From The Atlantic, Nov. 17, 2019: Describing neutrino oscillations is notoriously tricky. The search for a shortcut by Fermilab physicist Stephen Parke, University of Chicago physicist Xining Zhang and Brookhaven National Laboratory physicist Peter Denton led to unexpected places. They ended up discovering an unexpected relationship between some of the most ubiquitous objects in math.
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From Quanta Magazine, Nov. 13, 2019: Fermilab physicist Stephen Parke, University of Chicago physicist Xining Zhang and Brookhaven National Laboratory physicist Peter Denton wanted to calculate how neutrinos change. They ended up discovering an unexpected relationship between some of the most ubiquitous objects in math.
Fermilab scientist Alexey Burov has discovered that accelerator scientists misinterpreted a certain collection of phenomena found in intense proton beams for decades. Researchers had misidentified these beam instabilities, assigning them to particular class when, in fact, they belong to a new type of class: convective instabilities. In a paper published this year, Burov explains the problem and proposes a more effective suppression of the unwanted beam disorder.
From Mashable India, Sept. 26, 2019: A team of theoretical physicists from Fermilab and Brookhaven National Laboratory have discovered a fundamental identity in the context of particle physics. The new identity can directly relate eigenvectors and eigenvalues in a manner that has been unknown.
Solving equations in neutrino physics, a trio of theorists doing research at Fermilab discovered a mathematical identity that had eluded mathematicians for centuries. Working with Field Medal winner Terence Tao, they now have derived formal proofs of the new identity.
Machado’s $2.5 million award will fund theoretical physics research to get the most out of Fermilab’s exploration of neutrino science. He plans to collaborate with scientists at Fermilab and other institutions to develop ideas that will guide experimentalists in addressing one of nature’s most mysterious particles.
Right now could be considered one of the best — and most uncertain — times in theoretical physics. That’s what Symmetry heard in interviews with 10 junior faculty in the field. They talk about what keeps them up at night, their favorite places to think and how they explain their jobs to nonscientists.
From Live Science, June 4, 2019: Fermilab scientist Don Lincoln discusses why it could take millennia to find a theory of everything. It would answer all questions, leaving nothing unanswered. Why is the sky blue? Covered. Why does gravity exist? That’s covered, too. Stated in a more scientific way, a theory of everything would ideally explain all phenomena with a single theory, a single building block and a single force.
From Exascale Computing Project, May 28, 2019: Fermilab scientist Andreas Kronfeld is featured in this piece on the Excascale Computing Project, quantum chromodynamics and lattice QCD. Kronfeld, the principal investigator of ECP’s LatticeQCD project, explains how exascale computing will be essential to extending the work of precision calculations in particle physics to nuclear physics. The calculations are central for interpreting all experiments in particle physics and nuclear physics.
Can a theory that isn’t completely testable still be useful to physics? What determines if an idea is legitimately scientific or not? This question has been debated by philosophers and historians of science, working scientists, and lawyers in courts of law. That’s because it’s not merely an abstract notion: What makes something scientific or not determines if it should be taught in classrooms or supported by government grant money.