K. Hirata hirata@kekvax.kek.jp
The Chairman of ICFA beam Dynamics
Panel3mm
In the last issue, I discussed our wish to construct a world-wide community of physicists working in beam dynamics. As stated appropriately in the last newsletter ``we just need the community spirit"[1]. The publication of this newsletter is a part of the effort to achieve it. We, the editors, want to offer a free, informal and useful forum to enhance the mutual interaction among all accelerator physicists.
A society seems to be a nonlinear complex system. If the interaction between elements is below a threshold, it is frozen and shows only periodic local motions (possibly bound to a project). Above the threshold, self-organization will set in and elements will interact much more strongly and coherently. By ``community", I like to imagine such a state. In this issue, we have some reports on regional beam dynamics communities. The appearance of such spontaneous local organizations implies that the whole state is just slightly below the threshold. A little more interaction may lead to a global phase transition.
Although the number of submissions is increasing, I continue to invite more people to contribute to our newsletters. It is really easy to submit something (just send an e-mail) as long as you have something that you think is of interest to other people. You can express your opinion on physics, physicists, society, etc., in the Letters to the Editor. Your opinion on the activities of the Beam Dynamics Panel is most welcome. Some criticism of the articles in our newsletter and in other journals might be useful, too.
You can also use the newsletter to attract people to an interesting subject (of yours) in physics. In fact, in this issue, we have a contribution, almost a short paper, which may attract people to study the dynamic aperture. (I'm afraid that my student might quit `beam-beam' and turn to ``dynamic aperture'' after reading it.) We also have two articles in Review of Beam Dynamics Problems which might seduce people into new fields of beam dynamics. The main aim of the Activity Reports is not to proudly announce achievements in laboratories but is to show difficulties and unsolved problems to the world-wide community to get useful and helpful information and to offer interesting problems for them to solve.
I hope that all the articles in our Newsletters are by no means ``formal". They should be treated as letters from friends to friends in the same community.