Ding Zhaozhong: AMS Will Be Launched Next Year, the Research Team of SYSU Made Great Contribution

On the wall of Huaishi Hall on the south campus of SYSU engraved Mr. Sun Yat-sen’s saying “aim to make great contributions instead of becoming high-ranking official”. On November 19, a great contributor came to SYSU; he is a world famous scientist and winner of Nobel Prize in physics, his name is Ding Zhaozhong.

Professor Ding Zhaozhong’s contribution was unprecedented as he did AMS (Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer) research. This is the only great scale research that has been done in the International Space Station under the lead of Professor Ding Zhaozhong. The research aimed to find the anti-matter and dark matter in the space, through which the beginning and the evolvement of the universe is hoped to be inferred. 600 scientists from 60 research institutes of 16 countries and regions took part in the research and the research team of SYSU is one of them. This is the most advanced research in particle physics and also a paragon of international cooperation after the research in the International Space Station.

"The research team of SYSU made great contribution in the Ams research”. In his speech named My cooperation with the research team of SYSU in the AMS research in the International Space Station, Professor Ding Zhaozhong highly praised the contribution made by the research team of SYSU.

It is reported that silicon micro strip detector is one of the core detectors in AMS, the research team of SYSU was responsible for its TTCS system, which ensure that the detector operate correctly. TTCS system is the only part that Chinese universities participated in and is also the only device that operates in the space. The research team of SYSU adopted carbon dioxide quarter-phase circuit technology driven by mechanical pump in their design.

Professor Ding Zhaozhong said that quarter-phase circuit technology is quite special and complicated, but the TTCS system developed by SYSU is the most advanced in the world, and is very important to manned spaceflight. This evaluation is the best prize for SYSU’s seven year hard work. The reporter was also impressed by the low age of the team. As the director of the team, Professor He Zhenhui was only 40 when he began the research. In the seven year’s time, he lead his team in the research of AMS.

The cooperation of SYSU and Professor Ding Zhaozhong in AMS can be traced to 2003. In both April and June when Chairman Hu Jintao and Premiere Wen Jiabao met with Professor Ding Zhaozhong, he warmly invited Chinese universities to take part in the AMS research. On November 26, 2003 when Huang Huahua, the Governor of Gungdong Province dined Professor Ding Zhaozhong, he expressed his hope to cooperate with SYSU in the AMS research, pointing out that SYSU may become one of the three universities to take part in the research in the mainland.

In January 2004, SYSU officially took part in the AMS research lead by Professor Ding Zhaozhong. This was supported by our country and Guangdong province, and was approved by the Ministry of Science & Technology. From then on, SYSU research team had been researching the TTCS system with their international colleagues. Professor Ding Zhaozhong had been to SYSU many times to check the progress of TTCS and also gave directions on it.

On April 16, 2004, AMS detector passed the Thermal Vacuum test in Holland. The data of the test showed that the stability of TTCS controlled detector can be as precise as percentage, the sensitivity has been raised by about two orders of magnitude. Professor praised that “It was unexpected stable. You should be proud of it.”

"In this project, we learned not noly technology, but also the scientific spirit of Professor Ding Zhaozhong and his pursuit of science.” Vice President Xu Ningsheng, also an academician, expressed his feeling as he took part in the AMS research.

It is reported that with the progress of AMS research, SYSU enhanced the strategic relationship with the international colleagues. They cooperated with SYSU in scientific research, academic research and combined training of post graduate students. According to available statistics, SYSU has sent more 30 students to study in National Institute for Energy Physics, Aeronautics and Space Administration of Holland, European Organization for Nuclear Research and Centro Italiano Ricerche Aerospaziali.

"Currently, AMS has been sent to KennedySpaceCenter for regular test before launching. It is scheduled to be launched on February 27, 2011. Further cooperation will be carried out between SYSU and other international team after the operation of AMS in the space. You will do the operational maintenance and analyze the engineering data. What’s more, you can also cooperate in energy physics data analysis.” said professor Ding Zhaozhong, who expressed his willingness to have further cooperation with SYSU.

"The excellent students of SYSU who took part in the research may become a student of PHD of Professor Ding Zhaozhong.” said Professor Xu Ningsheng. He hoped that SYSU could cooperate with other institutes in the combined training of PHD students through AMS. The standard of research in physics of SYSU is also expected to be improved in this way.