At first glance a neutron source used for materials research and a planned particle accelerator to answer questions about matter, forces and the origins of the Universe might not seem to have all that much in common. At least not to the non-accelerator experts among us. At second glance, however, similarities and overlaps appear that […]
Omnibus is ominous
Director’s Corner 20 December 2007 Barry Barish Omnibus is ominous Our plan this week was to make this issue of ILC NewsLine a thematic one, highlighting progress on Superconducting Radiofrequency R&D, the central technology for the International Linear Collider. It would have made a very nice final edition for this calendar year, but unfortunately new […]
US-manufactured cavity achieves high gradient
Turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie – all things you might appreciate on Thanksgiving. ILC scientists in the United States had something extra to be thankful for this year. On 21 November, the day before the Thanksgiving holiday in the US, a superconducting cavity manufactured by Advanced Energy Systems in Medford, NY, reached a high gradient […]
Critical decisions
Director’s Corner 1 November 2007 Barry Barish Critical decisions Last week was an eventful week. The ALCPG07 and GDE meetings at Fermilab, attended by over 300 scientists and engineers, marked the completion of the ILC Reference Design Report and the beginning of the engineering design activities. The joint plenary session on the first day of […]
Project X at Fermilab
Director’s Corner 20 September 2007 Barry Barish Project X at Fermilab “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet.” (William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Romeo and Juliet II, ii, 1-2) In Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare dramatised the lack of significance of the actual name given to […]
Windy city prepares for ALCPG07
Get ready for deep-dish pizza and hot dogs piled high with onions, peppers and a pickle because the 2007 American Linear Collider Physics Group and International Linear Collider Global Design Effort meetings are heading for the windy city. Fermilab, located just outside Chicago, Illinois, will host the joint ALCPG07 meeting on 22-26 October in a […]
Texas team proposes new superconducting cavity design
At Texas A&M University, a team led by Peter McIntyre has developed a new design for superconducting cavities for linear colliders, perhaps even the International Linear Collider. Their polyhedral cavity design, which is only in its beginning stages and requires a significant amount of R&D, could offer such benefits as increasing the accelerating gradient and […]
Good vibrations at Fermilab
Vibrations in the cryomodules in the International Linear Collider are actually not a good thing. The slightest disruption can throw off the alignment of the super sensitive beams and prevent them from colliding. The stringent beam dynamic requirements in the ILC therefore make vibration studies important, which is why Fermilab recently installed measuring devices called […]
University Profile: Northern Illinois University
Amidst the corn fields in DeKalb Illinois, 65 miles to the west of Chicago, a group of 22 physicists and students, who are members of the Northern Illinois Center for Accelerator and Detector Development (NICADD) at Northern Illinois University, contribute to the International Linear Collider in more ways than one. From beam dynamics to calorimetry […]
DOE and NSF Review US Detector R&D Programme
The cacophonous tune of cicadas serenaded the physicists at last week’s Department of Energy and National Science Foundation review of the US Detector R&D Programme for the International Linear Collider. Harry Weerts, the High Energy Physics Director at Argonne National Laboratory, where the review took place, vividly remembered the last time the cicadas visited –17 […]