Ramsey Will Testify For Senate On Building Electron Accelerator

Norman Ramsey, professor of Physics, will testify before the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy in two weeks to convince the government to establish the most powerful high voltage accelerator in the world.

The hearing will determine the need for building an accelerator generating 200 billion electronic volts, six times the voltage of the Brookhaven plant on Long Island, N.Y., the most powerful accelerator now in operation.

Ramsey, in a telephone interview yesterday, expressed a desire that the now accelerator could be built at a cost of $250 million and within the next five years. He hopes that it will be operated by a number of universities "so that more scientists can use the accelerator's facilities."

If many universities operate the new accelerator, as in the case at Brookhaven, Ramsey believes that scientists can more easily pool their information. The Brookhaven Accelerator was built by the government and is now run by nine universities including Harvard.

Overcrowded Facilities

Ramsey will tell the committee that the new accelerator will not only improve the quality of atomic experimentation but also alleviate the overcrowding of present facilities. "More than twice the number of scientists that can presently be accomodated at accelerator plants wish to experiment in high energy physics," Ramsey stated.

Ramsey, who expects to testify before the committee many times this spring, said that at the first hearing he will inform the congressmen about high energy physics experiments now being conducted.

One such experiment involves smashing the proton. "In order to look inside the proton," Ramsey said, "more powerful magnets are needed to pull the proton apart." The new accelerators would provide this power.