Fermilab TodayThursday, May 6, 2004  
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Thursday, May 6
2:30 p.m. Joint Experimental Theoretical Physics Seminar (NOTE DATE & TIME) - 1 West
Speaker: D. Bauer, Fermilab
Title: First Results from the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search at Soudan
THERE WILL BE NO THEORETICAL PHYSICS SEMINAR THIS WEEK
3:30 p.m. DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over
THERE WILL BE NO ACCELERATOR PHYSICS AND TECHNOLOGY SEMINAR TODAY

Friday, May 7
3:30 p.m. DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over
4:00 p.m. Joint Experimental Theoretical Physics Seminar - 1 West
Speaker: P. Wittich, University of Pennsylvania
Title: Top Cross Section from Dileptons in Run II at CDF

Cafeteria
Thursday, May 6
Minnesota Wild Rice w/Chicken
Tuna Melt on Nine Grain
SW Skillet Steaks $4.75
Jumbo Stuffed Baked Potatoes $2.75
BLT Ranch Wrap $4.75
Cheesey Breadsticks
Toasted Pecan Chicken Salad
Wilson Hall Cafe Menu
Chez Leon
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Weather Chance Thunderstorms 81º/47º

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New Head of PPD Announced
Jim Strait
Jim Strait
Fermilab Director Mike Witherell announced Wednesday that Jim Strait of Fermilab's Technical Division will become the next Particle Physics Division head. Strait, who has been leading the U.S. Large Hadron Collider project for the last few years, was introduced as the new division head to PPD employees assembled in Ramsey Auditorium.

"Jim impressed everybody involved with his work on the U.S. LHC," said Witherell. "When the committee recommended him, I enthusiastically agreed. We congratulate Jim on his record at LHC and welcome him to his new position."

"I'm flattered and honored to be given this opportunity," said Strait. "I'm looking forward to working with all of you and doing the best possible science for Fermilab and for the world." Strait came to Fermilab almost 20 years ago, and worked on SSC and CDF projects before becoming head of US LHC.

Strait will replace outgoing division head John Cooper. Cooper's leadership in improving safety was praised by Witherell, who called him a great example for new division heads. Cooper, who served as head of PPD for eight years, thanked all PPD employees for their efforts, and wished the division and Strait the best in the years ahead.

Accelerator Update
May 3-May 5
- Operations established one store during this 48-hour period, which added to the existing store provided approximately 33 hours and 57 minutes of luminosity to the experiments.
- A clogged heat exchanger caused a Linac RF station to trip and hold off all beam.
- A Main Injector power supply loop problem cut off stacking

View the current accelerator update
View the Tevatron Luminosity Charts

In the News
FYI: AIP Bulletin of Science Policy News, May 5, 2004:
Making the Case for Physical Sciences Funding
Two recent developments in Washington highlight the increased attention that is being given to the funding of physical sciences research by the federal government. Both efforts stressed the importance of physical science to the nation's energy security and economic growth.

In an unprecedented move, 55 senators signed a letter to Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Ranking Member Harry Reid (D-NV), urging them to increase the budget for the Department of Energy's Office of Science by 10% over that requested by the Bush Administration. With this letter, more than half of the Senate is now on record for substantially higher funding for the Office of Science. This demonstration of support for the Office of Science, which many lament is often lost within the larger DOE structure, is a significant turnaround for this office. A year ago, a similar letter had 39 signatories. Active constituent interest and diligent senatorial staff work was important in increasing the number of senators signing this letter. The American Physical Society played a very active role in this effort.
read more

Fermilab Result of the Week
Run II CDF Top Goes Public!
CDF
The distribution of the missing energy for part of the sample. The points represent the data, and the histograms show the expected Standard Model signal and background distributions. (Click on image for larger version.)
Does the unusually large mass of the top quark cause it to play a special role in our universe? We think so! Since the first observation of the top quark in 1994, we have had an extensive program to explore top quark properties and to understand the deeper meaning. CDF has taken a new step in that direction in Run II: a measurement of the top production
Reda Tafirout from University of Toronto.
Reda Tafirout from
University of Toronto.
rate using events with two leptons in the final state has now been submitted for publication-- the first paper on top physics from Run II of the Tevatron.

During Run I an initial, lower-statistics measurement of top "dilepton" production showed general agreement with the
Pierre Savard from University of Toronto.
Pierre Savard from
University of Toronto.
Standard Model. However, some of the events exhibited peculiar properties, such as unusually large missing energy compared to what was expected, a possible sign of new or unknown physics processes entering the data sample. This has made top dilepton events particularly interesting to study with the higher statistics of Run II.

CDF
The distribution in the plane of missing transverse energy vs. the angle between the missing energy and the nearest lepton or jet. (Click on image for larger version.)
In these data, we identify two leptons with large transverse momenta that signal the decay of the two W bosons, produced in the decay of top and anti-top quark pairs. Two complementary analyses were combined to improve the statistical error, yielding a measurement of 7.0+2.4-2.1(stat)+1.6-1.1(syst)+\-0.4(lum) pb, in good agreement with the theory prediction. This measurement establishes a foundation for detailed comparisons of the properties of these events to the Standard Model as Run II continues.
CDF
From left to right: Ricardo Eusebi, Eva Halkiadakis, Andrew Ivanov, Chris Hill, Avi Yagil, Carla Pilcher, Mircea Coca, Nigel Lockyer, Corrinne Mills, Charles Plager, Petra Merkel, Peter Wittich, Andy Hocker and Julia Thom from the following groups: University of Rochester, UCSB, Fermilab, UCLA, and University of Pennsylvania. Not pictured: Monica Tecchio, Joe Incandela, Dave Goldstein, Dave Saltzberg, Paul Tipton. (Click on image for larger version.)

Result of the Week Archive

Announcements
Fermilab Picnic and Cougar Game
The Fermilab Picnic and Cougar game will be on July 10. The deadline to purchase tickets is May 28. The picnic will begin at 4:00 PM under the Fermilab tent at the Kane County Cougar Stadium and run until 6:00 p.m. The game with reserved seating begins at 6:00 p.m. The cost for the whole event is only $12.00 per person, which includes your reserved game ticket and all-you-can-eat buffet.
more information

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