News

From APS News, October 2020: This summer, Fermilab scientist Marco Del Tutto spent weeks building the 3-D virtual rooms for the Neutrino 2020 conference. Like many conferences in 2020, the meeting occurred over the now ubiquitous application Zoom. But this conference had twists and flourishes: a poster session conducted in virtual reality, pixelated renderings of plants and couches, and Chicago-specific settings.

From Sci News, Oct. 2, 2020: A research team from four national laboratories, including Fermilab and Argonne, have undertaken work at two Fermilab neutrino experiments — MiniBooNE and NOvA — to construct a model of how neutrinos interact with atomic nuclei. This knowledge is essential to unravel an even bigger mystery: why during their journey through space or matter neutrinos magically morph from one into another of three possible types or flavors.

The LUX-ZEPLIN collaboration has published results showing radioactive background levels for experiment’s components, creating a library for future rare event searches.

From Science, Oct. 2, 2020: As U.S. particle physicists start to drum up new ideas for the next decade in a yearlong Snowmass process they have no single big project to push for (or against). Physicists have just started to build the current plan’s centerpiece: The Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility at Fermilab will shoot particles through 1,300 kilometers of rock to the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment in South Dakota. Fermilab Deputy Director of Research Joe Lykken and Fermilab scientist Vladimir Shiltsev comment on other possible pursuits in high-energy physics.

From Interesting Engineering, Oct. 4, 2020: Fermilab’s NOvA experiment is listed in this rundown of the world’s neutrino observatories.

Three students have received the prestigious U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science Graduate Student Research Fellowships to conduct their research at Fermilab. They will pursue projects in dark matter detection, superconducting accelerator technology, and the Mu2e and CMS experiments.

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.

From University of Wisconsin-Madison, Sept. 28, 2020: Getting blasted with proton beams takes a toll on accelerator targets. As researchers begin to consider upgrading existing accelerators and building more powerful models, the durability of those devices is a major concern. University scientists are working with Fermilab in a new collaboration to study and improve the durability of targets and target windows, which will be important for neutrino experiments such as the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, hosted by Fermilab.

From Scientific American, Sept. 30, 2020: Hints of anomalous activity in heavy isotopes could be clues to new physics. Fermilab scientist Elina Fuchs is quoted in this piece on two new results on dark forces between electrons and neutrons.

Next week, scientists with connections to U.S. particle physics will make their morning coffee, boot up their computers and log in to a virtual community planning meeting with over 1,500 colleagues. The four-day gathering will set the stage for a process known as Snowmass, during which scientists will develop a collective vision for the next decade of U.S. particle physics research. The Snowmass process seeks to identify the most promising questions to explore in future research.