From NIST, Oct. 13, 2020: Researchers at NIST and their colleagues, including Fermilab scientist Gordan Krnjaic, have proposed a novel method for finding dark matter. The experiment, in which a billion millimeter-sized pendulums would act as dark matter sensors, would be the first to hunt for dark matter solely through its gravitational interaction with visible matter. A three-minute animation illustrates the new technique.
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Rubin Observatory will bring new capabilities to the studies of dark matter and dark energy.
Bernstein is overseeing the Fermilab Mu2e experiment as it moves from its construction to installation phase and into a running experiment. A collaboration of nearly 250 scientists at 40 institutions that had to invent technology to get to this point, Mu2e is in an exciting phase, especially for early-career researchers who will not only construct the experiment, but also analyze the data.
From Quanta Magazine, October 2020: This 17-minute podcast episode explores how three physicists stumbled across an unexpected relationship between some of the most ubiquitous objects in math. Hear Fermilab scientist Stephen Parke, DUNE collaborator Deborah Harris of York University, and Fields medalist Terence Tao discuss neutrinos, linear algebra, and the international, Fermilab-hosted Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment.
Visualizing dark matter is not an easy task. Although scientists have reason to believe the mysterious substance makes up about 27% of all the matter and energy in the universe, they still have yet to see it directly; they know it exists only because of its gravitational pull on the visible matter around it. An art exhibit at the Science Gallery Dublin combines art and science to illuminate the invisible nature of dark matter.
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.