Particle accelerators as a path to intergovernmental collaboration: the case of the first electron-positron collider and the power of theoretical physics

I revisit the history of the first matter-antimatter collider, built in Italy in 1960 and carried to success through an inter-European collaboration with France, to underline the need for large intergovernmental efforts in the realization of particle accelerators such as the proposed electron synchrotron in the Greater Caribbean region. The foundational role of the Austrian-born theoretical physicist Bruno Touschek and his life path through Europe before and after World War II is briefly recalled. The role of CERN as a post-war intergovernmental institution in jump-starting the international collaboration between the Frascati National Laboratories in Italy and the Laboratoire de l’Accélérateur Linéaire d’Orsay in France is highlighted through historical documents and contributions from interviews with the protagonists of Touschek’s game-changing proposal.