Out of more than 500 applications from 72 countries, five winning teams were selected. For the first time, Bonn is among the host locations: Team XTReme from the United States carried out its transition radiation experiment at the ELSA particle accelerator of the University of Bonn.
Professor Klaus Desch, who is responsible for the ELSA accelerator facility, emphasizes:
“We are proud that, for the first time, we are able to provide the ELSA beam at the University of Bonn and are very pleased to welcome a winning team here. I am very impressed by Team XTReme’s proposal, and we will do our best to offer them an optimal experimental environment. After all, today’s BL4S participants are the scientists of tomorrow.”
The Netzwerk Teilchenwelt Bonn supported the five students (Avin Gupta, Chuming Li, Ryan Pius, Sanjana Rajaram) during the preparation phase, throughout their two-week stay in Bonn, and during the follow-up phase after the experiment.
“Our project investigates the production of transition radiation when high-energy electrons pass through multilayer dielectric interfaces,” says Team XTReme from the United States ahead of the experiment. “It is incredible that we have made it this far and can now push the boundaries of particle physics through hands-on experiments at ELSA. We are deeply grateful to the entire BL4S organization for making this possible and are absolutely thrilled about this opportunity!”
From September 10 to 24, the students were on site in Bonn, where they carried out their experiment at the ELSA accelerator. During this period, more than 50 measurements were performed, some containing over ten million entries. In addition to the measurement campaign, initial data analysis steps were undertaken, and by the end of the project first indications of the detection of transition radiation were found. The team is currently working closely with researchers at the University of Bonn on the complete data analysis and a scientific publication.
The Netzwerk Teilchenwelt Bonn would like to thank Team XTReme, Rasmus Partzsch, Saime Gürbüz, Dennis Proft, Christian Bespin, and the entire ELSA team for their dedicated and highly motivated collaboration on the experiment.
Beamline for Schools combines scientific research with international exchange and science communication. In addition to conducting experiments, the program also honors particularly creative video submissions and outstanding outreach activities. Bonn’s participation as a host site highlights the city’s importance in particle physics, early-career support, and science communication, and demonstrates how the Netzwerk Teilchenwelt Bonn actively inspires young people to engage in research.
