Author: Silvia Nicolai

The « Institut de Physique Nucléaire » (IPN) in Orsay, France, was recently added to the list of the Historic Sites of the European Physical Society. The laboratory, which recently became part of the Laboratoire Irène Joliot Curie (IJCLab), received this recognition with the following motivation: « Initiated in 1956 by Irène and Frédéric Joliot-Curie as an extension outside Paris of the renowned « Radium Institute » founded by Marie Curie, where in 1934 they had discovered artificial radioactivity, and of the « Nuclear Chemistry Laboratory » founded by Frédéric Joliot, the IPN hosted the first French big accelerator (a synchrocyclotron) which started operating in 1958. The creation of the IPN motivated the development of the Orsay scientific pole. Since then the IPN, which has now become part of the IJCLab laboratory, played and plays a pivotal role in the study of nuclear and hadronic physics, and beyond. »

The inclusion of IPN Orsay to the list of Historic Sites of EPS was celebrated on October 13 2023 in the Joliot-Curie amphitheater of IJCLab, with a half-day event comprising a ceremony and a mini-conference. The director of IJCLab, Achille Stocchi, opened the ceremony with a welcome speech, followed by a few words by Michel Guidal, deputy vice-president for research of the Paris-Saclay University and former director of IPN, and by Marcella Grasso, deputy scientific director of IN2P3 and former director of the Research Division at IPN. Then Luc Bergé, president of EPS, presented the role and activities of EPS, and, in particular, described the Historic Sites program. Finally, a commemorative plaque dedicated to Irène and Frédéric Joliot-Curie, showcasing the motivation for the recognition and the EPS logo, was unveiled by Luc Bergé along with Hélène Joliot-Langevin, daughter of Irène and Frédéric Joliot-Curie, and Alison Bruce, Chair of the Nuclear Physics Division Board of EPS. Other members of the NPD Board and the former directors of IPN also took part in the unveiling.

The mini-conference focused on the history of IPN, from its beginnings to nowadays. Hélène Joliot-Langevin, emeritus research director at CNRS and former director of the Physics Division at IPN Orsay, opened the conference presenting the origins of IPN in the historical context of the end of World-War II. She outlined, in particular, the efforts her parents made to reinstate France at the forefront of nuclear-physics research in Europe, and their political investment for a pacific use of nuclear power. Then Joel Pouthas, former director of the “Detectors and R&D” Division at IPN and historian of physics, gave an in-depth lecture on the history of IPN from its beginnings to recent years, a history marked by the construction and operation of various accelerators, made possible by several notable scientists supported by an outstanding staff of engineers and technicians. The former director of IPN, Sydney Galès, presented an overview of the scientific highlights of IPN throughout its more than 60 years of history, which spanned from low-energy nuclear physics, to hadron and high-energy physics, theory, radiochemistry, accelerators technology, and medical and societal applications of nuclear physics. The mini-conference was closed by a presentation of Silvia Leoni, professor of the Università di Milano and INFN scientist, which focused on the role of IPN in European low-energy nuclear physics, with a particular focus on the main achievements of the last ~15 years as well as on ongoing and future projects and collaborations.

All the presentations, photos, and a video-recording of the event can be found on the indico page: https://indico.ijclab.in2p3.fr/event/9821/

Luc Bergé, Hélène Joliot-Langevin, and Alison Bruce unveil the commemorative plaque - image credit: Silvia Nicolai

The presidents of EPS and SFP (French Physical Society), the speakers, the deputy director of IJCLab, the former directors of IPN, and the members of the NPD-EPS Board pose with the commemorative plaque at the end of the half-day event.