Fermi National Laboratory


Long Range Planning Committee Sees "New Worlds" Ahead; Board of Overseers Lauds Fermilab Performance

Hugh Montgomery Prefaced by a letter from Board of Overseers chair Don Hartill lauding improved Tevatron performance as "a great achievement," Fermilab's Long Range Planning Committee offered a preview Thursday afternoon of its upcoming report on lab directions based on two essential scenarios: a linear collider built at Fermilab, or a linear collider built "offshore" with Fermilab participation.

In either scenario, Long Range Planning Committee Chair and Associate Director for Research Hugh Montgomery told the Ramsey Auditorium audience, "The Standard Model is giving way to something new. We will view new worlds in electroweak symmetry breaking, in neutrino masses and mixings, and in cosmology and particle astrophysics."

Bob Kephart Deputy chair and Associate Director for Accelerators Steve Holmes, head of the linear collider subcommittee, reaffirmed that the lab should bid to host the linear collider, recommending the appointment of a full-time employee within the Directorate with responsibility for linear collider activities. Included would be communications to outside institutions and public outreach. Holmes also referred to the conclusions of the physics subcommittee that the opportunities offered by the linear collider "are of profound importance and are extremely exciting, addressing critical issues common to both particle physics and cosmology."

The "linear collider offshore" scenario becomes more complex, with neutrino research as the primary lab effort and an increased push for intense neutrino beams. A proton driver, a major upgrade from the current Linac and Booster, would figure prominently in the "linear collider offshore" scenario. It would also be a component of the "linear collider here" scenario, though there were questions from the audience about linear collider considerations possibly delaying proton driver development.

Montgomery cited limited resources, but added: "We expect a revolution in physics and an exciting future for Fermilab." The committee, formed in January-February 2003, expects to have its final report out in about a month. "It needs about a month of editing," Montgomery said.

Long Rang Planning Committee website



last modified 3/12/2004   email Fermilab

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