Fermilab Today

	Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011

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Have a safe day!

Wednesday, Nov. 9
1:30 p.m.
Special Particle Physics Seminar - Curia II
Speaker: Stephen Leman, MIT
Title: Searching for the Universe, from an Iron Mine
3:30 p.m.
DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over
THERE WILL BE NO FERMILAB COLLOQUIM THIS WEEK

Thursday, Nov. 10
2:30 p.m.
Theoretical Physics Seminar - Curia II
Speaker: Dru Renner, Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility
Title: A New Approach to Hadronic Vacuum Polarization for Muon g–2 and αEM
3:30 p.m.
DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over
4 p.m.
Accelerator Physics and Technology Seminar - One West
Speaker: Robert Hardin, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Title: SNS Accumulator Ring Instability Damper and Beam Transfer Function Studies

Click here for NALCAL,
a weekly calendar with links to additional information.

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Weather

Rain/snow likely
53°/29°

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Weather at Fermilab

Current Security Status

Secon Level 3

Wilson Hall Cafe

Wednesday, Nov. 9

- Breakfast: English muffin sandwich
- Smart cuisine: Chicken noodle soup
- Steak sandwich
- Smart cuisine: Maple Dijon salmon
- Smart cuisine: Mongolian beef
- California club
- Assorted sliced pizza
- Chicken pesto pasta

Wilson Hall Cafe Menu

Chez Leon

Wednesday, Nov. 9
Lunch
- Northern Italian lasagna
- Caesars salad
- Italian cream cake

Friday, Nov. 11
Dinner
Closed

Chez Leon Menu
Call x3524 to make your reservation.

From antiprotons to muons: Fermilab's newest department

Clockwise, from left: Mary Convery, Dean Still, Tony Leveling, Jim Budlong, Jerry Annala, Steve Werkema, Brian Drendel, Jim Morgan, Al Sondgeroth and Vladimir Nagaslaev

With the shutdown of the Tevatron on Sept. 30, comes an overhaul of several machines used in the collider program. One particularly ambitious project is the repurposing of the Antiproton Source into a facility for the proposed Mu2e and Muon g-2 experiments. The first order of business is changing the name to the Muon Department to better reflect Fermilab’s goals.

“Our job now is to turn the Antiproton Source into a machine that can support both Muon experiments,” said Jim Morgan, an engineering physicist working on converting the Transport Lines and Debuncher Ring. “And we need to do it as economically as possible.”

Economically and environmentally more sound, part of the plan to cut costs is to reuse and recycle facilities, components and parts used in the collider program. It also helps that all of the people in the Muon Department worked on the Collider program, either in the Tevatron or Antiproton Departments or the Run Coordination team.

—Ashley WennersHerron

Special Announcement

Joint Speaker Series registration deadline - Nov. 10

At 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 17, in Fermilab's Kuhn Barn, the University of Chicago, Argonne and Fermilab present "Xtreme Research: Interesting Places & Unusual Challenges."

All Fermilab scientists, researchers and engineers and users are invited to attend. This is the fourth in a series of joint speaker events. If you plan to attend, you must RSVP before Nov. 10.

Press Release from CNRS/CEA

First result from a new generation of reactor neutrino experiments

Editor's note: Double Chooz's announcement of a statistically large observance of the third type of neutrino oscillation supports the similar T2K announcement earlier this year. This points to a very rich future Fermilab neutrino program with NOvA and LBNE. The relatively high rate of change in neutrino types means that the Fermilab experiments could deliver more quickly answers to neutrino mass hierarchy and CP symmetry questions. These are two key answers needed to solve the puzzle of why matter dominated antimatter in the early universe.

Physicists of the Double Chooz experiment detected a short-range disappearance of electron antineutrinos. They presented this result on Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011 at the LowNu conference in Seoul, Korea. It helps determine the so-far unknown third neutrino mixing angle which is a fundamental property with important consequences for particle and astro-particle physics. The Double Chooz experiment is looking for neutrinos produced in the nearby nuclear power plant. A measurement of this third angle would complete our picture of neutrino oscillations as reported by other experiments and will open new perspectives in understanding why we find matter and no antimatter in our today's universe.

Correction

Correction: J. Ritchie Orr

In the Tuesday, Nov. 8, issue of Fermilab Today, an In Memoriam article about Rich Orr's life and contributions to Fermilab incorrectly stated that his full name was Richard Orr. His full name was actually J. Ritchie Orr.

You can read the corrected article here.

In the News

'Anyons' could blur the boson-fermion gap

From Discovery News, Nov. 6, 2011

Any student of particle physics can tell you that all subatomic particles in Nature fall into two distinct classes: fermions (electrons, neutrons, protons, etc.) and bosons (photons and other force-carrying "messenger" particles).

Back in 1982, however, physicist Frank Wilczek and several of his colleagues proposed that -- theoretically, at least -- there could be particles that exist between those two discrete classes.

Wilczek dubbed them "anyons" because any anyon can be anything between a boson and a fermion. "Wilczek is a funny guy," Tassilo Keilmann told Symmetry Breaking. Keilmann is a physicist at Munich's Ludwig Maximilian University, and he's designed an experiment he thinks will bring anyons into the realm of the observable world, using cold atoms and lasers -- and a smidgen of ingenuity.

From the Core Computing Division

Working to help you

Jon Bakken

John Bakken, head of the Core Computing Division, wrote this column.

This is my first column for Fermilab Today as the new head for the Core Computing Division. This division supports the services that you use every day, which include networks, storage, email and desktops, and we’re here to help you.

Since I began in this position Oct. 1, we have implemented a few changes to improve our service to you, most notably changing the Service Desk software.

Using this new software, we track your issues so they are addressed efficiently. If you need help, you can open tickets directly in our web tool or you can call x2345 and we will open the tickets for you. If you’re reporting the issue online, you will need to log in. Once you do that, you’ll see a web page with a sidebar and three columns. The first column is for requesting items, like resetting passwords, the second column provides links to getting more information, and the third column is for reporting items that are broken. The “Ask a Question” link near the bottom of the second column is for quick answers directly from our Service Desk staff.

One concept that is present in the new Service Desk software is that the items you report to us are designated either as incidents or as requests. If you call us because the wired network port to your desktop is dead, we classify that as an incident that should be fixed quickly. If you would like a wired network port on your desktop instead of using wireless – that’s a request, and it probably will not be resolved as rapidly. It is important to understand this difference in setting your expectations for how soon your issue will be resolved.

To make sure we’re providing good service, we need to hear from you. When you don’t think you’re getting the appropriate attention you deserve or you want to highlight good service you received, give us feedback via a link at the bottom of the second column of choices. Once you fill out the feedback box, push the “Order Now” button in the upper right corner and your message will be passed along to the appropriate managers, including me for Core Computing issues. I hope this helps us see what is working or resolve your incidents promptly.

Safety Update

ES&H weekly report, Nov. 7

This week's safety report, compiled by the Fermilab ES&H section, includes one incident that was recorded as a DART case. An employee strained his back while pulling cables, resulting in medical treatment and restricted work.

Find the full report here.

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