Fermilab Today

Fermilab is contributing to accelerator programs at Northern Illinois University and the University of Chicago. The aim of these programs is to improve particle beam delivery, including the performance of superconducting radio-frequency technology. Photo: Reidar Hahn

Particle accelerators shape our everyday lives. They are powerful tools in medical diagnosis and treatment. They were used to develop materials in everything from your cell phone screen to the chips in your computer. They even help us explore the fundamental particles and forces that make up the world around us. Until 2014, the National Science Foundation did not have a program funding fundamental R&D on accelerator science. This year marks the second year of this newly initiated program.

This year, the NSF is awarding grants to fund research on the development of bright beams at the University of Chicago and Northern Illinois University at a level of $680,000 and $560,000, respectively, for a three-year period. In both programs, Fermilab will play an integral role in exploring and pushing the limits of accelerator science.

The University of Chicago proposal, titled "Innovations in Bright Beam Science," calls for the development of a program to make high-powered, stable beams with low losses. It comprises three themes: studying superconducting radio-frequency cavities; conducting a proof-of-principle experiment with circular accelerators to investigate ways to produce more stable beams; and exploring techniques to produce more intense X-rays. The first two of these are parts of a bigger R&D program at Fermilab, including the superconducting radio-frequency program and the Integrable Optics Test Accelerator.

This will be the first time the University of Chicago will assemble a group working on an accelerator program. Beyond improving accelerator technology, one of the goals of the program is to attract faculty members and students to accelerator research.

"The benefit from this is that we bring in chemistry and mathematics professors who would never otherwise be exposed to our research," said Fermilab Accelerator Division Head Sergei Nagaitsev. "This is an opportunity for us to collaborate with colleagues who ordinarily don't collaborate with Fermilab."

The NIU proposal is called "Development of Ultra-cold Quantum-degenerate Relativistic Electron Beams for Research and Applications." The NSF-funded research at NIU will address the question of whether they can produce a beam a thousand times cooler in temperature than existing beams, resulting in higher beam brightness and quality.

"Everybody's trying to get to high energies, beam powers and intensities quickly, but nobody is working on producing high-quality, ultracold beams like these," said Swapan Chattopadhyay, principal investigator of the NSF-funded project at NIU. "No matter what you do with a beam, you can not do any better than the intrinsic goodness of the beams. We're working on producing beams not only of high energy and intensity, but also of very good purity and quality."

The researchers, physicists and engineers aim to produce electron beams from specially designed nanocathodes immersed in high electric fields, packing and focusing the electrons tightly. The beams will be cold enough to serve as a source for high-quality compact X-ray lasers.

NIU will carry out the experimental work at Argonne National Laboratory and Fermilab and plans to collaborate with Cambridge University Graphene Center.

With Fermilab's infrastructure and expertise in accelerator science and technology, the laboratory will offer a place to test and expand the ideas developed throughout the research, while the universities will have the capability and time to delve deep into a problem. The proposals emphasize student training and education and will give Fermilab access to high-caliber graduate students at the University of Chicago and NIU.

"The university brings the academic depth and focus," Chattopadhyay said. "Fermilab brings national expertise, infrastructure and a breadth of skills and resources, and by collaborating with industry, we will also get a practical perspective."

Although NIU and the University of Chicago are focusing their efforts on different issues, they share the goal of creating accelerators that are more powerful than the ones currently in use. The two are very complementary, Chattopadhyay said, and he hopes they can collaborate to create something that is larger than the sum of its parts.

"These are scientifically very exciting questions," said Young-Kee Kim, lead of the University of Chicago research program. "We continue to push our technology to get better accelerators with brighter beams, but there are a lot of limits we have to overcome. That limit can be overcome only by understanding all these issues and limitations at a very fundamental level."

—Ali Sundermier

In the News

Best precision yet for neutrino measurements at Daya Bay

From Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Sept. 11, 2015

In the Daya Bay region of China, about 55 kilometers northeast of Hong Kong, a research project is underway to study ghostlike, elusive particles called neutrinos. Today, the international Daya Bay Collaboration announces new findings on the measurements of neutrinos, paving the way forward for further neutrino research, and confirming that the Daya Bay neutrino experiment, significant as the first equal partnership between the U.S. and China in a major physics project, continues to be one to watch.

Tip of the Week: Safety

Influenza 2015-16

This year, a number of vaccines are being offered to target multiple flu strains. Image: CDC

As the days shorten and temperatures begin to drop, people spend more time indoors. This gives all of us an opportunity to share germs, particularly the cold and influenza (flu) viruses. When a person talks, sneezes or coughs, droplets are released into the air. Large particle droplets can travel up to six feet in the air, while small particle aerosols can linger in the air near the infected person. You can inhale the droplets or touch a surface that has been contaminated and transfer the virus to your eyes, nose or mouth.

Symptoms of the flu and the common cold are similar, but they are caused by different viruses. A person with a cold is likely to have a sore throat and a runny or stuffy nose. The onset of symptoms is slow — a cold is more of a nuisance. Unlike a cold, the flu usually occurs suddenly and you feel much worse. Common signs and symptoms of the flu may include fever over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, muscle or body aches, chills, headache, cough, fatigue, weakness and nasal congestion.

Once infected, a person may develop no symptoms, or they may become ill within one to four days. A person with the virus is likely contagious from the day before symptoms first appear until five to 10 days after symptoms begin. Most healthy adults will recover within two weeks. Severe illness and death from complications of the flu are highest among people over 65 years old, children younger than two, and people who have underlying medical conditions such as asthma, diabetes, heart or lung disease, or other chronic diseases.

Influenza typically occurs late fall through early spring, with peak activity between December and February. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends an annual influenza vaccine for all persons older than six months who have no contraindication to the vaccine or its components.

On Oct. 1, Information pertaining to the upcoming flu vaccine clinic for Fermilab will be available on the ESH&Q and Medical Office websites. Fermilab is offering Novartis' Fluvirin, an inactivated influenza virus vaccine indicated for active immunizations against the following three influenza viruses, which are expected to be the most common during the upcoming season:

A/California/7/2009 (H1N1)-like virus
A/Switzerland/9715293/2013 (H3N2)-like virus
B/Phuket/3073/2013-like (Yamagata lineage) virus

Contraindications to receiving the vaccine include a severe allergic reaction to egg proteins, thimerosal, or latex; a serious reaction to a previous influenza vaccine; and an occurrence of Guillain-Barre syndrome within six weeks prior to the receipt of an influenza vaccine. It is recommended that these individuals seek immunization from their primary physician or allergist.

Influenza vaccine is generally well-tolerated. The most common adverse events occurring in adults within seven days of vaccination were pain and erythema at the injection site, headache, fatigue, myalgia and malaise.

To prevent the spread of influenza, wash your hands thoroughly and frequently, ideally with soap and water, by scrubbing your hands vigorously for at least 15 seconds, or use alcohol-based hand sanitizers. Cough into a tissue or the inner crook of your elbow to avoid contaminating your hands and the air. When possible, avoid crowds where infections can spread easily, drink plenty of water, and avoid touching your mouth, nose and eyes. If you become ill, stay home so that you do not infect others.

Be well this season!

—Caroline F. Hetfield, ANP-BC

In Brief

Fermilab Fire Department remembers Sept. 11 tragedy

We remember the lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001. Photo: Christopher Fioretto, ESH&Q

The Fermilab Fire Department conducted a bell ringing ceremony on Sept. 11 by the United States, Illinois and Department of Energy flags in front of Wilson Hall in remembrance of the 2001 tragedy. At 8:58 a.m., a member of the Fire Department rang the bell in a three-three-five sequence. This was followed by a moment of silence.

The three-three-five bell toll is a tradition from the Chicago Fire Department's history of code signals. It indicates that a firefighter, EMT or police officer died in the line of duty — has 'returned home' for the final time.

Director Nigel Lockyer, DOE Fermi Site Office Manager Mike Weis, the Security Department and the Fire Department were in attendance.

Photo of the Day

Wilson Hall look-alike

Hotel Ifach, Spain, building, Wilson Hall

The father of Fermilab user Enrique Arrieta Díaz, Southern Methodist University, was watching a Spanish cycling competition on television when, to his surprise, he saw this building and snapped a photo of his television screen. The building is the Hotel Ifach in Calpe, Spain, and it looks an awful lot like a building in Batavia, Illinois. See other photos of the building on the Web. Photo: Enrique Arrieta Noguera

Today's New Announcements

Fermilab plays part in NSF-funded accelerator research

Best precision yet for neutrino measurements at Daya Bay

Influenza 2015-16

Fermilab Fire Department remembers Sept. 11 tragedy

Wilson Hall look-alike

Fermilab plays part in NSF-
funded accelerator research