Hadron-hadron and hadron-nuclei collisions at high energies

A brief review is made of the present situation of hadron-hadron and hadron-nuclei total elastic and inelastic cross sections at high energiesComment: 7 page

Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics with the MACRO Experiment at the Gran Sasso Lab

The results of the MACRO experiment on atmospheric neutrino oscillations are presented and discussed. The data concern different event topologies with average neutrino energies of ~ 4 and ~ 50 GeV. The Multiple Coulomb Scattering of muons in the MACRO absorbers was used to estimate the neutrino energy of each event of the higher energy sample. The angular distributions, the absolute fluxes and the L/E distribution favour nu_mu nu_tau oscillations with maximal mixing and Delta m^2=0.0025 eV^2. Results are presented on the searches for astrophysical sources of high energy muon neutrinos, for bursts of electron antineutrinos from stellar gravitational collapses and on indirect searches for WIMPs from the Earth and from the Sun.Comment: 12 pages, 10 PS and EPS figures. Invited paper at the 25^ Meeting of the Nuclear Division of the Brasilian Physical Society, S. Pedro, Brasil, 1-4 September 2002. Corrected references and sect

Science,technology and society

We shall discuss some aspects of science and technology, their increasing role in the society, the fast advances in modern science, the apparent decrease of interest of the young generation in basic sciences, the importance of proper science popularization for better public education and awareness in scientific fields.Comment: Lecture at the 7th School on Non-Accelerator Astroparticle Physics, Trieste,Italy,200

MACRO results on atmospheric neutrinos

We discuss the final results of the MACRO experiment on atmospheric neutrino oscillations. The data concern event topologies with average neutrino energies of ~3 and ~50 GeV. Multiple Coulomb Scattering of the high energy muons was used to estimate the neutrino energy event by event. The angular distributions, the L/E_nu distribution, the particle ratios and the absolute fluxes all favor nu_mu --> nu_tau oscillations with maximal mixing and Delta m^2 ~0.0023 eV^2. Emphasis is given to measured ratios which are not affected by Monte Carlo (MC) absolute normalization; a discussion is made on MC uncertainties. A preliminary search for possible Lorentz invariance violation contributions to atmospheric neutrino oscillations is presented and discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures. Paper presented at the NOW 2004 Workshop, Conca Specchiulla, Otranto, Italy, September 200