90-Minute Symposium

090-043

Exciting Research at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory

Session Start/End Time:

Saturday, Feb 14, 2009, 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM

Fairmont Imperial Ballroom

The Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in the western suburbs of Chicago is the nation’s premier particle physics laboratory. Three of its leading researchers will discuss current projects. The Collider Detector at Fermilab is one of the two detectors that discovered the top quark. Its groundbreaking work continues with characterization of the top, the quest to find the Higgs Boson, and searches for even more exotic physics at the energy frontier. Fermilab also has a vibrant neutrino research program, including the Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search (MINOS). MINOS is a long-baseline experiment in which a neutrino beam is observed once at Fermilab and again in a Soudan, MN, iron mine north of Lake Superior. Changes in the types of neutrinos comprising the beam from Fermilab to Soudan reveal important information about the masses of the miniscule but ubiquitous particles. Fermilab is a key site in the search for dark matter, the mysterious substance that makes up 20–25 percent of the universe. The new Chicagoland Observatory for Underground Particle Physics will use a superheated heavy liquid to look for weakly interacting massive particles, which are a possible form that dark matter could have.

Organized by:

David M Cook, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI;Gordon P Ramsey, Loyola University, Chicago, IL;Spencer Pasero, Fermilab, Batavia, IL

Presentations:

  Symposium Organizer--David M. Cook, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI

  Symposium Co-Organizer--Gordon P. Ramsey, Loyola University, Chicago, IL

  Symposium Co-Organizer--Spencer Pasero, Fermilab, Batavia, IL

  Moderator--David M. Cook, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI

  Neutrino Oscillations and Neutrino Masses--Niki Saoulidou, Fermilab, Batavia, IL

  After the Top Quark--Rob M. Roser, Fermilab, Batavia, IL

  The Search for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles--Michael B. Crisler, Fermilab, Batavia, IL