Rutherford Centennial Conference on Nuclear Physics 8–12 August 2011, Manchester, UK

Freeman, S., Andreyev, A., Bruce, A., Deacon, A., Jenkins, D., Joss, D., MacGregor, D. , Regan, P., Simpson, J., Tungate, G., Wadsworth, B. and Watts, D. (Eds.) (2012) Rutherford Centennial Conference on Nuclear Physics 8–12 August 2011, Manchester, UK. Series: Journal of Physics Conference Series. Institute of Physics.

Abstract

Just over one hundred years ago, Ernest Rutherford presented an interpretation of alpha-particle scattering experiments, performed a couple of years earlier by Geiger and Marsden, to the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society. The work was summarised shortly afterwards in a paper in the Philosophical Magazine. He postulated that a dense speck of matter must exist at the centre of an atom (later to become known as the nucleus) if the details of the experiments, particularly the yield of alpha particles scattered through large angles, were to be explained. The nuclear hypothesis, combined with the experimental work by Moseley on X-rays and Bohr's theoretical ideas, both also initiated at the Victoria University of Manchester, established our view of atomic structure and gave birth to the field of nuclear physics. The Rutherford Centennial Conference on Nuclear Physics was held at The University of Manchester in August 2011 to celebrate this anniversary by addressing the wide range of contemporary topics that characterise modern nuclear physics. This set of proceedings covers areas including nuclear structure and astrophysics, hadron structure and spectroscopy, fundamental interactions studied within the nucleus and results of relativistic heavy-ion collisions. We would like to thank all those who presented their recent research results at the conference; the proceedings stand as a testament to the excitement and interest that still pervades the pursuit of this field of physics. We would also like to thank those who contributed in other ways to the conference. To colleagues at the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry for putting together an exhibition to coincide with the conference that included the manuscript of the 1911 paper, letters, notebooks and equipment used by Rutherford. These items were kindly loaned by Cambridge and Manchester Universities. Winton Capital generously supported this exhibition. We would also like to thank Professor Mary Fowler, Rutherford's great-granddaughter, and Professor Stephen Watts, Head of the School of Physics and Astronomy at Manchester, for opening the exhibition as part of the welcome reception for the conference. The reception was only possible with support from Canberra Industries. We are grateful to His Excellency Mr Derek Leask, New Zealand High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, to Professor Rod Coombs, Deputy President of The University of Manchester, and to Professor David Phillips, the President of the Royal Society of Chemistry, for their contributions to the formal opening of the conference. Manchester City Council kindly supported a civic reception hosted by the Lord Mayor of the City of Manchester, Councillor Harry Lyons JP, at Manchester Town Hall. The Ogden Trust helped support the conference dinner and Professor George Dracoulis provided an entertaining after dinner speech. Thank you for these contributions to the social programme of the conference. In addition to the exhibition at the Museum, which was open to the public until October 2011, the conference programme also included a series of public evening lectures and we are grateful both to the speakers (David Jenkins, Alan Perkins and John Roberts) and to those providing support for the public engagement activities (the Institute of Physics Nuclear Physics Group, the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine, the Nuclear Institute and the Science and Technology Facilities Council). We would also like to thank the European Physical Society for providing conference travel grants to a number of young scientists. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the other members of the UK Organising Committee for their help in making the conference a success and for their work in putting these proceedings together. In addition, the International Advisory Committee provided essential advice that contributed to the selection of the plenary speakers who were without exception engaging, interesting and entertaining, giving a really excellent set of presentations. Finally we are also pleased to express our thanks to the Conference Office of the Institute of Physics for their invaluable support in organising this event. We are especially grateful to Dawn Stewart for her responsive and efficient day-to-day handling of this event, as well as to Claire Garland for her planning and management of this event. This conference is the second in a series of conferences that began with the Rutherford Jubilee Conference held in Manchester in 1961, which is described in one of the contributions to these proceedings. I do hope that at least some of the delegates from the Centennial Conference will be able to attend the next one, fifty years hence in 2061, just as we were honoured to have some of the Jubilee delegates with us for the Centennial. If I am still around, I doubt that I will have the energy then to be conference chair. I would also not like to attempt to predict the plenary programme, but I hope that it will be as vibrant and exciting as the 2011 conference. Sean Freeman (The University of Manchester) Andrei Andreyev (University of the West of Scotland/The University of York) Alison Bruce (University of Brighton) Alick Deacon (The University of Manchester) Dave Jenkins (University of York) Dave Joss (University of Liverpool) Douglas MacGregor (University of Glasgow) Paddy Regan (University of Surrey) John Simpson (University of Daresbury) Garry Tungate (University of Birmingham) Bob Wadsworth (University of York) Dan Watts (University of Edinburgh)

• Item Type: Edited Books
• Status: Published
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: MacGregor, Professor Douglas
• Subjects: Q Science > QC Physics
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Physics and Astronomy
• Research Group: Nuclear Physics
• Publisher: Institute of Physics
• Copyright Holders: Institute of Physics

Related URLs

• Publisher