Superconducting Super Collider

This article is about the particle accelerator. For the programming language, see SuperCollider. For the electronic duo, see Super Collider (band).

Hadron colliders

SSC site, 2008
Intersecting Storage Rings	CERN, 1971–1984
Super Proton Synchrotron	CERN, 1981–1984
ISABELLE	BNL, cancelled in 1983
Tevatron	Fermilab, 1987–2011
Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider	BNL, 2000–present
Superconducting Super Collider	Cancelled in 1993
Large Hadron Collider	CERN, 2009–present
Super Large Hadron Collider	Proposed, CERN, 2019–
Very Large Hadron Collider	Theoretical

The Superconducting Super Collider (SSC) (also nicknamed the Desertron^[1]) was a particle accelerator complex under construction in the vicinity of Waxahachie, Texas that was set to be world's largest and most energetic, surpassing the current record held by the Large Hadron Collider. Its planned ring circumference was 87.1 kilometres (54.1 mi) with an energy of 20 TeV per beam of protons. The project's director was Roy Schwitters, a physicist at the University of Texas at Austin and Harvard University. Dr. Louis Ianniello served as Associate Director.^[2] The project was cancelled in 1993 due to budget problems.

Development

The system was first envisioned in the December 1983 National Reference Designs Study, which examined the technical and economic feasibility of a machine with the design capacity of 20 TeV per beam. After an extensive Department of Energy review during the mid-1980s, a site selection process began in 1987. The project was awarded to Texas in November 1988 and major construction began in 1991. Seventeen shafts were sunk and 23.5 km (14.6 mi) of tunnel were bored by late 1993.^[3]

Cancellation

During the design and the first construction stage, a heated debate ensued about the high cost of the project. In 1987, Congress was told the project could be completed for $4.4 billion, and it gained the enthusiastic support of Speaker Jim Wright of nearby Fort Worth.^{[4][dubious – discuss]} By 1993, the cost projection exceeded $12 billion. A recurring argument was the contrast with NASA's contribution to the International Space Station (ISS), a similar dollar amount.^{[citation needed]} Critics of the project argued that the US could not afford both of them. Early in 1993 a group supported by funds from project contractors organized a public relations campaign to lobby Congress directly,^[5] but in June, the non-profit Project on Government Oversight released a draft audit report by the Department of Energy's Inspector General heavily criticizing the Super Collider for its high costs and poor management by officials in charge of it.^[6][7]

A high-level schematic of the lab landscape during the final planning phases.

Congress officially canceled the project October 21, 1993.^[8] Many factors contributed to the cancellation: rising cost estimates; poor management by physicists and Department of Energy officials; the end of the need to prove the supremacy of American science with the collapse of the Soviet Union; belief that many smaller scientific experiments of equal merit could be funded for the same cost; Congress's desire to generally reduce spending; the reluctance of Texas Governor Ann Richards;^[9] and President Bill Clinton's initial lack of support for a project begun during the administrations of Richards's predecessor, Bill Clements, and Clinton's predecessors, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. However, in 1993, Clinton tried to prevent the cancellation by asking Congress to continue "to support this important and challenging effort" through completion because "abandoning the SSC at this point would signal that the United States is compromising its position of leadership in basic science".^[10]

The closing of the SSC had adverse consequences for the southern part of the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex, and resulted in a mild recession, most evident in those parts of Dallas which lay south of the Trinity River.^[11] When the project was canceled, 22.5 km (14.0 mi) of tunnel and 17 shafts to the surface were already dug, and nearly two billion dollars had already been spent on the massive facility.^[12]

Comparison to the Large Hadron Collider

The SSC's planned collision energy of 40 TeV was almost triple the 14 TeV of its European counterpart, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Geneva.

The SSC cost was due largely to the massive civil engineering project of digging a huge tunnel underground. The LHC in contrast took over the pre-existing engineering infrastructure and 27 km long underground cavern of the Large Electron-Positron Collider, and used innovative magnet designs to bend the higher energy particles into the available tunnel. ^[13]. The LHC eventually cost the equivalent of about 5 billion US dollars to build.

Current status of site

View of the SSC site, 2008

After the project was canceled, the main site was deeded to Ellis County, Texas, and the county tried numerous times to sell the property. The property was finally sold in August 2006 to an investment group led by the late J.B. Hunt.^[14] Collider Data Center has contracted with GVA Cawley to market the site as a tier III or tier IV data center.^[15] As of October 2010, the site is abandoned and run-down.

See also

• Fermilab
• DESY
• UNK proton accelerator a similar competing Soviet project discontinued at about the same time in Russia.
• Einstein's Bridge and A Hole in Texas, both science fiction novels about the SSC
• The God Particle by Leon Lederman and Dick Teresi

Notes

1. ^ John G. Cramer (May 1997). "The Decline and Fall of the SSC". The Alternate View column. Analog Science Fiction and Fact Magazine. Archived from the original on 1997-10-10. http://replay.web.archive.org/19971010114852/http://www.npl.washington.edu/AV/altvw84.html. Retrieved 2011-05-09. 
2. ^ "In Memory of Louis Ianniello". JOM. Minerals, Metals & Materials Society. October 2005. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5348/is_200510/ai_n21380886/. Retrieved 2011-02-25. (archived at BNET/FindArticles)
3. ^ Staff, Wire services (December 29, 2009). "Q & A: Texas supercollider project scrapped". tampabay.com. St. Petersburg Times. http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/qampa-texas-supercollider-project-scrapped/1062063. Retrieved 2010-07-11. 
4. ^ Jim Riddlesperger of Texas Christian University, "Jim Wright", West Texas Historical Association and East Texas Historical Association, joint meeting in Fort Worth, Texas, February 26, 2010.
5. ^ Scott Veggeberg (May 31, 1993). "Aggressive Promotional Blitz Aims To Shake SSC's Pork Barrel Image". The Scientist 7 (11): 1. http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/16110/. (subscription required)
6. ^ Wire Services (June 23, 1993). "Super Collider's first collision is with auditors". The Milwaukee Journal. p. A9. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7aIaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=piwEAAAAIBAJ&dq=project%20on%20government%20oversight&pg=6784%2C6938021. Retrieved 2010-06-29. 
7. ^ The Superconducting Super Collider's Super Excesses. POGO.org; Project on Government Oversight.
8. ^ Michelle Mittelstadt, (AP) (October 22, 1993). "Congress officially kills collider project". Lewiston, MN: Sun Journal (Lewiston). p. 7. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=kGAgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=umUFAAAAIBAJ&dq=cost%20overrun%20ssc&pg=3808%2C4981568. Retrieved 2010-06-28. 
9. ^ Alvin W. Trivelpiece (2005). "Some Observations on DOE's Role in Megascience" (PDF). History of Physics Forum, American Physical Society. http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/APR05/Event/30845. Retrieved 2010-07-11.  Trivelpiece recounts hearing "about a conversation between the Governor of Texas, the Honorable Ann Richards, and President Clinton early in his administration. He asked her if she wanted to fight for the SSC. She said no. That meant it would no longer be an administration imperative."(subscription required)
10. ^ President Bill Clinton (June 16, 1993). "Letter to William H. Natcher, Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations". HEP.net/ssc. High Energy Physics Center at FermiLAB. http://www.hep.net/ssc/new/history/hepssc/clinton.html. Retrieved 2010-07-11.  The letter reads in part, "As your Committee considers the Energy and Water Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 1994, I want you to know of my continuing support for the Superconducting Super Collider (SSC). ... Abandoning the SSC at this point would signal that the United States is compromising its position of leadership in basic science—a position unquestioned for generations. These are tough economic times, yet our Administration supports this project as a part of its broad investment package in science and technology. ... I ask you to support this important and challenging effort."
11. ^ Jeffrey Mervis (October 3, 2003). "Scientists are long gone, but bitter memories remain". Science 302 (5642): 40–41. doi:10.1126/science.302.5642.40. PMID 14526052. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/search?volume=302&firstpage=40&search_citation-search.x=0&search_citation-search.y=0&search_citation-search=search. Retrieved 2010-07-11. (subscription required)
12. ^ Jeffrey Mervis; Charles Seife (October 3, 2003). "Lots of reasons, but few lessons". Science 302 (5642): 38–40. doi:10.1126/science.302.5642.38. PMID 14526051. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/search?volume=302&firstpage=38&search_citation-search.x=0&search_citation-search.y=0&search_citation-search=search. Retrieved 2010-07-11. (subscription required)
13. ^ Info about the civil engineering cost and magnets is at It's the Magnets, Stupid, Anil Ananthaswamy, edgeofphysics.com
14. ^ Christine Perez (August 18 2006). "GVA Cawley to market former super collider". Dallas Business Journal. http://dallas.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2006/08/21/newscolumn6.html. Retrieved 2010-07-11.  Collider Data Center, LLC.
15. ^ GVA Cawley (August 16, 2006). "High Profile Superconducting Super Collider Project from Early 90's Sees New Life (press release)". Superconductor Week. Archived from the original on 2009-05-19. http://replay.web.archive.org/20090519005805/http://www.superconductorweek.com/pr/0806tgj/scsc1.htm. Retrieved 2010-07-11. 

References

• Leon Lederman; Dick Teresi (1994). "The God Particle: If the Universe Is the Answer, What Is the Question?". Delta. ISBN 0-385-31211-3.
• Herman Wouk (2004). "A Hole In Texas", fiction. Little, Brown. ISBN 0-316-52590-1.
• Bruce Sterling (July 1994). "The Dead Collider". Fantasy & Science Fiction Science column. Issue #13, 1994.
• Michael Riordan (2001). "A Tale of Two Cultures: Building the Superconducting Super Collider, 1988-1993". Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences 32(1), pp. 125–144 (Fall 2001), [doi:10.1016/j.shpsa.2009.06.004 DOI]
• Michael Riordan (December 2000). "The Demise of the Superconducting Super Collider". Physics in Perspective, 2(4), pp. 411–425. (subscription required)
• Sidney D. Drell, Chair. (May 2004). "The Superconducting Super Collider Project: A Summary" (archive of original. U.S. Department of Energy, High Energy Physics Advisory Panel's Subpanel on Vision for the Future of High Energy Physics.
• H.-Ulrich Wienands, ed. (1997). "The SSC Low Energy Booster" IEEE Press. ISBN 0-7803-1164-7

External links

• SSC website
• "Photo Tour of the SSC facility (2003)". Archived from the original on 2008-04-11. http://replay.web.archive.org/20080411135354/http://suv.topcities.com/ssc1.htm. 
• "The High Water Mark of American Science". (photo tour). American Physical Society Physics Central blog, March 24, 2011.

Coordinates: 32°21′51″N 96°56′38″W / 32.36417°N 96.94389°W / 32.36417; -96.94389