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Many researchers from Latin America can trace their entry into experimental particle physics to an initiative started by former Fermilab Director Leon Lederman.

Scientists working at CERN have started tests of a new neutrino detector prototype using a promising technology called “dual phase.” If successful, this new technology will be used at a much larger scale for the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, hosted by Fermilab. Scientists began operating the dual-phase prototype detector at CERN at the end of August and have observed first tracks. The new technology may be game-changing, as it would significantly amplify the faint signals that particles create when moving through the detector.

With an increasing underground workforce, the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility has undertaken multiple projects to ensure worker safety. Working closely with Sanford Lab staff, LBNF recently completed an upgrade to emergency systems, including areas of refuge and evacuation capabilities.

Fermilab and the University of Bern in Switzerland have signed an agreement to develop detector components for the laboratory’s neutrino experiments. The agreement is the first of its kind between Fermilab and a Swiss university.

Latin America has reached a pivotal moment in experimental particle physics and astrophysics research. Throughout the month of October, Symmetry will highlight important places, explain significant milestones, and introduce you to some of the people who have shaped and are continuing to shape particle physics and astrophysics in Latin America.

A collaboration led by Fermilab and Stanford University combines their expertise in quantum science and accelerator technologies to build the world’s largest atom interferometer. The instrument will push the boundaries of quantum physics into macroscopic scales, providing a gateway for dark matter searches and tests of gravitational waves.

For the first time, a team at Fermilab has cooled and operated a superconducting radio-frequency cavity — a crucial component of superconducting particle accelerators — using cryogenic refrigerators, breaking the tradition of cooling cavities by immersing them in a bath of liquid helium. The demonstration is a major breakthrough in the effort to develop lean, compact accelerators for medicine, the environment and industry.

Today’s quantum computing processors must operate at temperature close to absolute zero, and that goes for their electronics, too. Fermilab’s cryoelectronics experts recently hosted a first-of-its-kind workshop where leaders in quantum technologies took on the challenges of designing computer processors and sensors that work at ultracold temperatures.

Scientists working on the MINERvA experiment at Fermilab have examined a few ways neutrons can affect the measurements of antineutrino interactions.

Future particle colliders will need strong magnets to steer high-energy particle beams as they travel close to the speed of light on their circular path. A group at Fermilab has achieved a record field strength of 14.1 teslas for a particle accelerator steering magnet, breaking the 11-year record.