A Fermilab team has completed tests for a crucial superconducting segment for the PIP-II particle accelerator, the future heart of the Fermilab accelerator chain. The segment, called a cryomodule, will be one of many, but this is the first to be fully designed, assembled and tested at Fermilab. It represents a journey of technical challenges and opportunities for innovation in superconducting accelerator technology.
Tag: Fermilab
Coffea speeds up particle physics data analysis
The prodigious amount of data produced at the Large Hadron Collider presents a major challenge for data analysis. Coffea, a Python package developed by Fermilab researchers, speeds up computation and helps scientists work more efficiently. Around a dozen international LHC research groups now use Coffea, which draws on big data techniques used outside physics.
Random twists of place: How quiet is quantum space-time at the Planck scale?
Fermilab scientist and University of Chicago professor of astronomy and astrophysics Craig Hogan gives perspective on how the Holometer program aimed at a tiny scale — the Planck length — to help answer one of the universe’s most basic questions: Why does everything appear to happen at definite times and places? He contextualizes the results and offers optimism for future researchers.
HL-LHC Accelerator Upgrade Project receives approval to move full-speed-ahead from Department of Energy
The U.S. DOE has given the U.S. High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider Accelerator Upgrade Project approval to move full-speed-ahead in building and delivering components for the HL-LHC, specifically, cutting-edge magnets and accelerator cavities that will enable more rapid-fire collisions at the collider.
Fermilab scientist Vladimir Shiltsev elected to the Bologna Academy of Sciences
Well-known and appreciated by the scientific community for his work on beam physics and supercolliders, Shiltsev joins an organization whose membership included Marie Curie, Albert Einstein and Luigi Galvani.
Fermilab scientist Josh Frieman awarded American Astronomical Society Fellowship
The American Astronomical Society recognizes Frieman’s significant theoretical contributions to inflationary cosmology and dark‐energy theory and his contributions to optical surveys.
National laboratories’ magnet designers look to the future of light sources with new prototype
After more than 15 years of work, scientists at three DOE national laboratories have succeeded in creating and testing an advanced, more powerful superconducting magnet made of niobium and tin for use in the next generation of light sources.
University of Chicago’s Polsky Center Launches New Deep Tech Accelerator
The Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Chicago has launched the Compass, a first-of-its-kind deep tech accelerator program for early-stage startups and technologies created by researchers at the University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory, and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.
Dark Energy Survey makes public catalog of nearly 700 million astronomical objects
The international collaboration, including Fermilab, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, NOIRLab and others, releases a massive, public collection of astronomical data and calibrated images from six years of surveys. This data release is one of the largest astronomical catalogs issued to date.
Fermilab receives DOE award to develop machine learning for particle accelerators
Fermilab scientists and engineers are developing a machine learning platform to help run Fermilab’s accelerator complex alongside a fast-response machine learning application for accelerating particle beams. The programs will work in tandem to boost efficiency and energy conservation in Fermilab accelerators.
First measurement of single-proton interactions with the MicroBooNE detector
The MicroBooNE neutrino experiment at Fermilab has published a new measurement that helps paint a more detailed portrait of the neutrino. This measurement more precisely targets one of the processes arising from the interaction of a neutrino with an atomic nucleus, one with a fancy name: charged-current quasielastic scattering.
Major upgrade to Fermilab accelerator complex gets green light
The U.S. Department of Energy has formally approved the scope, schedule and cost of the PIP-II project at Fermilab. The PIP-II accelerator will become the heart of Fermilab’s upgraded accelerator complex, delivering more powerful proton beams to the lab’s experiments and enabling deeper probes of the fundamental constituents of the universe.
Fermilab and partners achieve sustained, high-fidelity quantum teleportation
A joint team of researchers at Fermilab and partner institutions have achieved quantum teleportation, teleporting information over a distance of 44 kilometers. The remarkable achievement supports the premise that scientists and engineers can build a workable and high-fidelity quantum network using practical devices.
One minute with Kate Sienkiewicz, LBNF Near Site Conventional Facilities project manager
From working at the CIA to designing science facilities at Fermilab, Kate Sienkiewicz enjoys tackling complex problems. Currently, she oversees the team tasked with designing and building conventional facilities at the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility near site for the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment — all with the overarching goal of understanding the universe.
DUNE publishes first physics results from prototype detector
Results from the ProtoDUNE single-phase detector at CERN pave the way for detectors 20 times larger for the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, hosted by Fermilab.
Making music from neutrino experiments
David Ibbett, Fermilab’s first guest composer, converts real scientific data into musical notes and rhythms. His latest piece, “MicroBooNE,” will make its world premiere at a virtual concert on Dec. 8. In this audio interview, Ibbett shares a sneak peek of the song and explains his compositional process.
Contract awarded for the excavation of gigantic caverns for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment
This month, Thyssen Mining Inc. was awarded the contract to excavate the gigantic caverns for Fermilab’s Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility. Excavation crews will drill, blast and remove approximately 800,000 tons of rock to create the underground space for LBNF. When complete, the facility will house the enormous particle detector for the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, hosted by Fermilab.
One step closer: Mu2e reaches milestone in construction of novel experiment
Magnets play a key role in looking for the direct transformation of muons into electrons, a theorized phenomenon that Fermilab’s Mu2e experiment will hunt for when it comes online in 2023. In an important milestone, seven essential magnets have passed testing and been accepted for the construction of the experiment.
Fermilab is partner in Quantum Science Center based at Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Fermilab plays a key role in the Quantum Science Center, led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The center unites that Oak Ridge’s powerhouse capabilities in supercomputing and materials science with Fermilab’s world-class high-energy physics instrumentation and measurement expertise and facilities. Drawing on their experience building and operating experiments in cosmology and particle physics and in quantum information science, the Fermilab team is engaging in QSC efforts to develop novel, advanced quantum technologies.
NOvA turns its eyes to the skies
The NOvA experiment, best known for its measurements of neutrino oscillations using particle beams from Fermilab accelerators, has been turning its attention to measurements of cosmic phenomena. In a series of results, NOvA reports on neutrinos from supernovae, gravitational-wave events from black hole mergers, muons from cosmic rays, and its search for the elusive monopole.
First beam accelerated in PIP-II cryomodules, ushering in new era of superconducting-accelerator operation at Fermilab
On Oct. 21, the PIP-II Injector Test Facility accelerated proton beam through its superconducting section for the first time.
In photos: Fermilab site preparation for LBNF nears completion
All summer long, progress on preparing the Fermilab site for the construction of the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility has been proceeding at a healthy clip. Now, as summer winds down, that site prep is nearing completion.
Pinning down the ampere with a supersensitive particle detector
A precise calibration for measurements of electric current has long eluded scientists. Last year, the ampere was redefined based on the charge of a single electron. The next generation of charge-coupled devices, known as skipper CCDs, could provide the sensitivity needed to calibrate the new definition.
If Betelgeuse goes boom: How DUNE would respond to a nearby supernova
The red supergiant Betelgeuse is one of the best candidates for a nearby supernova in the coming decades. The star’s proximity to Earth would present a unique opportunity for studying the physics of supernovae and neutrinos. If Betelgeuse does explode, DUNE will be ready.
Fermilab scientists selected as APS fellows
Three Fermilab scientists have been selected 2020 fellows of the American Physical Society, a distinction awarded each year to no more than one-half of 1 percent of current APS members by their peers.
The next big thing: the use of graph neural networks to discover particles
Fermilab scientists have implemented a cloud-based machine learning framework to handle data from the CMS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Now they can begin to use graph neural networks to boost their pattern recognition abilities in the search for new particles.
Graziano Venanzoni elected new co-spokesperson of Muon g-2 collaboration
A physicist at the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics, Venanzoni will help prepare the Muon g-2 collaboration for its highly anticipated first scientific publication and work with partners to ensure a long life for the experiment, where scientists are searching for new particles emerging from the quantum foam that surrounds all matter.
ICEBERG tests future neutrino detector systems with ‘beautiful’ results
Scientists are testing the components and systems for the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, hosted by Fermilab, with other liquid-argon particle detectors. One such detector is ICEBERG, which is over 10,000 times smaller than DUNE will be. ICEBERG’s measurements are providing insight for future neutrino experiments.
Fermilab scientist Vladimir Shiltsev elected to Academia Europaea
Widely recognized for his work in accelerator beam physics, Shiltsev is one of 361 individuals elected to Academia Europaea, which promotes a wider appreciation of the value of European scholarship and research.
Safety in robots: Mu2e’s automated handler
Humans and robots work together in a carefully choreographed dance to maintain peak production target performance in Mu2e’s search for new physics – direct muon-to-electron conversion.
Lead Lab Selected for Next-Generation Cosmic Microwave Background Experiment
The largest collaborative undertaking yet to explore the relic light emitted by the infant universe has taken a step forward with the U.S. DOE’s selection of Berkeley Lab to lead the partnership of national labs, universities, and other institutions that are joined in the effort to carry out the DOE roles and responsibilities.
Jonathan Jarvis wins prestigious DOE award for development of next-generation particle beam cooling and control
This award, totaling $2.5 million, will fund the development of a faster particle beam cooling method as well as the implementation of machine learning advancements to optimally control the system.
Fermilab to lead $115 million National Quantum Information Science Research Center to build revolutionary quantum computer with Rigetti Computing, Northwestern University, Ames Laboratory, NASA, INFN and additional partners
Fermilab has been selected to lead one of five national centers to bring about transformational advances in quantum information science as a part of the U.S. National Quantum Initiative. The initiative provides the new Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Center — based at Fermilab and comprising 20 partner institutions — $115 million over five years with the goal of building and deploying a beyond-state-of-the-art quantum computer based on superconducting technologies. The center will also develop new quantum sensors, which could lead to the discovery of the nature of dark matter and other elusive subatomic particles.
Searching for supernova neutrinos with DUNE
The international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment collaboration has published a paper about its capability for performing supernova physics. It details the kind of activity DUNE expects in the detector during a supernova burst, how DUNE will know once a supernova occurs and what physics DUNE will extract from the neutrinos. DUNE’s unique strength is its sensitivity to a particular type of neutrino called the electron neutrino, which will provide scientists with supernova data not available from any other experiment.
A team of international physicists join forces in hunt for sterile neutrinos
The MINOS+ and Daya Bay neutrino experiments combine results to produce most stringent test yet for the existence of sterile neutrinos.
Fermilab scientist Laura Fields receives $2.5 million DOE award to study beams of shape-shifting ghost particles
Laura Fields has won an Early Career Research Award from the Department of Energy to help physicists better understand the composition of neutrino beams used by Fermilab experiments. Her work will help gather and validate results that could shed light on why the universe consists of something rather than nothing.
Dark Energy Survey census of the smallest galaxies hones the search for dark matter
Scientists on the Dark Energy Survey have used observations of the smallest known galaxies to better understand dark matter, the mysterious substance that makes up 85% of the matter in the universe. The smallest galaxies can contain hundreds to thousands of times more dark matter than normal visible matter, making them ideal laboratories for studying this mysterious substance. By performing a rigorous census of small galaxies surrounding our Milky Way, scientists on the Dark Energy Survey have been able to constrain the fundamental particle physics that governs dark matter.
Robert Ainsworth awarded $2.5 million to improve particle beams for high-intensity experiments
Fermilab scientist Robert Ainsworth has won a $2.5 million Department of Energy Early Career Research Award to study different ways of ensuring stability in high-intensity proton beams. By studying how certain types of beam instabilities emerge and evolve under different conditions, his team can help sharpen scientists’ methods for correcting them or avoiding them to begin with.
ArgoNeuT sheds light on electron neutrino interactions
The ArgoNeuT collaboration has published new measurements of the neutrino interaction channel critical for future experiments that seek to understand the difference between matter and antimatter in the world of neutrinos. Their paper presents new strategies for identifying electron neutrinos in liquid-argon neutrino detectors like ArgoNeuT.
Two construction projects reach major milestones at Fermilab
Partners celebrate the site dedication of the Integrated Engineering Research Center and the groundbreaking for the PIP-II cryoplant building.
Innovative ANNIE sees first neutrinos, with more “firsts” to come
The groundbreaking ANNIE experiment at Fermilab has seen its first neutrino events. This milestone heralds the start of an ambitious program in neutrino physics and detector technology development. It is also a cause for celebration by the international ANNIE collaboration, composed of groups from Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States.
DUNE collaboration finalizes the blueprint for the ultimate neutrino detector
The publication of the Technical Design Report is a major milestone for the construction of the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, an international mega-science project hosted by Fermilab. It lays out in great detail the scientific goals as well as the technical components of the gigantic particle detectors of the experiment.