Fermilab TodayTuesday, December 23, 2003  
Calendar
Fermilab Today will be on vacation starting December 24 and will resume on January 5. Season's Greetings!

Tuesday, December 23
3:30 p.m. DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK - 2nd Flr X-Over
THERE WILL BE NO ACCELERATOR PHYSICS AND TECHNOLOGY SEMINAR TODAY

Wednesday, December 24
Holiday - Half Day for Christmas Eve

Thursday, December 25
Holiday - Christmas Day

Friday, December 26
THERE WILL BE NO DIRECTOR'S COFFEE BREAK TODAY
THERE WILL BE NO JOINT EXPERIMENTAL THEORETICAL PHYSICS SEMINAR THIS WEEK

Cafeteria
Tuesday, December 23
Grilled chicken breast with apricot cranberry sauce and whipped sweet potatoes $3.50
Baked tilapia marinara with orzo pasta $4.75
Baked wisconsin ham and mozzarella wrap with basil cream cheese $4.75
Andouille sausage po boy with carmelized onions and a honey creold mustard sauce $4.75
Mixed greens with tuna salad $3.75

Eurest Dining Center Weekly Menu
Chez Leon
Weather
Weather Chance of Flurries 32º/21º

Extended Forecast

Weather at Fermilab

Security

Secon Level 2

Search
Search the Fermilab Today Archive
Information
Fermilab Today is online at: http://www.fnal.gov/today/

Send comments and suggestions to
today@fnal.gov

Fermilab Today archive

Fermilab Today classifieds

Subscribe/Unsubscribe to Fermilab Today
Pasquinelli Parkway Dedicated Last Week
Ralph Pasquinelli
Ralph Pasquinelli
Ralph Pasquinelli, head of the Accelerator RF Department, has joined the likes of Wilson, Feynman, and Lederman as one of the select few with a piece of Fermilab named after him. Pasquinelli Parkway, a gravel road meant to be a temporary construction road 8 years ago for a stochastic cooling test, but now more or less permanent, runs between buildings AP10 and AP30 to the interior of the Pbar source.
read more
Pasquinelli Parkway dedication ceremony
Pasquinelli Parkway dedication ceremony (Click on image for larger version.)
DOE's Jim Miller retires
On January 2, Jim Miller will retire from Fermilab. He has worked as the deputy manager in DOE's Fermi Area Office for more than 25 years. Fermilab Today will report on his retirement in more detail on January 29th.

Accelerator Update
December 19 - December 22
- On Friday, Dec. 19, the Fermi accelerators set a record for integrated luminosity of a single store of 2.1 pb-1.
- The next store, established on Saturday at 4:19 a.m., began with a record peak luminosity of 51.8E30 cm-2sec-1, the 2nd peak luminosity record of the week.
- At 6:15 a.m., a bad breaker caused a six-house quench. Subsequently, technicians discovered a vacuum leak. Sector B of the Tevatron required a cryo warm-up, and the Tevatron will be down until approximately Dec. 31.

View the current accelerator update
View the Tevatron Luminosity Charts

Seasonal Decorations Across the Lab
Dean Hoffer's office
Dean Hoffer, of the Directorate, decorated his office on the second floor of Wilson Hall. (Click on image for larger version.)
IT Managers Santa suit
Did you ever wonder what IT Managers do after hours? Manager by day, Santa by night.... Fresh from the dry cleaners ready for a midnight run.... (Click on image for larger version.)
Holiday bicycle
It's difficult to see in this photo, but Gary Ross of the Accelerator Division even decorated his bicycle with flashing red lights for the holiday. (Click on image for larger version.)

Season's Greetings from Fermilab Today
The entire staff of the Office of Public Affairs, Judy Jackson, Elizabeth Clements, Judy Treend, Mike Perricone, Kurt Riesselmann, and intern Matt Hutson wish you Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year. This is the last issue of Fermilab Today for 2003, and we will resume our delivery on Monday, January 5. In the meantime, please enjoy one of our all-time Ferminews favorites, "Santa at Nearly the Speed of Light."

Director's Corner
Good Morning!
Mike Witherell
The weekend before Christmas brought highs and lows to the Tevatron and Fermilab. Early on Saturday morning, the Tevatron achieved its highest luminosity ever, a record of 5.18E31.Other components of the accelerator complex set new performance standards as well, including record pbar stacks both in the Recycler and in the Accumulator. Coming on top of last week's record luminosity of 4.9E30, it seemed that we were getting a fast payoff on the hard work invested during the annual shutdown, despite the effects of recovering from the subsequent multi-magnet quench.

Then, on Saturday afternoon, came the discovery of a helium leak in the Tevatron's cryogenic system and the realization that it will take almost two weeks before the leak is repaired and the Tevatron is up and running again.

There is no doubt that this is a setback. We will continue to do what we have always done-whatever it takes to fix the problem, get the accelerators running as well as they were last week, and get back to the physics of Run II. We will overcome this setback and any others that the future may hold in store.

There would be no good time for this to happen, but it is especially difficult at this time of year. We had all hoped that the holiday season would see smooth running for the accelerators and the experiments, with the prospect of better performance than ever before.

As the holidays approach, I send to all of you in the Fermilab community, and to your families, my very best wishes. To those who will be working during the holidays to bring the Tevatron back into operation, I send a special greeting, with my heartfelt thanks and those of the entire Fermilab community. To us all, I wish a wonderful New Year.

In the News
From the LA Times, December 20, 2003:
It's No Small Matter
By K.C. Cole, LA Times Staff Writer and MiniBooNE science intern
How do you catch a sterile neutrino? It's one of the hardest experiments in physics: an attempt to pin down a particle that leaves no tracks and interacts with nothing - a ghost as hard to grasp as the chill that raises the hairs on your neck. The only hint that this subatomic poltergeist even exists popped up in a 1995 experiment brushed off as almost certainly wrong by the vast majority of physicists. If confirmed, however, the finding would shake physics to its boots, introduce a whole new family of particles and perhaps help explain why the universe is made of matter.
read more (registration required)

FYI: AIP Bulletin of Science Policy News, December 19, 2003
DOE "Future of Science Programs" Report Goes to Secretary
Last week, the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board was briefed on the "Final Report of the Task Force on the Future of Science Programs at the Department of Energy." The Board has now formally sent this report, prepared under the direction of Task Force chairman Charles Vest, to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham.

The December 10 plenary meeting started with remarks by Secretary Abraham. He had high praise for the Task Force report, saying it would play an important role in shaping DOE during this century.
read more

Announcements
Recreation Discount Tickets
Disney on Ice-Monster, Inc. are coming to the Allstate Arena in January and the United Center in January and February. Ticket order forms can be found on the Recreation web page or in the Recreation Office. Deadline to order is noon on January 9.

Entertainment Books
Looking for that last stocking stuffer or a work place gift? The Entertainment Book offers great savings. There are only 4 left. Pick up your copy today in the Recreation Office.

Bible Exploration for Lunch
CANCELED this week and next due to the Holidays. But plan to join us January 7th as we begin an inductive approach to the book of Mark. Meetings last 35 minutes and are held every Wednesday at Noon in the Small Dining Room (WH-1SW). Additional information at 630-840-3607 or dykhuis@fnal.gov.

International Folk Dancing
International Folk Dancing will greet the New Year with a Dance Party and Potluck Supper on New Year's Day, beginning at 5 p.m., at the Geneva American Legion Post.. Bring a dish or snack to share. Beverages and tableware will be provided. Newcomers are always welcome. Info at 630-584-0825 or 630-840-8194 or folkdance@fnal.gov.

Fermilab Today