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Friday, May 30
3:30 p.m.
DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over
4 p.m.
Joint Experimental-Theoretical Physics Seminar - One West
Speaker: C. Henderson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Title: Global Search for New Physics with 2 inverse femtobarns at CDF
Monday, June 2
2:30 p.m.
Particle Astrophysics Seminar - Curia II
Speaker: R. Carrigan, Fermilab
Title: Search for Dyson Spheres Using the IRAS Catalog
3:30 p.m.
DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over
4 p.m.
All Experimenters' Meeting - Curia II
Special Topics: Tevatron Orbit Stabilization;
CMS Installation and Commissioning
Click here for NALCAL,
a weekly calendar with links to additional information. |
Friday, May 30
- Chunky vegetable soup w/orzo
- Buffalo chicken wings
- Cajun breaded catfish
- Teriyaki pork stir-fry
- Honey mustard ham & Swiss panini
- Assorted slice pizza
- Carved turkey
Wilson Hall Cafe Menu |
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Wednesday, June 4
Lunch
- Salad nicoise with fresh grilled tuna
- Lemon cheese cake
Thursday, June 5
Dinner
- Green bean, feta & walnut salad
- Medallions of beef w/ cabernet sauce
- Roasted baby potatoes
- Steamed asparagus
- Lemon yogurt cake with strawberries & cream
Chez Leon Menu
Call x4598 to make your reservation. |
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Five weeks of record
NuMI protons
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| Main Injector Department research associate Kiyomi Seiya |
To measure the properties of muon neutrinos that disappear between the MINOS near detector and the far detector in Minnesota, the MINOS experiment needs protons, and lots of them.
No problem.
For each of the last five weeks, the number of protons the Accelerator Division has provided for the NuMI beam has exceeded all previous records.
Getting beam to NuMI/MINOS is one of the Main Injector Department's biggest challenges, said Main Injector physicist Phil Adamson.
"The physics we do is directly proportional to the protons we get," Adamson said.
The NuMI magnetic horn focuses short-lived particles called pions, which are generated when protons hit a target. The pions decay to neutrinos (and other particles). New technology in the Main Injector provides nearly 40 percent more protons than last year, said Sam Childress, NuMI coordinator. He praised the Accelerator Complex staff for the improvements and the system's overall performance.
"NuMI is just the recipient," Childress said.
When the Accelerator Complex is running, the beam delivered by the Main Injector is split between the Antiproton Source and NuMI. The new technology, called multi-batch slip stacking, allows the injection of multiple batches of beams into the Main Injector at one time. By rotating beam batches slightly, additional batches can fill the gaps between the initial batches.
Accelerator Complex staff can now slip stack 10 booster batches instead of just two. Slip stacking more beam means running more protons through the accelerator, which can be damaging. But a new collimation system installed in the Main Injector last summer absorbs any wayward particles into the new iron and marble collimators.
The improvements were made possible by the work of Kiyomi Seiya, a Main Injector Department research associate responsible for the overall implementation of the multi-batch slip stacking technology, and Joe Dey, an AD radiofrequency engineer responsible for essential radiofrequency manipulations, which are crucial to loading multiple beam batches. Also key was the excellent level of beam quality throught the Accelerator Complex, Childress said.
The AD advancement helps not only NuMI, but future neutrino programs at the laboratory, which will require greater proton intensities.
-- Rhianna Wisniewski
The above figure displays the increase in Main Injector beam power at 120 GeV after multi-batch slip stacking implementation. At the end of April, all the multi-batch slip stacking optimization and the MI collimation system were commissioned allowing the increase of the MI beam power to 340 KW. The next goal for the MI beam power at 120 GeV is 400 KW.
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Dan Snee retires
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| Dan Snee |
If it's a key part of the infrastructure of the laboratory's major experiments, Dan Snee likely helped build it.
Starting at the laboratory in 1969, Snee spent the first two decades in the Technical Division building the early magnets, drift tubes, the linac and the Cockcroft-Walton pre-accelerator.
He spent the last 19 years in the Mechanical Support Department having a hand in most of the laboratory's upgrades. "Most of the accelerator components that were installed were installed using equipment built under Dan's watch," said Patrick Hurh, head of the MS Department.
Co-workers said they will miss his personality and skill following his retirement today.
"I am proud to have worked here, but I couldn't point to one thing I'm proudest of," Snee said. "I've been able to work in many places in the laboratory and on many things." Snee plans to carry that flexible attitude into retirement leaving future plans up in the air, though he said, he would always come back and help the laboratory he loves if needed.
"Dan is a real team player. He puts the team before himself. He is just an exceptional
person who was dedicated to the lab," Hurh said. Snee trained many of the laboratory's mechanical engineers on how to fabricate equipment for use on cutting-edge projects, something not taught in school, Hurh added.
In his first three months at the laboratory, Snee commuted an hour and 10 minutes out to work from Wisconsin. That didn't dampen Snee's enthusiasm for the work or his charisma. "He was really a fun guy to work with," said Charlie Matthews, superintendent of the Technical Division's machine shop. "I never saw him have an angry moment or a down moment. And if he could help you, he would. He was involved in all the important projects that came to the shop."
-- Tona Kunz
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Prebys named LARP leader
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| Eric Prebys |
Fermilab Proton Source Department head Eric Prebys will succeed Brookhaven National Laboratory's Steve Peggs as leader of the U.S. LHC Accelerator Research Program for a three-year term, effective Aug. 1. Peggs, who has been LARP leader since 2004, will spend a sabbatical year at CERN following Prebys' appointment.
Peggs said he thinks Prebys' technical and managerial skills will help LARP to continue as a prominent and successful collaboration.
"Eric's experience with the operations of a large-hadron collider complex, his management experience and his experience working at CERN make him a great fit for this position," said Associate Director for Accelerators Steve Holmes, who served on the search committee.
Prebys began his physics career as University of Rochester graduate student on Fermilab experiment E-706 from 1984 to 1990, after which he worked at CERN for two years as a scientific associate. From 1992 to 2001, he worked as a research associate and then an assistant professor of physics at Princeton University before joining the Proton Source Department at Fermilab in 2001. He was appointed department head in 2003. Prebys also currently manages the Proton Plan project, which coordinates proton-related activities in multiple Fermilab departments.
LARP is funded by the DOE's Office of High-Energy Physics and is executed via a collaboration of four U.S. laboratories: Brookhaven, Fermilab, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. The goals of LARP are to support expeditious commissioning of the LHC and to develop technologies for future performance upgrades, based on unique U.S. resources and capabilities. LARP's efforts are closely coordinated with the LHC management team at CERN.
Prebys looks forward to the challenge of coordinating the efforts of multiple laboratories for a common goal during such an exciting time in particle physics.
Fermilab physicist Vladimir Shiltsev, former LARP Accelerator Systems leader, called the organization a real example of success in accelerator collaboration.
"With LARP, we're really collaborating to deliver instrumentation to the LHC, including new magnets and new tools for the luminosity upgrade," Shiltsev said. "Eric has a strong background as an experimentalist and will bring the spirit of an HEP collaboration into this enterprise."
-- Rhianna Wisniewski
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Donor gives $5 Million to aid Fermilab
From Science Now News, May 28, 2008
For once, staff at the United States's only remaining particle physics laboratory have received some good news. An anonymous donor has given the University of Chicago $5 million to be spent at cash-strapped Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) in Batavia, Illinois. With the money, lab officials will be able to stop a rolling furlough program that since February has forced employees to take periodic unpaid leave and slashed their pay by 12.5%. The lab will still lay off roughly 140 workers, but officials also announced that those cuts would be restructured to give employees a chance to take voluntary layoffs before the involuntary ones begin.
"This is very unusual," Fermilab Director Piermaria Oddone said of the gift in an address to employees on Friday. "It's not a building that carries a name. It's really a commitment to science and the nation and in particular to particle physics as a long-range important undertaking for our nation." The news has bolstered morale among the rank and file. "This is definitely a weight that has been lifted," says Consolato Gattuso, an engineering physicist at the lab. "It gives us some light at the end of the tunnel."
Read more
Read more related stories on Fermilab's budget news page.
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Have a safe day!
New Perspectives Conference June 3
The 2008 Annual New Perspectives Conference will take place on June 3 in
conjunction with the Users' Meeting. The one-day conference offers talks
given by and geared towards undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral
physicists. The conference includes a poster session. Please click
here for more information.
Users' meeting June 4-5
Fermilab will host the annual Users' meeting on Wednesday, June 4, and Thursday, June 5. For more information or to register, visit the Users' Meeting Web site.
Accelerated C++: A Short Course in Practical Programming by Example
On June 2, Fermilab will offer the first session of Accelerated C++: A Short Course in Practical Programming by Example.
The Short Course is an extended professional development experience that emphasizes computer programming in modern standard C++. No tuition is charged; the only cost is for the required textbooks. (A subsidy is available for most students.) Participants receive TRAIN credit upon successful completion of the eight-session course. Course registration is now open.
Heart risk screening June 3, 10
Wellness Works and Delnor-Community Hospital will offer a heart risk screening on Tuesday, June 3, and Tuesday, June 10. The assessment will take place by scheduled appointment between 6:30 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. for Fermilab employees in the EOC on the ground floor of Wilson Hall. Those interested can sign up on the ES&H Web page. Participants must fast for 12 hours but can drink water.
June 6 deadline for The University of Chicago Tuition Remission Program
The deadline for applying for the tuition remission program at The University of Chicago for the Summer 2008 quarter is June 6. For more information and enrollment forms, contact Nicole Gee at x3697 or visit the Web site.
Classifieds
Find new classified ads on Fermilab Today.
Additional Activities
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