Have a safe day!

Thursday, Aug. 8

2:30 p.m.
Theoretical Physics Seminar - Curia II
Speaker: Spencer Chang, University of Oregon
Title: Effective WIMPs

3:30 p.m.
DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over

Friday, Aug. 9

3:30 p.m.
DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over

4 p.m.
Joint Experimental-Theoretical Physics Seminar - One West
Speaker: Keith Ulmer, University of Colorado, Boulder
Title: Measurement of the B_s→μμ Branching Fraction at CMS

8 p.m.
Fermilab Lecture Series - Auditorium
Speaker: Jeff Lichtman, Harvard University
Title: Connectomics: Mapping the Brain
Tickets: $7

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Secon Level 3

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Thursday, Aug. 8

- Breakfast: Canadian bacon, egg and cheese Texas toast
- Breakfast: sausage gravy omelet
- Tuna melt
- Smart cuisine: finger-lickin' baked chicken
- Mom's meatloaf
- Spicy buffalo chicken wrap
- Greek chicken salad
- Green pork chili
- Chef's choice soup
- Assorted pizza by the slice

Wilson Hall Cafe menu

Friday, Aug. 9
Dinner
Special serving time of 6 p.m.
- Vichyssoise
- Filet mignon with red-pepper coulis
- Sauteed spinach
- Parmesan orzo
- Tiramisu

Wednesday, Aug. 14
Lunch
- Cumin-crusted pork soft tacos
- Refried beans
- Spanish rice
- Hummingbird cake

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Fermilab Lecture Series presents Connectomics: Mapping the Brain - Friday

Harvard University's Jeff Lichtman gives a talk on mapping the human brain on Friday at 8 p.m. in Ramsey Auditorium.

People are fond of making maps. They have mapped the Earth, vast swaths of the sky and the human genome. Now they've begun an effort to map in minute detail the human brain.

On Friday, Aug. 9, in Ramsey Auditorium, scientist Jeff Lichtman will give a talk on mapping the brain through an approach called connectomics, which uncovers ways information is stored in neural networks through a vast wiring diagram of our most complex organ. The talk, part of the Fermilab Lecture Series, begins at 8 p.m.

In his research, Lichtman has focused on the dramatic rewiring of neural connections through the development of techniques such as a "Brainbow," which allows select imaging of particular classes of central neurons. Recently his efforts have focused on developing new electron microscopy methods to map the entire wiring diagram of the developing and adult brain. Connectional maps of the brain may have value in developing models of both how the brain normally works and how it fails when subsets of neurons or synapses are missing or misconnected. Such maps might also provide information about how brain circuits develop and age.

Jeff Lichtman is the Jeremy R. Knowles Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology and the Santiago Ramon y Cajal Professor of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University. He received an A.B. from Bowdoin and an M.D. and Ph.D. from Washington University, where he worked for 30 years. He is a member of the newly established Center for Brain Science at Harvard.

Tickets are $7. They can be purchased online before noon on Friday or at the Fermilab box office until 4 p.m. that day. Attendees can also purchase tickets at the door on the evening of the talk beginning at 7 p.m. For more information or to reserve a seat, visit the Fermilab Lecture Series Web page.

Narrow fellow in the grass

Liz Copeland spotted this spotted shaft, an Eastern plains garter snake, dividing the Fermilab grass. Photo: Liz Copeland, Fermilab Natural Areas snake monitor

Ross Shaft at one-year mark

From Sanford Lab's Deep Thoughts, Aug. 5, 2013

The five-year project to replace steel supports in the 5,000-foot Ross Shaft began a year ago yesterday, and the crews are slightly ahead of schedule, according to Underground Access Director Will McElroy. In fact, crews set a one-month record in July. "They installed seven sets of new steel, or 126 feet," McElroy said.

Read more

Has LHCb spotted physics beyond the Standard Model?

From Physics World, Aug. 2, 2013

An analysis of data from the LHCb experiment at the CERN particle-physics lab suggests that the B-meson could decay in a way not predicted by the Standard Model of particle physics, according to theoretical physicists in Spain and France. The researchers believe that the deviation from the Standard Model has been measured with a confidence of 4.5σ—which is approaching the gold standard of 5σ required for a discovery in particle physics.

One of seven experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the LHCb experiment focuses on the physics of B-mesons—those particles containing the bottom (or beauty) quark—produced during proton collisions. One process of great interest is the decay of a B-meson into a kaon (K*) and two muons: B→K*μ⁺μ^-. This is a relatively rare decay and according to the Standard Model it occurs only because of the subtle effects of heavier particles—W and Z bosons—that mediate the weak force. As a result, particles that are not described by the Standard Model may be contributing to the decay and so their effects could be measured by LHCb. Evidence that this decay happens in a manner that the Standard Model cannot explain could point the way to "new physics".

Read more

Precision test of the Standard Model

Comparisons of the world's average of direct measurements of the mass of the W boson (TeV and LEP-2), with the recent CDF indirect measurement extracted from the forward-backward asymmetry of Z bosons (CDF ee 2 fb-1).

In the Standard Model of particle physics, the masses of the Z and W bosons (M_Z, M_W) are related to another parameter of the theory, namely the electroweak mixing angle sin²(θ_W). The parameter sin²(θ_W) defines the relative strengths of the weak interaction (which causes radioactive decay) and the electromagnetic interaction. Since the Z boson decays into an electron and a positron, both of which can be tracked in the detector, the Z boson's mass is precisely determined. A precise measurement of the mass of the W boson is harder because the W boson decays into an electron and a neutrino, which does not leave a trace in the detector and therefore goes undetected. Nonetheless, researchers have carried out precise measurements of the mass of the W boson at the Tevatron. In this experiment CDF physicists measured the mass of the W boson indirectly by measuring sin²(θ_W) and by using the Standard Model relation sin²(θ_W) = 1 - M_W²/M_Z². A comparison of the indirect and direct measurements of the mass of the W boson provides a stringent test of the Standard Model.

The measurement uses a sample of 140,000 Z boson decays into electron-positron pairs, which were produced in proton-antiproton collisions at the Tevatron collider. Because of the interference between the weak interaction and the electromagnetic interaction in the Standard Model, on average the electron from the decay of the Z boson has a slight preference to be emitted in the direction of the proton. A measurement of the asymmetry between the number of Z events with electrons emitted in the direction of the proton and events for which the electrons are emitted in the direction of the antiproton can be related to the value of sin²(θ_W). The mass of the W boson can thus be inferred from the precise measurement of sin²(θ_W).

The above figure shows a comparison of the world average of the combined direct measurements of the W mass from CDF, DZero and LEP-2 (labeled TeV and LEP-2) to our indirect measurement (labeled CDF ee 2 fb^-1). The values of the direct and indirect measurements are in good agreement with each other, as expected in the Standard Model.

CDF physicists are now performing the analysis using the full Tevatron data set of 1.5 million Z decays. A new result with a much larger data sample is expected at the beginning of 2014.

Learn more

—edited by Andy Beretvas

These CDF physicists contributed to this data analysis. From left: Arie Bodek, Jiyeon Han and Willis Sakumoto, all from the University of Rochester.

Fermilab users: vote for Users Executive Committee members by Aug. 12

Elections are currently open for the Fermilab Users Executive Committee. Fermilab users are encouraged to vote for six candidates to serve the 2013-15 term. Elections close on Aug. 12 at midnight.

The UEC looks after all aspects of user life at Fermilab. It helps users from outside the United States adjust to living in a new place and coordinates outreach efforts with the Fermilab offices of Communication and Education. The committee represents the Fermilab users community in an annual trip to Washington, D.C., advocating for support of the laboratory's scientific programs. It also organizes the annual Users Meeting at the laboratory.

Visit the UEC election Web page to vote for your next Users Executive Committee.

Fermilab Heartland Blood Drive - Aug. 12 and 13

UChicago Tuition Remission program deadline - Aug. 22

An Honest Approach to Weight Management - register by Aug. 22

URA Visiting Scholars program deadline - Aug. 26

Outdoor soccer at the Village

International folk dancing in Auditorium for summer

Chicago Fire discount tickets

Fermilab discount at Don's Auto Ade Inc.

Bristol Renaissance Faire discount