Monday, July 2, 2012
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Monday, July 2
9 a.m.
Special Joint Experimental-Theoretical Physics Seminar - Ramsey Auditorium
Speakers: Wade Fisher, Michigan State University and Eric James, Fermilab
Title: CDF and DZero Higgs Results with the Full Tevatron Data Set

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

4 p.m.
All Experimenters' Meeting - Curia II
Special topics: Shutdown Work Status and Plans; Proton Improvement Plan (PIP)

Tuesday, July 3
Noon
Undergraduate Lecture Series - One West
Speaker: Harrison Prosper, Florida State University
Title: The Standard Model and Beyond

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

THERE WILL BE NO ACCELERATOR PHYSICS AND TECHNOLOGY SEMINAR TODAY

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Wilson Hall Cafe

Monday, July 2

- Breakfast: Croissant sandwich
- Smart cuisine: potato leek soup
- Monte Cristo
- Barbecue chicken breast w/ stuffing
- Alfredo tortellini
- Chicken ranch wrapper
- Assorted sliced pizza
- Szechuan-style pork lo mein

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Chez Leon

Wednesday, July 4
Lunch
Closed

Friday, July 6
Dinner
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Special Announcement

Tevatron scientific talks on Higgs search results - today

At 9 a.m. in Ramsey Auditorium, scientists from CDF and DZero will present a scientific seminar on the final Tevatron results on the search for the Higgs boson. Speakers will include Wade Fisher from Michigan State University and Fermilab's Eric James.

Watch a live video stream of the seminar here.

The CERN LHC scientific talks will take place Wednesday, July 4, at 2 a.m. CDT. Fermilab employees, users, friends and family can watch live video of the scientific seminar and follow-up press conference from One West. CERN offers a public webcast.

Press Release

Tevatron scientists announce their final results on the Higgs particle

The CDF and DZero collaborations have found their strongest indication to date for the long-sought Higgs particle.

After more than 10 years of gathering and analyzing data produced by the U.S. Department of Energy's Tevatron collider, scientists from the CDF and DZero collaborations have found their strongest indication to date for the long-sought Higgs particle. Squeezing the last bit of information out of 500 trillion collisions produced by the Tevatron for each experiment since March 2001, the final analysis of the data does not settle the question of whether the Higgs particle exists, but gets closer to an answer. The Tevatron scientists unveiled their latest results on July 2, two days before the highly anticipated announcement of the latest Higgs-search results from the Large Hadron Collider in Europe.

"The Tevatron experiments accomplished the goals that we had set with this data sample," said Fermilab's Rob Roser, cospokesperson for the CDF experiment at DOE's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. "Our data strongly point toward the existence of the Higgs boson, but it will take results from the experiments at the Large Hadron Collider in Europe to establish a discovery."

Scientists of the CDF and DZero collider experiments at the Tevatron received a round of rousing applause from hundreds of colleagues when they presented their results at a scientific seminar at Fermilab. The Large Hadron Collider results will be announced at a scientific seminar at 2 a.m. CDT on July 4 at the CERN particle physics laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland.

"It is a real cliffhanger," said DZero co-spokesperson Gregorio Bernardi, physicist at the Laboratory of Nuclear and High Energy Physics, or LPNHE, at the University of Paris VI & VII. "We know exactly what signal we are looking for in our data, and we see strong indications of the production and decay of Higgs bosons in a crucial decay mode with a pair of bottom quarks, which is difficult to observe at the LHC. We are very excited about it."

The Higgs particle is named after Scottish physicist Peter Higgs, who among other physicists in the 1960s helped develop the theoretical model that explains why some particles have mass and others don't, a major step toward understanding the origin of mass. The model predicts the existence of a new particle, which has eluded experimental detection ever since. Only high-energy particle colliders such as the Tevatron, which was shut down in September 2011, and the Large Hadron Collider, which produced its first collisions in November 2009, have the chance to produce the Higgs particle. About 1,700 scientists from U.S. institutions, including Fermilab, are working on the LHC experiments.

The Tevatron results indicate that the Higgs particle, if it exists, has a mass between 115 and 135 GeV/c2, or about 130 times the mass of the proton.

"During its life, the Tevatron must have produced thousands of Higgs particles, if they actually exist, and it's up to us to try to find them in the data we have collected," said Luciano Ristori, co-spokesperson of the CDF experiment and physicist at Fermilab and the Italian Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) . "We have developed sophisticated simulation and analysis programs to identify Higgs-like patterns. Still, it is easier to look for a friend's face in a sports stadium filled with 100,000 people than to search for a Higgs-like event among trillions of collisions."

Read more

Photos of the Day

It was time for stormy weather

An ominous arcus cloud rolled over Wilson Hall and Feynman Computing Center on Friday morning. Photo: Merina Albert, SCD
Lightning illuminated the sky over Fermilab Friday night. Photo: Steve Krave, TD
In the News

Milky Way still recovering from mysterious impact, scientists say

From the Los Angeles Times, June 28, 2012

For those of you worried about the nearby Andromeda galaxy colliding with our own Milky Way in the distant future, here's a little perspective: Turns out our spiral galaxy is still reeling from a hard knock it suffered as recently as 100 million years ago -- but it's likely to recover just as quickly, say researchers at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Ill.

Fermilab scientists looked at about 300,000 stars cataloged by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey – which has mapped a full 35% of the sky using an optical telescope in New Mexico – and noticed something strange: Some nearby stars north and south of the Milky Way's plane were out of sync relative to one another.

Read more

Tip of the Week:
Safety

Be safe this Independence Day

Exercise caution around all types of fireworks, no matter how small. Photo: Silberchen

Every year in the United States, we celebrate the Fourth of July with community parades, picnics, barbecues, and fireworks - the things of which happy memories are made. But sadly, Independence Day also brings on tragic events resulting from the use of fireworks.

One reason injuries occur is that, in spite of federal regulations and varying state prohibitions, many types of fireworks are still accessible to the public. Distributors often sell fireworks near state borders, where laws prohibiting sales on either side of the border may differ.

Injuries also result from being too close to fireworks. Bottle rockets can fly into peoples' faces and cause eye injuries. Sparklers can ignite clothing (sparklers burn at much more than 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit). And firecrackers can injure the hands or face if they explode at close range.

Further, children are often excited and curious around fireworks, which can increase their chances of being injured.

To avoid injury this Fourth of July, follow these fireworks safety tips:

  • Don't use any fireworks at home — period. Attend public fireworks displays and leave the lighting to the professionals.
  • Don't allow kids to play with fireworks. Sparklers can reach 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit— hot enough to melt gold.
  • Steer clear of others — fireworks have been known to backfire or shoot off in the wrong direction. Never throw or point fireworks at someone, even in jest.
  • Do not pick up pieces of fireworks after an event. Some may still be ignited and can explode at any time.
  • Think about your pet. Animals have sensitive ears and can be extremely frightened or stressed on the Fourth of July. Keep pets indoors to reduce the risk that they'll run loose or get injured.

Observing these guidelines will help ensure that everyone has a happy and safe summer holiday.

Feature

"Creation's Birthday" brings Edwin Hubble's contentious life to the Fermilab stage

"Creation's Birthday" will show in Ramsey Auditorium on July 5. Image: Mark A. Garlick

The astronomer Edwin Hubble fought many battles over the course of his life. In college he was a boxer, in graduate school he battled his thesis advisor and in his adult life, he had a major disagreement with the world's most famous scientist. Now a play about his battles is coming to Fermilab.

On July 5, Cornell physicist Hasan Padamsee's "Creation's Birthday" will be showcased in Ramsey Auditorium. The play focuses on Hubble's role in uncovering the origins of the universe.

"Many people have heard the name Hubble because of the Hubble Space Telescope," Padamsee said, "but very few people know about Hubble the man."

In the 1920s, Hubble found evidence that the universe was expanding, a key finding that came in conflict with the prevailing view that the universe was unchanging. The play shows Hubble at many of the key moments of his struggles with the scientific community in the early 20th century.

Padamsee, who wrote the play and is directing the July 5 production, said he was first attracted to Hubble's characterization as a fighter. As a young man, Hubble fought with his father to study physics, even turning down a chance at a boxing championship match. He later squabbled with other astronomers and had a particularly sharp disagreement with Einstein.

"He's always engaged in personal battles, not so much to be victorious, but to pursue his dream," Padamsee said. "It's a coming-of-age story of both Hubble and American astronomy."

The play first ran last November in Chicago, when Fermilab Deputy Director Young-Kee Kim invited Padamsee to hold a showing in Ramsey Auditorium. This year, the Astronomy League of Chicago planned for part of its 150th anniversary celebration to be at Fermilab, so 200 amateur astronomers from the League are expected to be in the audience.

The performance begins at 5 p.m.; doors open at 4:50 p.m. Admission is free for all Fermilab employees, their companions and their families.

—Joseph Piergrossi

Announcements

Latest Announcements

Scottish country dancing in Kuhn Barn - July 3; then moves to Ramsey Auditorium

International Folk Dancing in Kuhn Barn - July 5

Earned Value Management course - July 10-11

Creation's Birthday: a new play about Hubble and Einstein - July 5

Collider New Play Project - July 7, 14 and 21

Volunteers invited to Fermilab prairie quadrat study - July 12 and 28

Louisiana roots band Red Stick Ramblers - July 14

On-site housing requests for fall 2012 and spring 2013 - through July 16

Circuit design applications w/ National Instrument's multisim course - July 19

ANSYS courses offered in July and August

Howard Levy & Chris Siebold - August 18

Project Management Introduction class - Sept. 10-14

Fermilab Management Practices Seminar - begins Oct. 4

Interpersonal communication skills training - Nov. 14

Outdoor soccer - Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6 p.m.

Fermilab employee discounts

Atrium work updates