Fermilab scientist earns prestigious award

Aaron Chou

The search for dark energy has put the spotlight on Aaron Chou.

The Fermilab physicist received the Department of Energy's Office of High-Energy Physics 2009 Outstanding Junior Investigator Award, an honor bestowed on only a handful of HEP scientists in the country.

The award debuted in 1978 and has become increasingly competitive, with about one in seven proposals accepted. The award identifies outstanding high-energy physicists early in their careers and financially supports their research programs.

More than 150 of the 200 past recipients have achieved tenured academic positions and many have gone on to renown in the field. Several worked on Fermilab experiments.

"I'm very happy, especially with the fact that the DOE review committee found my proposed research interesting and worthwhile," Chou said.

The award provides $70,000 annually for up to five years for Chou's proposal, Axion Search via Resonant Photon Regeneration, the second phase of a search for a milli-eV scale axion-like particle, a candidate for dark matter, started in the GammeV experiment.

"There are certain aspects of nature that no one has ever looked at in this detail before, so there could be something there," Chou said. "You don't need any more motivation that that - It is kind of like why you climb a mountain."

Chou and Fermilab physicist William Wester crafted the GammeV axion experiment, which used spare parts from other laboratory experiments in an effort to hold down costs. The proposed second-phase experiment also would use recycled equipment and would use advanced optical techniques to improve on GammeV sensitivity and improve the probability of detecting a photon converting to an axion by a factor of 10.

"Aaron's physics skills and his uncommonly deep understanding of theoretical concepts have allowed him to connect some hints seen in astrophysical measurements and to suggest a next level of sensitivity to try and experimentally probe," Wester said.

Chou's other Fermilab work includes the study of cosmic rays, dark energy and holographic noise.

--Tona Kunz

LPC theorist of the week

University of Washington's Steve Ellis joins the Fermilab LHC Physics Center from May 18-22 as the theorist of the week. During his week in the LPC, Ellis will present a series of talks and hold office hours on Thursday from 9-11 a.m. and 1-3 p.m on the 11th-floor crossover. His complete schedule is available online. Ellis is the fourth theorist of the week to participate in this program sponsored by the LPC to foster interactions between theorists and experimentalists at Fermilab.

Bill Andrews: Support basic science for a big bang down the road

From Wisconsin State Journal, May 8, 2009

Most of us use relativity and quantum physics every day.

If it weren't for relativity telling us how space is shaped, we wouldn't be able to track the orbit of satellites that make our cell phones and Global Positioning System navigators work.

And quantum physics, with its insights into the subatomic world of electrons and their interactions, makes possible our understanding and manipulation of most things electronic, including the Internet and cell phones.

All this was made possible thanks to basic, open-ended scientific research done without any thought of application to ordinary people's lives.

Read more

"Angels & Demons" international Webcast features Fermilab scientists

You can watch a live Webcast with journalists and scientists at Fermilab and CERN discussing the science of "Angels & Demons" today at noon. International media will interview Fermilab theorist Boris Kayser, CERN Director-General Rolf-Dieter Heuer and former Fermilab Director Leon Lederman.

The National Science Foundation arraigned the media briefing available at: http://www.science360.gov/live/.

You can learn more about how antimatter is used in the book and in real-life research at a lecture given by Fermilab theorist Marcela Carena at 8 p.m. May 21 in Ramsey Auditorium.