Researchers are examining the possibility of building a revolutionary new particle collider at Fermilab in Batavia.
Ryan Postel/Fermilab
Most of the inner mysteries of the universe can be solved in the Chicago suburbs.
That’s what some of the world’s top minds are aiming for as they lay out a vision for the next generation of particle physicists expected to take up the quest to better understand our cosmological origins.
An influential committee of scientists released a report earlier this month suggesting that the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, better known as Fermilab, could play an even bigger role in this quest in the coming years than it does as the first test of particle physics in the United States. center. .
Researchers on the Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel, or P5, recommended the federal government bolster support for an underground experiment that will beam neutrinos from Fermilab more than 800 miles to South Dakota, in hopes of figuring out more about those elusive subatomic particles.
They also called for exploring the option of building a revolutionary new particle collider, tougher than anything ever seen on Earth, a revolutionary device they said would have the best compatibility for the Fermi Laboratory campus.
The P5 report also highlights the critical computing strength of Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, strengthening Chicago’s dominance as a center for long-term particle physics.
“It’s not a coincidence that Chicagoland turned out pretty well in this report,” said University of Chicago astrophysics professor Abigail Vieregg, director of the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics. “The national labs allow us to be strong in this area and have a national presence. I feel fortunate to have Fermilab and Argonne in our backyard.”
University of Chicago astrophysics Prof. Abigail Vieregg.
Provided by University of Chicago
Vieregg was part of the panel enlisted by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation to map out priorities in the field for the next decade under different budget scenarios.
After holding a series of public meetings to gather ideas, the panel clarified its main questions: what is the nature of the Higgs boson, dark matter, or neutrinos?And he proposed conceivable tactics to respond to them.
Among their agenda items is reinforcing Fermilab’s Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, or DUNE, with an additional detector chronicling the particles’ journey across the Midwest.
Experts say neutrinos may possibly turn out to be the missing piece of the puzzle of why equivalent amounts of matter and antimatter didn’t annihilate when the universe formed in the Big Bang, and thus how we exist even thirteen billion years later.
“The study of the universe at its largest scales is related in detail to the smallest scale of the universe,” Vieregg said. “The measurements made at particle colliders can be similar to the measurements we make going back in time when we explore the universe. “.
Work on DUNE is already underway, but the panel’s advice to expand a particle collider, the first of its kind, would take decades to materialize.
A muon collider would be more effective than the proton-electron colliders that researchers use to circulate debris around tubes traveling at the speed of light and then ruin them in combination to see what happens and, potentially, what other new debris might emerge.
A garage ring of g-2 muons photographed at Fermilab.
Ryan Postel/Fermilab
But muons (pronounced MEW-ons) are themselves pretty elusive, so now “it’s up to artistic physicists to figure out how to get there,” said Vieregg, who estimated that such a device would be 10 times stronger than the existing standard. domain owner: the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland.
The plane took more than 10 years to build and cost $4 billion, an amount shared among several European countries.
The P5 report recommends researching and developing a cost estimate and construction timelines for the potential muon collider, but researchers noted it would likely be “almost exactly the size of the Fermilab campus.”
“At the end of the road is an unprecedented facility on U. S. soil,” the researchers wrote. “This is our Muon Shot. “
Michael Schmitt, a professor of physics and astronomy at Northwestern University, said such a progression would be a worthwhile investment “because it’s the intelligent aspect of humanity. “
“The desire to understand things is what drives us here. It’s not glory or comfort. We just really want to know why the universe is the way it is,” Schmitt said. “Is there something better we could invest in? Maybe health care, general education. But most people also feel there should be some wonderful things that society does in addition to working on the basic problems of humankind.”
Vieregg said the work of creating an unprecedented proving ground could lead to more practical advances. “When you cross the barriers of science and technology, when you work in a way that most people don’t, you encounter things that can replace your life.
Geza Gyuk, senior director of astronomy at the Adler Planetarium, compared the pursuit to art.
“It’s delving into something that says something about who we are. It’s learning about where we come from,” Gyuk said. “Why do we make poetry? It doesn’t put food on the table, but it speaks to us in our human nature. It’s what makes us human. These sorts of questions are emotionally compelling.”
Geza Gyuk, senior director of astronomy at the Adler Planetarium.
Provided through the Adler Planetarium