in so many ambitious multi-national
endeavors:
39 At CERN’s ATLAS experiment; 44 at Fermilab,
43 At CERN’s CMS experiment; 16 at LHC-b,
21 Joined CERN; 22 joined ESA; 17 work at AMS
15 At LIGO; 17 at the Webb Telescope,
58 Have their own Supercomputers,
21 Have their own Synchrotron Light Sources,
And look how many have formal contacts with CERN:

3. PARTICLE PHYSICS IS VERY INTERNATIONAL
Albania, Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria,
Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil,
Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus,
Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, France,
Finland, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hungary, Iceland,
India, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Latvia,
Lebanon, Lithuania, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Malta,
Mexico, Montenegro, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, New
Zealand, Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Palestine, Peru,
Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Rwanda,
Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, Slovak Republic, South
Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand,
Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Ukraine,
USA, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, and Vietnam.

4. 50 YEARS OF EUROPEAN PARTICLE PHYSICS
1961 Spain joins CERN.
1961 Goldstone invents his Boson.
1963 Cabibbo invents his Angle.
1964 Ademollo & Gatto propose their Theorem.
1964 Higgs et al. invent their Boson.
1970 GIM Mechanism is invented, mostly by Europeans.
1972 CERN neutrinos provide evidence for Quarks.
1973 Gargamelle discovers the Weak Neutral Current.
1974 DESY observes Gluon Jets.
1983 CERN discovers W ± and Z0 Bosons.
1985 Jos´e Mariano Gago joins the CERN Council.
1986 Portugal joins CERN, thanks to Dr. Gago.
1988 CERN sees direct CP violation in Kaon Decays.
1989 CERN develops the World-Wide Web.
2010 CERN sees the first tau lepton made by Muon Neutrinos.
2010 CERN produces the first Anti-Hydrogen Atoms.
2012 CERN produces & observes the long sought Higgs Boson.

5. BUT PARTICLE PHYSICS & COSMOLOGY...
...certainly can seem useless. What possible practical application
could result from such great discoveries as:
The Expansion of the Universe (1929)?
Cosmic Background Radiation (1965)?
The Second Neutrino (1963)?
Weak Neutral Currents (1972)?
The Charmed Quark (1976)?
The Top Quark (1995)?
The Dark Energy of the Universe (1998)?
The Higgs Boson (1964–2012)?
Gravitational Waves (1916–2016)?
Or, The Production of Ξ−, Ω− and Ξ∗ Resonances in K−-p
Interactions, the subject of Jos´e Mariano Gago’s 1976 Thesis?

6. THESIS & ANTITHESIS
‘The discoveries of particle physicists or cosmologists are
intellectually irrelevant to almost everyone... [L]et them do it in
their spare time at their own expense. It is far more important that
we encourage our ‘best brains’ to solve real problems...’
Had Faraday, Rontgen and Hertz focussed on solving the real
problems of their day, we would have waited much longer for
electric motors, X-rays and radios.
‘The predominant driver of GDP growth over the past half century
has been Scientific Research. Virtually every new technological
product is traceable to a research discovery, often one pursued with
no application in mind. The most successful and widely emulated
model for sustaining research is one in which the primary funder of
research — particularly basic or curiosity-driven research — is the
government.’

7. FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICISTS...
...are often concerned with exotic phenomena which are not at all
useful in or of themselves. Nonetheless, their work has made,
makes and will make enormous impacts on our lives.
Curiosity-driven searches for fundamental knowledge are and have
always been at least as effective as direct searches for solutions to
specific societal problems, whether (1) from the discoveries
themselves, or (2) from the frontier technologies they lead to, or
(3) from scientists who hone their skills at the forefront of the
knowledge frontier, then turn to more relevant issues.
Quantum Mechanics was invented by dreamers like Bohr,
Einstein, Heisenberg, Schroedinger, Pauli and Dirac. They had
loads of fun puzzling out the basic science of atoms, but they
made no patents, start-ups, non-compete agreements and made no
marketable products. Yet today quantum mechanics underlies at
least one third of the world’s economy!

8. VIRTUES OF BASIC SCIENCE FOR MEDICINE
DISCOVERY APPLICATION
1894 X-Rays
1932 Antimatter
1950 Nuclear Magnetism
1912 Radioactive Isotopes
1934 Cyclotron
1957 Lasers
1986 Polymerase Chn Rctn
1928 Penicillin (by Chance!)
1953 DNA Structure
CAT Scanners
PET Scanners
MRI Scanners
Brachytherapy
Particle Beam Therapy
Microsurgery
Forensic Medicine
Disease Control
Gene Therapy
Each of these discoveries earned a Nobel Prize!

9. BASIC SCIENCE & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
1888 Radio Waves
1947 Holography
1947 Transistors
1951 Integrated Circuits
1966 Optical Fibers
1976 PK Cryptography
1988 Giant Magnetoresistance
1986 High T Superconductors
2012 Quantum Manipulation
Wireless Transmission
Secure Credit Cards
1st Computer Revolution
2nd Computer Revolution
Rapid Data Transmission
Secure Data Transmission
Multi-Gigabyte Disks
Energy Storage (?)
Quantum Computers (?)
All but two of these discoveries earned Nobel Prizes!

10. MORE FRUITS OF BASIC SCIENCE
1839 Photovoltaic Effect
1905 Photoelectric Effect
1912 X-Ray Diffraction
1916 General Relativity
1923 Matter Waves
1938 Nuclear Fission
1949 Carbon Dating
1969 Charge Coupled Device
1985 Bucky-Balls (Fullerenes)
2004 Graphene
Solar Panels
Charge Coupled Device
DNA Structure
Global Positioning
Electron Microscope
Nuclear Power
Climate Research
Digital Cameras
?
?
All but two of these discoveries earned Nobel Prizes! (Einstein’s
prize was for something other than relativity.)

11. FROM DISCOVERY TO DEVICE
GMR Effect to Gigabyte Hard Drives:
CCD to Digital Camera:
Transistor to Transistor Radio:
Matter Waves to Electron Microscope:
Radio Waves to Wireless Telegraphy:
Fission to Nuclear Power:
General Relativity to Global Positioning:
Photovoltaics to Solar Panels:
3 years
6 years
7 years
10 years
11 years
19 years
78 years
115 years
The latency period has various causes:
Necessity (e.g., solarpanels);
War (e.g., nuclear power);
Missing Technology (e.g., GPS needs satellites and
microelectronics .)

12. COMPARE: FROM PREDICTION TO DISCOVERY FOR
FUNDAMENTAL PARTICLES & WAVES
1891 ELECTRONS
1920 NEUTRONS
1964 CHARMED QUARKS
1934 MESONS
1905 PHOTONS
1864 RADIO WAVES
1960 W and Z BOSONS
1930 NEUTRINOS
1967 HIGGS BOSONS
1916 GRAVITATIONAL WAVES∗
5 years
12 years
12 years
14 years
21 years
24 years
26 years
26 years
45 years
100 years
∗ Searches began in 1960, but success took another 56 yrs.

13. WHO COULD IMAGINE THAT...
Neutrons would lead to carbon-free Nuclear Power?
General Relativity would make GPS possible?
Positrons would lead to PEP Scanners?
Number Theory would enable Online Gaming?
Large Prime Numbers are needed for ATMs?
Photoelectrons would yield Digital Photography?
Jellyfish would provide a key Biochemical Marker?
Blue Lasers would be the keys to LED lighting?
Nuclear Magnetism would give us MRI Scanners?
Uranium Isotopes would tell us the Age of the Earth?

14. SPEAKING OF ISOTOPES
Radioactive isotopes were discovered and named by Frederick
Soddy in 1913, stable ones soon afterward by Francis Aston. Both
would receive Nobel Prizes. Isotopes are now used in many ways:
Dating for Paleontology and Geology
Dating for Forensics, History and Archaeology
Sensors for Oil & Gas Exploration and Industry
Medical Diagnosis, Research and Therapy
Food Preservation and Sterilization
Detectors of Leaks, Pollutants or Smoke
Heart Pacemakers and Alaskan Runway Lights
Satellite Energy Sources, Polymer Synthesis
Genetics, Gemology, Insect Control
Art Preservation and Restoration, &c.
And Isotopes are often made at Particle Accelerators!

15. 30,000 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS?!
The first 5-inch wide cyclotron accelerated protons to 80,000 eV.
Today’s 5-mile wide LHC produces protons with
6,500,000,000,000 eV. Many thousands of particle accelerators
operate today, the vast majority doing useful things:
Medical Therapy, Research and Diagnosis
Isotope Synthesis & Ion Implantation
Computer Chip Manufacture & Bomb Detection
Atomic, Nuclear, Molecular and Fusion Research
Trace Element Detection and Measurement
Corrosion & Erosion Studies, Metallurgy
Radiation Processing & Microlithography
Detecting & Measuring Semiconductor Contaminants
Accelerator Mass Spectroscopy
And potentially:
Ultra-Safe Nuclear Power Reactors
Large Scale Magnetic Energy Storage

16. SYNCHROTRON LIGHT SOURCES
Energy loss due to ‘synchrotron radiation,’ once a problem at
electron accelerators, is now a multi-billion dollar enterprise.
Synchrotron light has applications throughout science, medicine,
engineering and industry. About 80 of these large, expensive and
sophisticated light sources are deployed in over 20 countries. Even
more powerful “Free Electron Lasers,” such as those in Hamburg
and Stanford, represent their fourth generation. At least 5
Chemistry Nobel Prizes were awarded for work done at light
sources: in 1997, 2003, 2006, 2009 and 2012. Applications of light
sources include:
Neuro-Chemistry, Nanoscience and Pharmacology
Cancer Therapy, Molecular Biology and Material Science
Imaging Crystals, Ribosomes, Proteins and Viruses
Analyses of Strains, Cracks and Corrosion
Paleoentomology, Biochemistry & Archaeology...

17. NUMBER THEORY: Another Useless Discipline?
‘There is one science whose very remoteness from ordinary human
actuvities should keep it gentle and clean’... G.H. Hardy 1840
Tell that to the NSA! Number theory has become essential to
modern cryptography, an immensely practical discipline:
Military (and industrial) encryption and decryption,
Electronic money for gaming and financial services,
Telephonic encryption, Online signature authorization,
Network and email security, Speech synthesis,
Ensuring data integrity and preservation, cyberwar,
Security trading, Concert Hall acoustics, cybersecurity,
Computational Biology, Online Payments, ATMs, bitcoin,
Error correcting codes & Secure data transmission for:
Finance, Industry, Military, Governments & Individuals.

18. PARTICLE PHYSICISTS ARE VERSATILE
Allan Cormack: Experimental particle physicist, co-invented
the CAT scanner for which he shared the Nobel in Medicine.
Walter Gilbert: Theoretical physicist, then molecular biologist,
shared Nobel in Chemistry, cofounder & first CEO Biogen,
now art photographer & philanthropist.
Paul Ginsparg: Theoretical physicist and IT expert founded
the online science archive, won a MacArthur award for
“changing how physics gets done.”
Leon Lederman: Experimental physicist, codiscovered 2nd
neutrino & 5th quark, Nobel in PHYSICS, many STEM
initiatives, e.g., Illinois Math & Science Academy.
Andrei Sakharov: Famed Soviet theoretical physicist. human
rights champion and Nobel in Peace, led his government to
sign nuclear test ban treaty.
Jos´e Mariano Gago: Particle physicist, served on CERN’s
Council. As Portugal’s Minister of Science, Tech. and Higher
Ed. he advanced science and science education in Portugal
and throughout Europe.

19. APOLOGIA
Basic Scientific Research has enabled most of the technological
and medical marvels of modern life. But that is not at all what
motivates most of those who pursue the disciplines of cosmology
and particle physics.
Rather, as heirs to Nature’s splendors, we find it our duty to try, as
best we can, to understand the nature of All Things Great and
Small: from the Birth, Evolution and Fate of the Universe, to the
tiniest Building Blocks of Matter, and to the Rules they must obey.
— THANK YOU —