Fermilab features

The U.S. Department of Energy has announced $75 million in funding for 66 university research awards on a range of topics in high-energy physics to advance knowledge of how the universe works at its most fundamental level. The projects involve scientists at 51 U.S. institutions of higher learning across the nation and include both experimental and theoretical research into such topics as the Higgs boson, neutrinos, dark matter, dark energy and the search for new physics.

Members of the national laboratories, leaders from the Department of Energy and experts in advanced manufacturing converged at the third summit in DOE’s InnovationXLab Series. Fermilab had strong representation at the meeting, featuring particle physics technologies that have been adapted for use in our everyday lives. We connected to find ways to wield national laboratory resources to help launch new industries and rejuvenate manufacturing.

The newest exhibit presented by Fermilab scientist Erik Ramberg and the Fermilab Archives gives the viewer a glimpse into the fascinating history of the study of electricity. Since 600 BC, scientists and philosophers have theorized on how electrical charge is transferred from one site to another. In the 18th century, experiments testing these theories took off. In the exhibit, see primary texts and early images of electricity at work.

Rakshya Khatiwada is an experimental astrophysicist at Fermilab working on dark matter searches and quantum science. When she’s not developing the newest detectors to look for dark matter, Khatiwada makes a point to engage with the next generation of scientists through informal lunches, talks and webinars.

The CDF and DZero collaborations at Fermilab announced the discovery of the top quark in 1995, the final undiscovered quark of the six predicted by theory. The biannual prize is given for an outstanding contribution to high-energy and particle physics.

A Fermilab group has found a way to simulate, using a quantum computer, a class of particles that had resisted typical computing methods. Their novel approach opens doors to an area previously closed off to quantum simulation in areas beyond particle physics, thanks to cross-disciplinary inspiration.

Excavating about 800,000 tons of rock a mile underground, bringing it to the surface, and then transporting it to its final resting place is a huge job and part of the LBNF/DUNE project. Creating the infrastructure for that job is a huge amount of work by itself and is going on right now.

Fermilab offers a free public tour every week. Starting May 6, the day and time of that 90-minute Get to Know Fermilab tour will change to Mondays at 1 p.m. The tour will remain free, and no reservation is required.

Fermilab scientists are preparing for future, high-power particle beams with a technological advance inspired by spinning sugar. It’s a new type of target — the material that beams collide with to produce other particles, such as neutrinos. The target is designed to be able to withstand the heat from high-intensity beams, expanding the potential of experiments that use them. Researching this new patent-pending technology already has led to a TechConnect Innovation Award and might have applications in the medical field.

On Feb. 26, a team on Fermilab’s MINERvA neutrino experiment gathered around a computer screen to officially conclude its data acquisition. Even with the data collection over, the work marches on. MINERvA now turns its attention to analyzing the data it has collected over the past nine years of its run.