ATLAS and the Montreux Jazz Festival

What do ATLAS, a major experiment on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, and the Motreux Jazz Festival have in common? Steve Goldfarb for one.

Dr. Goldfarb is a scientist that has worked on all aspects of particle physics, from detector construction and integration, database and software development, to physics analysis, and presentations to colleagues and the media. Currently he is working at CERN on the ATLAS experiment and is creator and organizer of a special event known as The Physics of Music and the Music of Physics at the Montreux Jazz Festival. This year marks its third annual event and it has been a big hit in engaging the public. I had more than a few questions for Dr. Goldfarb, which he graciously took time to answer.

How much time did it take to put together the Montreaux event? When did you first come up with the idea? What steps did you take to make it happen?

“I have been attending the Montreux Jazz Festival since coming to CERN in 1988. I only recently discovered, however, that the Montreux Jazz Artists Foundation hosted workshops during the afternoons in the Petit Palais (next door to the concert venue). In Fall 2012, following publication of the famous Higgs boson discovery papers, I decided to approach them about holding an event on physics and music. They suggested a workshop and also performances by a couple of the CERN bands and we did just that.

For the first year (2013), I talked to some colleagues who work on outreach projects at CERN and was given the name of Mark Lewney, a man from the UK with a PhD in guitar acoustics who had a nice interactive presentation on the science behind music. Lily Asquith presented her sonification of ATLAS two-photon candidate events, and Piotr Traczyk provided entertainment with his CMS guitar and a brilliant explanation of the difficulty of finding the Higgs boson.”

In 2014 the event was held on a Saturday afternoon, there were about 200 attendees, and it was standing room only. This year there were about 100 attendees on a Thursday afternoon at 3 PM. There was a much larger media presence this year than previous years. In Steve Goldfarb’s words, “What is great is that we are reaching the general public. These are people who might never have heard of CERN or the physics of the LHC, otherwise.”

Information on the events for 2013, 2014, and 2015 can be found at the following links:

• CERN Montreux Jazz Festival 2013
• CERN Montreux Jazz Festival 2014
• CERN Montreux Jazz Festival 2015

The 2015 website is still in progress as of the writing of this article. They are currently processing video of the event that will be posted. One website that has a bit of video for the 2015 Montreux Jazz Festival is: http://cds.cern.ch/record/2035059.

What is your sense on how much of an impact this event has had on engaging the public in science?

“The impact of the event goes far beyond the local audience we reach in Montreux, although that remains an important part. In addition to the event, we do a number of interviews and create written material, images, and video for the media and social media. This year, we were featured on RTS, Reuters, AP, BBC, WRS, and probably a few other acronyms. During the actual event, I slip in about 15 minutes of introduction, which educates the audience on the primary goals and achievements of the LHC. I think that is very important; and the message gets re-transmitted via the audience and other communication channels. Equally important to informing the audience, however, is that the event gives us a chance to engage the audience. We take time to have discussions with them after the show and I highly encourage that. The participants are treated like stars (which they truly are) and they have a chance to share their enthusiasm with the public.

I think it is as important to convey the importance of science and of fundamental research as it is to give details on the physics, so we all spend a significant time on that. Science is fun and interesting because it is a fundamental part of human nature. So, it does not take much effort to spread the enthusiasm. We just have to do it, as much as we can.

We promote the physics of all of the experiments [at CERN] and I am a personal fan of them all, as well.”

How has working on every aspect of a big project helped you in being able to reach out to the public and engage them on what scientists do?

“It is always easiest talking about things you have experienced. I was truly lucky to come in as a first year graduate student as LEP (Large Electron-Positron collider) was being developed. I had the opportunity to help construct, test, integrate, and write software for components of the L3 detector on LEP. I was fortunate again to be involved in ATLAS from the early stages, although I focused on my strength, which was the development of software, database, and analysis tools.

In addition to the hands-on aspects, it has also become increasingly important for scientists on large international projects to develop management skills. Early on, I found myself coordinating the development of some of the software, and inherited an interesting set of human challenges, as well the technical ones. Fortunately, the expertise of the developers came through and, with everyone's patience, I learned how to build and manage a team. The need for these skills are frequently underestimated in our field.

Concerning translating this into engaging the public, I would say the communication skills we learn in large international collaborations help. But, I would say the reverse is probably more relevant. Learning how to effectively engage the public has been very important for developing skills for communicating within the collaboration. It is also invaluable for any scientist to develop their own understanding of the relevance of their work and how it fits into the big picture. For that reason, I highly recommend that all researchers (especially young ones) get involved in outreach. Communication is an invaluable tool.”

What types of collaborative tools have you helped develop? How have these tools assisted in reaching out to the general population?

“I was involved early on in the testing and development of tools like lecture archival, application sharing, and videoconferencing. I contributed primarily as a tester and a vociferous user (one who took the time to try tools and provide feedback). I owe my interest and participation to Prof. Homer Neal, who created the ATLAS Collaboratory Project at the University of Michigan. He foresaw the need to facilitate the active participation of all collaboration members, regardless of location.

In 2005, I chaired an LHC Computing Grid Requirements and Technical Assessment (RTAG) group to determine the readiness of the LHC, in terms of collaborative tools. I would say we gave CERN a very poor grade, at the time, but we then developed a plan for large-scale deployment of tools throughout the lab. I am very happy to say that today CERN has a very pro-active team at IT working on these issues and has installed systems everywhere. Essentially all key meetings are held via videoconference and the system works very well. I would also like to mention the very important work of Prof. Harvey Newman of CalTech, who spearheaded the development of IP-based videoconferencing, paving the way for this success.

In 2008, following the startup of the LHC, I was inspired by the fact that the control room had been equipped with cameras and sound systems for sending webcasts to a large distributed audience. This was used for LHC Startup and LHC First Physics to reach millions around the world. The day I saw Fabiola Gianotti (ATLAS Spokesperson at the time) speaking to the cameras, I decided we needed to do this regularly and in an interactive manner. So, I added headsets, and a videoconferencing system, and launched a program called ATLAS Virtual Visits. Today we host virtual visits with classrooms (and other events) around the globe. We have had hundreds of these visits in the past few years and, in 2014, reached all 7 continents (yes, including Antarctica). This success has not only allowed us to reach a larger audience, but it has allowed people from places who would not usually be able to make the trip to CERN to have interactive access to CERN researchers. It is also an excellent means to train physicists how to do outreach.

I also helped to launch a regular communication series on CERN physics using Google Hangouts called “Hangout with CERN”, together with Achintya Rao (CMS) and Kate Kahle (CERN DG COM). We ran the show for about a year, with quite a bit of success, but have stopped to re-assess.  It takes a lot of time and effort to do these things, so success does not always mean we can keep it up without more support.”

For the past 21 years you’ve been in a blues band called the Canettes. How does music connect with science for you? Do you find the creativity in music different than the creativity as a scientist?

“My music used to be separate from my physics. That was true right up to the point when I wrote The ATLAS Boogie and performed on the ATLAS CD Resonance. I think the primary influence being a performer has had on me has been on my ability to speak in public. I have learned how to read crowds and how to interact with them. I love that challenge. When I perform or when I talk about science, my goal is to make everyone relaxed, at ease, enjoying, and having a good time. I think that is what this is about, in any case. Life is very short and we should enjoy it. If we happen to learn a thing or two along the way, so much the better.”

How long have you been in a band? How else has being in a band influenced your outreach efforts?

“The band first formed for the CERN 40th anniversary, 21 years ago. And we are only getting better. In addition to its influence in how I do communication, I should also mention its effect on my perception of management. A band, like an experiment, is a collaboration of people who all depend on each other and who benefit from each other’s success. Motivation to do well is never an issue, but coming to agreement on various items, like set lists, new songs, what to play when, how to play it, etc. is not always easy. Whenever possible, we try to reach consensus. It requires defining priorities and making compromises, but it is really the key to success, and is why we have lasted so long as a band. I have found all of these lessons valuable in my leadership positions in physics.

Music, in general, has also been a foot in the door for science communication to various new audiences. We have invited several very big named bands to visit ATLAS and that helps get the word out to their young audiences that science is important and fun. We can never stop trying to find new channels to communicate that message.”

Have any tips, suggestions, words of wisdom (and so forth) to give those who are trying to do outreach efforts?

“Easy. Do it!  It is both fun and essential for becoming a good scientist. You will certainly have challenges at first (I’ve been attacked by a few 4th graders with tough questions and it is not easy!), but you will learn and improve. Just jump in the waters and swim.

We have seen an impressive and important change over the last several years in the recognition of outreach as a key component to scientific research. Major physics conferences, such as ICHEP, APS, EPS, CHEP, now all host parallel sessions for talks about outreach. Several also have an occasional plenary session. Communication is being recognised as an essential component to any experiment, on par with detector sub-systems, electronics, trigger, computing, and physics analysis. Large collaborations, such as ATLAS, treat Outreach at the Project level. We are not yet represented on the Executive Board, but I believe that is only a matter of time.

Although outreach typically has a very modest budget, every member of the collaboration is a potential contributor. So, we focus our efforts on developing material and platforms to support the efforts of the collaboration. Programs like Virtual Visits and Masterclasses are examples of how we can use our modest resources to reach a world-wide audience in an effective manner. We have an important message to bring to the world: "science is an essential component of human nature," and we should stop at nothing to communicate that message to the world.”

Contributed by H.M. Doss