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American high energy physics program is in a state of transition
:: 26 October, 2007
Much like SLAC, the American high energy physics program is in a state of transition. With the shutdown of the SLAC's B-factory late next year and of Fermilab's Tevatron in either 2009 or 2010, the United States will be entering a period when there is no major accelerator facility for high energy physics research operating on American soil. This is happening at a time when there is much excitement in the field. It is widely expected that the turn-on of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN will enable a plethora of new discoveries, potentially including the long-sought detection of one or more Higgs bosons and conclusive evidence for the existence of supersymmetry. Parallel discoveries in particle astrophysics related to the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy may also greatly augment our current understanding of the structure and evolution of the universe.
Most American high energy physicists look to the International Linear Collider (ILC) to eventually provide the path for the U.S. to regain leadership in this field. The ILC can provide the opportunity to make precision measurements at the TeV scale—following up on the LHC discoveries to yield a detailed understanding of the anticipated new phenomena. SLAC has been heavily involved in the R&D and preliminary engineering design efforts for the ILC, and this project is viewed as a key component of our future research program in the lab's Particle Physics and Astrophysics Directorate.
Yet the ILC may not move ahead as quickly as hoped. This past week, Dr. Ray Orbach, the Under Secretary for Science at the Department of Energy (DOE), provided cautionary advice to the high energy physics community about how rapidly the U.S. ILC program may be able to progress. Speaking at a meeting of the American Linear Collider Physics Group at Fermilab on Monday, Dr. Orbach reviewed the status of the ILC with respect to the DOE Critical Decision (CD) process. He indicated that the statement of mission need for the ILC (CD-0) will have to await the scientific results from the LHC, which are unlikely to be available until 2010. In the interim, the ILC program will have to remain in the R&D and pre-conceptual design phase, which will need to be supported financially by the international agencies through the development of formal agreements and commitments of resources. Orbach said he sees the establishment of agreements for such R&D work as the first step in the process of demonstrating international support for the project.
This suggests that the timescale for the ILC may be slower than had been hoped for. Dr. Dennis Kovar, who has just taken over from Dr. Robin Staffin as Head of the Office of High Energy Physics at the DOE, will be working with the community and the laboratories to map out a near-term plan for the field that will keep the ILC on the table, but also support smaller high-priority programs in the interim.
About B-Factory
A B-Factory is a machine created by particle physicists to produce large numbers of B mesons. Currently there are two B-Factories running: BaBar at SLAC in California, and Belle at KEK in Japan respectively.
About Large Hadron Collider
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is a particle accelerator and collider located at CERN, near Geneva, Switzerland (46°14′N, 6°03′E). Currently under construction, the LHC is scheduled to begin operation in May 2008. The LHC is expected to become the world's largest and highest energy particle accelerator. The LHC is being funded and built in collaboration with over two thousand physicists from thirty-four countries, universities and laboratories.
When activated, it is hoped that the collider will produce the elusive Higgs boson particle — often dubbed the God Particle — the observation of which could confirm the predictions and 'missing links' in the Standard Model of physics, and explain how other elementary particles acquire properties such as mass. The verification of the existence of the Higgs boson would be a significant step in the search for a Grand Unified Theory which seeks to unify the four fundamental forces: Electromagnetism, Strong Force, Weak Force, and Gravity. The higgs boson may help to explain why gravity is comparatively weak when contrasted with the other three fundamental forces.
About Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
The Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) is a United States Department of Energy National Laboratory operated by Stanford University under the programmatic direction of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science. The SLAC research program centers on experimental and theoretical research in elementary particle physics using electron beams and a broad program of research in atomic and solid state physics, chemistry, biology, and medicine using synchrotron radiation. The 3.2 kilometer (2.0 mile) long underground accelerator is the longest linear accelerator in the world, and is claimed to be "the world's straightest object." SLAC's meeting facilities provided a venue for the homebrew computer club and other pioneers of the 1980s home computer revolution, and later SLAC hosted the first webpage in the U.S. The above-ground klystron gallery atop the beamline is the longest building in the United States.
Release link: http://www.slac.stanford.edu/
Tags: SLAC , energy physics , B-factory , soil , Large Hadron Collider (LHC) , CERN , particle astrophysics , International Linear Collider (ILC) , Particle Physics , Dr. Ray Orbach , Department of Energy (DOE). ,
