In 2006, Fermilab’s Particle Physics Division teamed up with MIT’s Lincoln Labs to start work on the first iteration of a new kind chip for the proposed International Linear Collider’s vertex detector. A new way to slim down chips was emerging in the semiconductor industry, one that could potentially make it easier to measure the […]
The future of Higgs physics
In 2012, the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider announced the discovery of the Higgs boson. The Higgs was expected to be the final piece of the particular jigsaw that is the Standard Model of particle physics, and its discovery was a monumental event. But more precise studies of it are needed […]
Full ILC-type cryomodule makes the grade
For the first time, the ILC gradient specification of 31.5 megavolts per metre has been achieved on average across all of the eight cavities assembled in an ILC-type cryomodule. A team at Fermilab reached the milestone earlier this month. It is an achievement for scientists, engineers and technicians at Fermilab and Jefferson Lab in Virginia […]
The fall and subsequent rise of the ILC project through the eyes of a particle physicist journeyman
In the fall of 2001, an exchange student from Germany arrived at the University of Oregon expecting to stay a year, with particle physics not very high on his list of career priorities. But a graduate level particle physics class and an ensuing summer project on Higgs branching ratios changed all that. Impressed by Jan […]
What does the P5 report mean for the International Linear Collider?
Since the last Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel (P5) report in 2008, an even stronger case has emerged for building the long heralded International Linear Collider. The latest P5 report, released this year, recommends that the US Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation make provisions, among other things, for significant US participation in […]