Behind Ludwig Tauscher (on the left, with a green shirt): Prof. Dr. Reinhard Alkofer. On the right, in a red sweater: myself.
Obituary
Ludwig Tauscher studied physics at the University of Heidelberg where he obtained his PhD in 1966. After several postdoctoral appointments at the MPI Heidelberg, the Universities of Konstanz and Karlsruhe, he joined the University of Basel where he became Professor of Physics in 1985. Ludwig devoted all his professional life to teaching and experimental physics. He arrived at CERN in the early 70tees where he performed several experiments at the SC and at the PS, studying exotic atoms with various probes such as μ-, π-, K-, and Σ-. In the early 80tees he searched for the production of nucleon-antinucleon bound states at the PS, a subject that was the main motivation for the construction of the LEAR storage ring. At LEAR he studied neutral mesons production and spectroscopy with the experiment PS182 for which he was also the spokesman. Ludwig was among the founders of the CPLEAR experiment (PS195) to which he brought a very strong contribution from the time of the proposal (1985) until the last publications in 2003. As head of the Basel group and organizer of the Swiss Universities effort, he participated in the Trigger and the Electromagnetic Calorimeter construction and helped finalizing many of the analyzes on fundamental symmetries (CP, T and CPT) published by the CPLEAR experiment. In 1994 Ludwig brought the Basel Institute into CMS. He was particularly involved in the Swiss activities of the CMS Pixel Detector. With his team he participated from the very beginning of the pixel project in the design and construction of vital parts of the pixel detector as we know it today. Under his supervision several doctoral thesis and diploma were written, dealing with the issues of partial depletion of heavily irradiated silicon pixel sensors. For many years, he also represented Switzerland in the CMS Management and Collaboration Boards. Between 1988 and 1996 he led the Forum of Swiss High Energy Physicists (the predecessor of the current Swiss Institute of Particle Physics, CHIPP) under the auspices of the “3eme Cycle de la Physique en Suisse Romande”. Ludwig was also involved in the L3 experiment at LEP I and LEP II. In the late 90tees and until his untimely death he was involved in the currently running DIRAC experiment (PS212) which is studying electromagnetic bound π+π−-pairs (ππ-atoms) and, more recently, searching for πK-atoms. He was a leading scientist making essential contributions to the data analysis and an outstanding manager in this experiment. After his retirement in 2004 he had continued with his commitment to particle physics and related fields. Since 2005 Ludwig was as an academic guest of Laboratory for High Energy Physics (ETH Zurich) following the ongoing CMS activities. He also continued his duty as a distinguished member of the PSI Particle Physics Advisory Committee that he had fulfilled over many years. With Ludwig Tauscher the Swiss Particle Physics community lost a highly distinguished and dedicated physicist, researcher and teacher who had committed himself sincerely to the education of young physicists. His warm and open character will be missed by all of us. We convey our deepest condolences and sympathy to his family. His friends and collaborators