Fermilab AAAS/AAPT

Joint AAAS/AAPT Session:Exciting Research at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory

Saturday, Feb 14, 2009, 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM

Summary:

The Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in the western suburbs of Chicago is the nation’s premier particle physics laboratory. Three of its leading researchers will discuss current projects. The Collider Detector at Fermilab is one of the two detectors that discovered the top quark. Its groundbreaking work continues with characterization of the top, the quest to find the Higgs Boson, and searches for even more exotic physics at the energy frontier. Fermilab also has a vibrant neutrino research program, including the Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search (MINOS). MINOS is a long-baseline experiment in which a neutrino beam is observed once at Fermilab and again in a Soudan, MN, iron mine north of Lake Superior. Changes in the types of neutrinos comprising the beam from Fermilab to Soudan reveal important information about the masses of the miniscule but ubiquitous particles. Fermilab is a key site in the search for dark matter, the mysterious substance that makes up 20–25 percent of the universe. The new Chicagoland Observatory for Underground Particle Physics will use a superheated heavy liquid to look for weakly interacting massive particles, which are a possible form that dark matter could have.

Presentations:

After the Top Quark

Speaker: Rob Roser, Fermilab, Batavia, IL

Summary

The field of particle physics is at an exciting point -- the Tevatron program is gathering sufficient statistical precision to be able to search for more and more rare processes in our quest for new physics beyond the Standard Model. Furthermore, this program is making a wide range of precision measurements helping us better understand the world we live in. A new discovery may be lurking behind each analysis at the Tevatron. Meanwhile the Large Hadron Collider at CERN is about to take over the leadership of the energy frontier and open new and exciting windows into the world we live. The only certainty about the future is that it is going to be very interesting. In my talk, I will discuss the Tevatron program, its history, successes to date and what we hope to accomplish before it is over.

Neutrino Oscillations and Neutrino Masses

Speaker: David Schmitz, Fermilab, Batavia, IL

Summary:

The Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search (MINOS) is a long-baseline experiment in which a neutrino beam is observed once at Fermilab, and again in an iron mine in Soudan, Minnesota, north of Lake Superior. Changes in the types of neutrinos comprising the beam from Fermilab to Soudan reveal important information about the masses of the miniscule but ubiquitous particles.

The Search for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles

Speaker: Michael Crisler, Fermilab, Batavia, IL

Summary

Fermilab is a key site in the search for dark matter, the mysterious substance that makes up 20–25% of the universe. The new Chicagoland Observatory for Underground Particle Physics (COUPP) will use a superheated heavy liquid to look for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), which are a possible form which dark matter could have.

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