Project X workshop attendees discuss research possibilities
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Workshop attendees filled One West during a Project X workshop on Nov. 10. |
Fermilab's proposed high-intensity proton source triggered lively debate and conversation from more than 200 physicists this week.
The 4th Workshop on Physics with a High Intensity Proton Source took place Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 9-10, at Fermilab.
Presentations on the evolution of Project X's design and Fermilab's research program at the intensity frontier played out to a standing-room only crowd.
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Workshop co-chair Yoshi Kuno from Osaka University. |
In a summary talk on Tuesday, Nov. 10, workshop co-chair Yoshi Kuno, from Osaka University, recapped the workshop presentations.
Presenters talked about the progress made by existing experiments in Project X research areas and the physics capabilities associated with potential experiments, including neutrino physics and rare-muon and rare-kaon decay physics.
Scientists at the Project X workshop also explored potential research opportunities in collaboration with the nuclear physics community.
"Project X could drive a piece of nuclear physics that we would call fundamental," said workshop co-organizer Bob Tschirhart.
In addition to producing neutrinos, muons and kaons, Project X could also produce a very large number of neutrons, which could help scientists explore the neutron electric dipole moment, a measure of electric charge asymmetry deep inside a neutron. Scientists have searched for the neutron EDM for many decades as a a signal for new physics.
"Many national laboratories are playing a part in designing Project X, including Argonne National Laboratory. Argonne has long been an expert on accelerators and a leader in researching neutron physics," Tschirhart said. "This gives them an even stronger physics motivation to take part in this new accelerator concept."
Project X collaborators hope to receive next year the Department of Energy's Critical Decision-0, which establishes mission need for the experiment. In the meantime, they will summarize the physics capabilities of the potential experiment in a white paper for the scientific community. The collaborators also plan to produce another, non-technical document for the broader community.
— Rhianna Wisniewski
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Attendees of the Project X and Muon Collider Physics Workshop in the Wilson Hall atrium on Nov. 10. |
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