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Penetrating cosmic ray track observed 1952
in the small 3 cl bubble chamber filled with
diethyl-eter at 140oC.
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Glaser thought of using a
liquid where the density of particles is several
orders of magnitude higher than in a gas. Particle
collisions could then take place in the liquid and
interactions could be studied. Glaser’s
brilliant idea was to use a liquid that for a brief
moment is in an unstable state as superheated - above
the boiling point. Charged particles could be made
visible because boiling starts along the tracks. The
trick is to hold the liquid under overpressure and
just below its boiling point. When the pressure is
lowered the liquid becomes superheated. The pressure
reduction can be timed with a bunch of particles from
an accelerator. After a few milliseconds small
bubbles of size typically 10-100 micrometers are
formed along charged particle tracks. The tracks are
photographed, the pressure reset and ready for next
spill of particles from an accelerator. Glacer's
first bubble chamber from 1952 operated successfully
but was very small, only 3 centiliters in volume!
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The Nobel Prize in
Physics 1960 - Donald Arthur Glaser
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