Energy Frontier scientists discuss future of field

CMS Collaboration Board Chair Dan Green spoke about the CMS experiment at Fermilab's Annual Users' Meeting on June 3.

Through accelerators such as the Tevatron and Large Hadron Collider, Fermilab continues to be a leader of the Energy Frontier. Scientists met at the annual Users' Meeting last week to discuss the status of this frontier and the field's future.

Currently, the Tevatron continues to dominate high-energy physics conferences, producing about 100 results each year. CDF and DZero promise exciting physics searches beyond the Standard Model.

"Eventually, the LHC will pass us by, but in the meantime there is data," said Carlos Wagner of the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory. This data keeps the Tevatron in the race for searches for yet-undiscovered particles, such as the Higgs Boson.

Carlos Wagner, a theoretical physicist at University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory, spoke about the Energy Frontier at the annual Users' Meeting.

The LHC meanwhile has been colliding protons at 7 TeV since the end of March and will continue running at this energy until a 2012 shutdown. The shutdown will allow scientists to prepare for higher energies.

"The Tevatron is already setting a very high bar, which is what's pushing us to reach that one inverse femtobarn [of data] by the end of 2011," said CERN scientist Massimiliano Ferro-Luzzi during his LHC presentation.

The LHC's CMS experiment, in which Fermilab is heavily involved, has been using the first physics data to understand the detector and rediscover the Standard Model.

Fermilab's Dan Green observed how the detector's collision data is now growing exponentially. "We are setting out into deep waters, so buckle up; it's going to be a ride," he said.

Looking forward, Fermilab is involved in LHC upgrade projects and investigating future proposed colliders such as the ILC and a Muon Collider. What the Tevatron and the LHC find in the next few years will dictate the requirements of future high-energy discovery machines. Speakers at the Users' Meeting made it clear that Fermilab is eager to take part in these discoveries.

-- Daisy Yuhas

Fan Yang wins Frederick Lobkowicz Thesis Prize

CMS collaborator Fan Yang recently won the 2010 Frederick Lobkowicz Thesis Prize for his thesis titled "D Meson Hadronic Decays at CLEO-c." The prize is awarded to University of Rochester Ph.D. students graduating in experimental astroparticle, high-energy nuclear or particle physics whose accomplishments best reflect the high standards, exceptional quality and the wide range of scientific and technical research contributions of the late professor Frederick Lobkowicz.

E-Verify might require new I-9 forms from certain employees

On Jan. 29, FRA's contract with the Department of Energy was amended to require use of the E-Verify system. E-Verify is an electronic system operated by the Department of Homeland Security that enables employers to verify identity and work authorization. This contract change requires Fermilab to review the I-9 employment eligibility forms of current employees hired between Nov. 7, 1986, and June 1, 2009.

For most employees, previously supplied information and documents meet the E-Verify system requirements. However, the new regulations, or the limitations of the E-Verify system, require that Fermilab complete a new Form I-9 for certain employees. In these cases, the employee will receive two separate e-mails from donotreply@perfectcompliance.com: one containing a login name and instructions and a second containing a password to Fermilab's online I-9 system. The employee must log into the system to complete Section 1 of the electronic I-9 form by entering certain biographic information, verifying that the information is accurate and digitally signing the form. The employee then must schedule a meeting with HR Services to present documentation supporting the new I-9 form. To minimize inconvenience, HR Services staff will hold such meetings at locations close to affected employees.

The HR Services staff thanks all affected employees for their patience with this important task. Please see our E-Verify Q&A. If you have questions, please e-mail everify@fnal.gov.

Taking science to the streets

From Chicago Tribune, June 7, 2010

Nobel laureate fields questions on Michigan Avenue

How is the universe going to end? Should scientists explore the God question? Can physics help quell the oil spill in the Gulf? Will the Blackhawks defeat the Flyers on Sunday night?

Those were some of the burning questions dozens of science fans asked Nobel laureate Leon Lederman, who set up shop Sunday near the Michigan Avenue Bridge. The Chicago Council on Science and Technology sponsored the event to show people that science is accessible, said President Alan Schriesheim.

Jonathan Shobrook, 11, of Highland Park, asked about a theoretical particle called the Higgs boson, known as the "God particle." Physicists believe Higgs may give mass to all things and could explain how the universe is put together. Shobrook, who will enter seventh grade this fall, showed Lederman a chart he made about the particle.

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