quark turns 20, lederman turns 75 - fermilab · nobel laureate leon lederman, spokesman for the...

by Katherine Arnold, Office of Public AffairsScientists summoned from all parts of

Fermilab had gathered in the auditorium onthe afternoon of June 30, 1977. Murmurs ofspeculation ran through the crowd about thereason for the hastily scheduled colloquium. In fact, word of a discovery had begun to leakout, but no one had yet made an officialannouncement. Then, Steve Herb, a postdocfrom Columbia University, stepped to themicrophone and ended the speculation: Herb announced that scientists at Fermilab

b Quark Turns 20,Lederman Turns 75

Celebrations and seminars honor the birth of the b quark and its discoverer.

fINSIDE

Volume 20 Friday, July 18, 1997 Number 14

2 Texas CongressmanJoe Barton

4 On-Site Review

6 Animal Problems at Fermilab

Experiment 288 had discovered the upsilonparticle. A new generation of quarks was born.

The upsilon had made its first and famousappearance at the Proton Center at Fermilab.The particle, a b quark and an anti-b quarkbound together, meant that the collaborationhad made Fermilab’s first major discovery.Nobel laureate Leon Lederman, spokesman for the original experiment and former directorof Fermilab, described the upsilon discovery as “one of the most expected surprises inparticle physics.”

Leon Lederman, spokesman for E288,and John Yoh,experimentalcoordinator, boththen from ColumbiaUniversity, seen here in 1977.

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Commemorativestamp honoring b quarkdiscoverer Leon Lederman,unveiled at aJuly 1 galadinnerhonoring bothquark andLederman.Not availablein postoffices.

Stamp design by Rocky Kolb and Dawn Donahue

Texas Congressman Explores Energy FrontierRep. Joe Barton tours Fermilab’s research facilities, gives talk to scientists.

FermiNews July 18, 19972

by Donald Sena, Office of Public AffairsIn his first visit to the energy frontier of

particle physics, U.S. Rep. Joe Barton (R–Tex.)explored the science research at Fermi NationalAccelerator Laboratory, while challenging theLab’s user scientists, many of whom are fromTexas, to better explain the benefits of theirendeavors to the nation.

Rep. Barton, a member of the Science andCommerce Committees in the U.S. House ofRepresentatives, toured some of the Lab’sfacilities on June 23, and also gave a talk to apacked room of Fermilab scientists. No strangerto high-energy physics—Barton’s home districtincludes Waxahachie, Texas, the home of thenow canceled Superconducting Supercollider—the congressman said he supports basic researchand its benefit to the country.

“We need to do basic research, and thereneeds to be an experimental component to it; itcan’t be all theoretical,” Barton said during histalk to the scientists. “I do think for us tomaintain our viability as a great nation, we haveto make a national priority of funding the kindof activities that you folks are committing yourcareers to.”

Lab tourBarton spent his morning visiting some of

Fermilab’s experiments and facilities. FermilabDirector John Peoples presented an overview ofthe Lab and its work on Wilson Hall’s 15thfloor. Peering out the south window, Peoplesexplained how the Main Injector, Fermilab’snewest accelerator now under construction, willaid research capabilities by providing increasedluminosity, raising the rate of particle collisions.The congressman then visited one of theexperiments that will benefit from the increasedluminosity: the DZero collider detector. As acrane moved noisily overhead at the DZeroassembly hall, physicist James White, fromTexas A&M University, explained the variousparts of the complex detector. White said theupgrade his detector is currently undergoingwill allow DZero to keep up with the increasedrate of particle collisions.

Barton also stopped at DZero’scounterpart farther along the ring, CDF.Greeted by physicist Alan Sill of Texas TechUniversity, Barton stood at the base of the

three-story physics tool, learning how the largedetector found the top quark. Barton alsoheard about the various Texas universities’contributions to the CDF upgrade.

Last, Barton toured the KTeV experimentwith physicist Marjorie Corcoran of RiceUniversity. Unable to walk the detector hallbecause the particle beam was streamingthrough the beampipe, Barton saw the innerworkings of the experiment’s control room and

Alan Sill, of Texas Tech University, andRep. Joe Barton with the CDF detector.

Rep. Joe Barton talks to scientists in One West.

FermiNews July 18, 1997 3

discussed KTeV’s goals. Corcoran explained CP violation, the asymmetry of matter overantimatter in the universe, and its implicationsfor physics and the current theory of matterand energy.

Talk in One WestBarton opened his informal talk with

scientists by saying that, at one time, he wasone of the strongest advocates of high-energyphysics research. The SSC, he said, was onlyfive miles from his home in Texas.

Barton said he supported the project untilthe end, explaining, “One of the biggestdisappointments that I will ever have was whenthey killed the SSC on the House floor.”

He said after the cancellation, he wasdrained of high-energy physics talk; however,that changed six months ago when Bartonlearned that the U.S. Department of Energywanted funding for a U.S. contribution to theLarge Hadron Collider located at CERN, theEuropean Laboratory for Particle Physics. TheLHC, scheduled to be finished after 2005, willtake the energy frontier away from Fermilab’sTevatron accelerator. The project caughtBarton’s attention, and he sought facts on thedeal. Not happy with what he learned, thecongressman said he set out to make suretaxpayers’ money was not wasted on theproject. According to Barton, one majordifference from the SSC debate days is that theTexas representative, who was then a juniormember of the minority party, is now a seniormember of the majority party. As a result, hesaid he now had more influence on theproceedings, and he took his case up with the Science Committee, headed by JamesSensenbrenner (R–Wis.).

Barton said the ultimate result of his,Sensenbrenner’s and other Science Committeemembers’ persistence with LHC concerns was abetter deal for the U.S. at CERN. He saidMartha Krebs, Energy Research director forDOE, sought and obtained much better termsfrom CERN than the original agreementprovided. The general agreement now includesa cap of $200 million on the U.S. contributionto LHC construction, a cap on the detectorcontributions of $50 million and an agreementthat U.S. scientists will have at least twoobserver positions on the CERN board. Last,Barton said the U.S. and CERN have a“touchy–feely” general agreement that in thefuture the CERN member nations willcontribute to the next large U.S. high-energyphysics project, if there is one.

“So, because I was a hard-butt and willingto kill the whole thing, we got a lot betteragreement,” said Barton. “You folks will have alittle better fair shake at CERN and, if andwhen the world community decides to dosomething bigger and better..., there is at leastnow, on paper, a commitment from theEuropean member nations of CERN that theyare willing to help us.”

Funding issuesBarton said the LHC discussion got him

“back in the hunt” for high-energy physics,saying he feels it’s important work and aworthwhile career. However, he did point outthat basic research is a hard sell in Congress andto the American people. This fact is reflected inthe recent allocations to high-energy physics,which is “at best static.” One reason for thesqueeze on science, and all other discretionary

Marjorie Corcoran, of Rice University,explains some of themonitors in the KTeVcontrol room.

James White, of TexasA&M University, leadsRep. Barton throughthe DZero detector.

continued on page 11

Fermilab Director John Peoples explainsFermilab’s accelerator to Rep. Joe Barton atthe 15th floor beamline model.

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DOEConductsFermilab’s On-siteReviewES&H and community outreachare high on the agenda.

see “science and safety together” onFermilab’s agenda. She said it was “only a matter of time” before theenergy research laboratories attracted thesame kind of scrutiny as the nation’sweapons laboratories, where extensiveenvironmental clean-ups are nowunderway.

Committing to ES&HIn the past year, Fermilab has

launched two major environmental,safety and health initiatives, Fermilabofficials told DOE: the development ofan Integrated Safety Managementprogram, in response to a new DOEcontractual requirement, and aninvestigation of potential ground watercontamination.

William Griffing, head of the ES&HSection, told DOE, “[We] have worriedabout vulnerability [to environmentalproblems] for a long time—we have agood record.”

Of 21 potentially contaminatedlocations on the Fermilab campus, thestate has confirmed that 16 pose nohazard. Fermilab believes that the fiveremaining sites also present no healthrisk, but the state is still reviewing thedata supplied by the ES&H Section.

In addition, no tritium has beenfound in the aquifer underlying the site,Griffing reported. However, Fermilab isinvestigating unexpectedly elevated levelsof tritium in the glacial till beneath oneof the fixed-target stations.

by Sharon Butler, Office of Public AffairsIn the wake of recent events at

Brookhaven National Laboratory and astrong message from the Secretary ofEnergy that the pursuit of science cannotneglect safety and health, Fermilabofficials emphasized two main issues atthe Laboratory’s recent on-site review:ongoing efforts to make the workplacesafe and protect the environment, and anew draft plan to secure the public’strust.

In the last year, the Laboratory hasinitiated an in-depth study of itsenvironmental monitoring program,Fermilab officials told the DOEdelegation that conducted the review.Investigations are concentrating on olderareas of the site where beam loss hasoccurred. Such attention to theenvironment, officials said, and the newplan to strengthen relationships withsurrounding communities were intendednot only to secure the safety of Fermilab’smany employees, users and visitors butalso to enhance public confidence in theLaboratory’s operations.

Held on June 26, the all-day reviewof Fermilab’s operations and researchincluded presentations on four topics: • efforts to address environmental,

safety and health issues; • a strategic plan for enhancing

communication between theLaboratory and local communities;

• a project to repair structural defects in Wilson Hall; and

• commitments to future research.Martha Krebs, director of DOE’s

Office of Energy Research, who headedthe agency’s delegation, was pleased to

Martha Krebs, director of DOE’s Office ofEnergy Research, advocated stewardshipnot just of the environment, safety andhealth at the nation’s laboratories but ofthe excellence and relevance of high-energy physics research.

Elaine McCluskey, of FESS, displayedphotographs of cracked concrete,exposed steel, and broken window panesin Wilson Hall—evidence of deteriorationcaused by the building’s movement.


Continuing researchAs the day-long review turned from

infrastructure to future research, theissue of tightening resources intruded.The money available for experimentaloperations and detector construction at Fermilab has been lower thananticipated, according to theLaboratory’s draft institutional plan forfiscal years 1998 to 2003. In total, from1989 to 1999, the purchasing power ofFermilab’s base budget will have fallenby $38.6 million, or about 15 percent infiscal year 1997 dollars.

“We’re in a declining budget,” saidPeoples. “There’s no question about it.”

Hinging on adequate funds areresearch plans for the next decade,including, as Peoples noted, carrying thefixed-target program to a successfulconclusion, preparing for andimplementing Collider Run II, buildingand operating NuMI (Neutrinos at theMain Injector) and collaborating in thedesign and construction of parts of theLarge Hadron Collider.

Looking out over the long term,Krebs commented that “ultimately, we’llneed another U.S.-based accelerator.”But, Peoples responded that, withcurrent financial constraints andresources trained on constructing theMain Injector for Run II, research onfuture accelerator designs—possibly avery large hadron collider or a muoncollider—necessarily remains limited.

“In the contracting universe we’rein, as far as the financial picture goes, wecan’t work on everything at the sametime,” Peoples said. “I’m disappointed.I’d like to do that, [but Fermilab has aresponsibility to its users].... Our long-term future [has to be], in effect, avolunteer program.”

At day’s end, Krebs applaudedFermilab’s initiatives in environmentalsafety and community outreach. She alsoenjoined her staff to find the budgetarymeans of supporting the renovations toWilson Hall. But while recognizing theneed for the U.S. to stay at the frontier ofparticle physics research, she offered nopromises. Despite the merits of proposedresearch, she said, “clearly there is a bigissue on whether the money can befound to support [it].” ■

Building trustEnvironmental problems, even

unconfirmed ones, can strain relationswith surrounding communities; so canmisconceptions. Recently, a local residentasked why, according to her bank,Fermilab had demagnetized themagnetic strips on people’s ATM cards,said Judy Jackson, head of the Office ofPublic Affairs. While Fermilab had notaltered anyone’s card, Jackson noted, theincident underlined the need to enhancecommunications.

Fermilab has long enjoyed a “cordial but ‘live-let live’” relationshipwith its neighbors, according to Jackson.But how people in general perceiveFermilab remains unclear.

“We have data on quarks, but nosystematic data on the surroundingcommunities’ views, and no formalstructure for dialogue,” said Jackson.

Outreach, she said, was especiallyimportant in light of Fermilab’s opennessto communities for land use proposalsand in light of a planned experiment thatwill send a neutrino beam along anunderground route from Batavia, Ill., to a former iron mine in northernMinnesota. Jackson’s new draftcommunications strategy details ways ofaverting fears about Fermilab’s missionand activities and strengthening relationswith communities off campus.

Preserving Wilson HallBack on campus, Fermilab is

preparing a $17.7-million plan to restoreWilson Hall. Elaine McCluskey of theFacilities Engineering Services Sectionshowed the DOE delegation severalphotographs of structural damage,including “cracks in the concrete causedby an underlying concrete beam that‘wants’ to slide.” Fermilab staff andcontractors have made temporary repairs,but more permanent ones are necessary.In one place, McCluskey’s photographsrevealed an interim bracket thatsupported a steel beam but itself had nosupport.

“The buildings [at Fermilab], like allof us, are getting old,” said LaboratoryDirector John Peoples.

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William Griffing, head of the ES&HSection, reviewed ongoing efforts tomonitor environmental problems.

Judy Jackson, head of the Office of PublicAffairs, said that Fermilab will strengthenthe base of communication with itsneighbors.

Scott Menary, associate scientist in theBeams Division, updated DOE on theNuMI project. To reduce the costs of oneof NuMI’s experiments, called COSMOS,Fermilab is proposing a collaborationwith a similar experiment at CERN.


With increasing frequency, animalencounters with human technology haveresulted in losses for both the Lab and theanimals that share its site. To protect bothparties, Fermilab expends considerable resourcesto prevent and respond to such incidents. Yet despite these efforts, records document arise in wildlife-related problems.

A growing problemIn 1994, the Roads and Grounds

Department reported 74 wildlife managementincidents. In 1997, that figure is projected torise to 160. Those who respond to theseoccurrences attribute the rapid increaseprimarily to overpopulation.

“We have overpopulated groups that don’thave the carnivores around that used to takecare of their population,” said Mike Becker,Roads and Grounds group leader.

David Nevin, head of Facilities EngineeringServices, agrees. “Because they have nopredators here on the Lab, [populations] have just gotten out of control.”

Before the establishment of Fermi NationalAccelerator Laboratory, hunting and trappinghelped limit the populations of deer, raccoonsand beaver. Today, the Lab does not permitthose activities. Human and carnivorouspredation no longer keeps wildlife numbers incheck, leading to a host of animal-relatedproblems.

by Andrew Shih, Office of Public AffairsRocky Raccoon looked up at the metallic

monolith looming above him. As another coldblast of February chill assaulted him, he paddedover to a small hole at the base of a wall wherea plate had rusted away. He could sense thewarmth on the other side. Squeezing throughthe hole, he sniffed the mysterious cablesrunning through the darkness. Yes, this lookedlike a good place to curl up for a nap.

Bad move.Rocky had found his way into an electrical

feeder station and cuddled up with a 13,800-volt power line. He didn’t last long, and neitherdid the feeder. His brief encounter withelectricity shut down the accelerator for almost five hours earlier this year.

Raccoons and Beavers and Deer, Oh My!Wildlife interacts with technology at Fermilab.

Photos by Fred Ullrichand Reidar Hahn

An uninvited guestexplores a Fermilabwarehouse…while one of its cousinsleaves a trail of damagein a Proton Centerportakamp.

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Wildlife Management IncidentsAnnual Occurrence


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Fauna in the feedersEarlier this year, a large hawk flew between

two power lines. Its outstretched wings touchedboth conductors simultaneously, creating acircuit that killed the hawk and interruptedpower. The lines in question have since beenmoved.

This unlikely and unpredictable eventillustrates the diversity of problems thatFermilab employees must deal with. Fromelectrical hawks to shelter-seeking raccoons,animals can injure themselves and give theirhuman neighbors headaches.

Perhaps the most expensive of theseheadaches is the tendency of snakes and rodentsto find homes in Fermilab’s power grid. RockyRaccoon is just one example of an all-too-frequent problem. During the colder months,the heat generated by electrical feeders andtransformers attracts animals trying to escapethe wintry weather.

“Mice, raccoons and rabbits crawl in therejust to keep warm, and it’s really difficult tokeep them out,” said Bob Mau, head ofAccelerator Operations.

When these animals do get into electricalsystems, the results can be costly. Such incidentsshut down the accelerator once or twice eachyear, according to Mau.

Besides causing power failures, raccoonscan also find their way into Laboratorybuildings. They pull protective skirts off thebottoms of trailers and dig under portakamps.When they enter buildings, raccoons can causeextensive damage to experiments.

“We have to learn to become raccoon-friendly,” said Kalina. “In other words,buildings out here need to be designed solid”enough to resist raccoon entry.

Other animals also cause problems. Beaversdam up cooling water ponds. Woodchuckstunnel through berms. Deer cause about 15 car accidents annually. Snakes slither intoservice buildings. These encounters are at bestinconvenient and at worst dangerous, and theLaboratory works hard to respond to (or better yet, prevent) them.

Prevention and responseRoads and Grounds employees keep busy

with a steady flow of wildlife management calls.“We get a call of some sort every day,”

said Becker.To minimize these calls, Kalina, who

handles most animal cases for Roads andGrounds, encourages “preventive main-tenance,” which includes regular buildinginspections and raccoon-proof construction.

Nevin has instituted a prevention plan tominimize snake nesting in the electrical systems.

Senior Groundskeeper Jim Kalina frees a deertrapped in a frozen pond.

“We have an active program of sealing allof the transformers against the snakes, and itseems to be working,” he said.

When prevention is not enough, Roads and Grounds must handle wildlife situations “in the field,” figuratively and literally. Raccoonsdiscovered inside laboratory buildings arecaptured and released in remote areas of thesite. When a snake takes down a feeder,someone must remove the snake. On rareoccasions, groundskeepers must use traps toremove troublesome beavers.

Becker stresses an animal-friendly stance:“If they’re not causing a problem [and] they’renot in an area where they’re going to hurtanyone, we just leave them alone.”

In fact, wildlife personnel often findthemselves helping animals in trouble. Fishinglines and hooks occasionally ensnare geese orherons, and fences can trip deer. Whengroundskeepers find an injured animal, theybring it to Willowbrook Wildlife Preserve inGlen Ellyn for rehabilitation. They areresponsible not only for protecting theLaboratory from animals, but also forprotecting the animals from detrimental humaninfluence.

Long-term solutions?As long as animal populations continue to

grow, encounters with humans will occur withincreasing frequency, resulting in further lossesfor both the wildlife and the Lab. Fermilabemployees will continue to manage wildlifeincidents in a manner beneficial to both the Lab and the animals.

Unfortunately, as Becker says, “there is noeasy answer.” ■

The eraThe year was 1970 and the Standard Model

of Particle Interactions was a much thinnerversion of its current form. Four leptons hadbeen discovered, while only three quarks hadbeen observed. The symmetry that haunts everyphysicist was out of line. At least one morequark was out there. [The charm quark was yet to be discovered, and the top and bottomquarks were not much more than a jotting on a theorist’s nightstand.]

In June of that year, Lederman and a groupof scientists proposed an experiment at Fermilab(then the National Accelerator Laboratory) to measure lepton production in a series ofexperimental phases that began with the studyof single leptons emitted in proton collisions.This experiment, E70, laid the groundwork forwhat would become the collaboration thatdiscovered the upsilon, the bound state of the b and the anti-b.

The original E70 detector design includeda two-arm spectrometer in its proposal, but thegroup first experimented with a single arm.E70 began running in March of 1973,pursuing direct lepton production. FermilabDirector Robert Wilson asked for an updatefrom the experiment, so the collaboratorsextended their ambitions, planned for theaddition of the second spectrometer arm andsubmitted a new proposal. The February 1974proposal was a single-page, six-point paper inwhich the group promised to get results,“publish these and become famous.”

Meanwhile, experiments at BrookhavenNational Laboratory and at the Stanford LinearAccelerator were searching for the charmquark. These two experiments led to what isknown as the November Revolution in physics.In November of 1974, both groups announcedthey had found a new particle, which was laterproven to be a bound state of the charm quark.SLAC scientists named their new particle psi,while Brookhaven scientists named it J. So inan attempt to quell a potentially brutalargument, the bound state of the charm quarkis aptly known as the J/psi particle.

Some semblance of symmetry had returnedto the Standard Model with the discovery ofcharm. But in 1975, an experiment at SLACrevealed the existence of a new lepton, calledtau. This brought a third generation of matterto the Standard Model, and was a solidindication that there were more thirdgeneration particles to be found.

The Fermilab experiment, now renamedE288, continued the work of E70, so much ofthe hardware was already in place waiting forupgrades. By the summer of 1975,collaborators completed construction on


Twenty years later, almost 100 physicistsgathered on June 29 at the Illinois Institute ofTechnology for a symposium, “TwentyBeautiful Years of Bottom Physics,” to celebratethe birthday of the b quark, also known as thebottom quark or beauty quark.

The gathering brought together many ofthe original collaborators in the b’s discovery, as well as scientists who are currently workingon the physics of the b quark. Not by accident,the symposium celebrating the particlecoincided with the celebration of Lederman’s75th birthday.

“In 20 years there has been a tremendousexplosion in what we know about the b quark,”said Daniel Kaplan, associate professor at IITand Fermilab visiting scientist. Kaplan was the only graduate student working on theexperiment that discovered the particle. “In 1999 there will be five experiments ...focused on the b system, so it seemed like agood time to celebrate.”

Panel discussions on 20 years of research inb physics and the future of b physics at collidersfilled the schedule of the four-day symposium.Like all good stories, the symposium started atthe beginning, with the history of the b.

b Quark Turns 20continued from page 1

Some of the collaboratorsin the E288 experimenthall in 1977. From left:Dave Hom, Chuck Brown,Al Ito, Bob Kephart, Koiji Ueno, Ken Gray,Hans Sens, H. D. Snyder,Steve Herb, Jeff Appeland Dan Kaplan.

Walt Innes, KarenKephart, Jack Upton,Frank Pearsall andBruce Brown work onE288 in July 1977.

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the detector. Lederman invited a group fromthe State University of New York at StonyBrook to join the project, which began takingdata in the fall of 1975.

One of the many legends in the saga of theb quark describes a false peak in E288’s data. In the process of taking data, several events atan energy level between 5.8 and 6.2 GeV wereobserved, suggesting the existence of a newparticle. The name upsilon was suggested forthis new particle. Unfortunately, the signals atthat particular energy turned out to be merefluctuations, and the eagerly anticipated upsilonbecame known as “oopsLeon.”

What happened next is perhaps bestdescribed in a 1977 issue of The Village Crier (FermiNews’s predecessor): “After what Dr. R.R. Wilson jocularly refers to as ‘horsingaround,’ the group tightened its goals in thespring of 1977.”

The tightening of goals came with a morespecific proposal for E288 and a revamping ofthe detector. The collaborators, honed by theirexperiences with the Fermilab beam, used thedetectors and electronics from E70 and theearly days of E288, and added two steelmagnets and two wire chamber detectorsborrowed from the Brookhaven J/psiexperiment.

The simultaneous detection of two muonsfrom upsilon decay characterized the particlesexpected signature. To improve theexperiment’s muon-detection capability,collaborators called for the addition to theirdetector of 12 cubic feet—about two metrictons—of beryllium, a light element that wouldact as an absorber for particles such as protonsand pions, but would have little effect on thesought-for muons. When the collaborators hadproblems finding enough of the scarce andexpensive material, an almost forgotten supplyof beryllium in a warehouse at Oak RidgeNational Laboratory came to the rescue. ByApril 1977, construction was complete.

Six weeks to fameThe experiment began taking data on

May 15, 1977, and saw quick results. After oneweek of taking data, a “bump” appeared at 9.5 GeV (see sidebar, p.10). John Yoh, sure butnot overconfident, put a bottle of champagnelabeled “9.5” in the Proton Center’srefrigerator.

But champagne corks did not fly rightaway. On May 21, fire broke out in a devicethat measures current in a magnet, and the firespread to the wiring. The electrical fire createdchlorine gas, which, when doused with water toput out the fire, created acid. The acid began toeat away at the electronics, threatening the

future of E288. At 2 a.m. Lederman was onthe phone searching for a salvage expert. Hefound his expert: a Dutchman who lived inSpain and worked for a German company. Theexpert agreed to come, but needed 10 days toget a U.S. visa. Lederman called the U.S.Embassy, asking for an exception. Not possible,said the Embassy official. Just as it began tolook hopeless, Lederman mentioned that hewas a Columbia University professor. Theofficial turned out to be a Columbia grad, class of ’56. The salvage expert was at Fermilabtwo days later. Collaborators used the expert’s“secret formulas” to treat some 900 electroniccircuit boards, and E288 was back online by May 27.

The double armconstruction ofthe detector.

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The muonspectrometers inthe Proton Center’sexperimental pit.

What was that bump?

“There was no known objectthat could explain that bump,” saidLeon Lederman, E288 spokesmanand Fermilab director emeritus.

That bump he referred tooccurs on the graph of the numberof observed particle interactions asa function of particle mass,measured in GeV. Instead of asmooth downward curve, as themass increases, the data from E288showed an unusual number ofevents happening at a mass of 9.5GeV. As soon as the “bump” in thedata appeared, Lederman and hisE288 collaborators concentrated onfinding its cause.

E288 had discovered theupsilon, the bound state of a b quark and an anti-b quark. While the upsilon particle has amass of about 9.5 GeV, the b quarkon its own has a mass of about 4.5 GeV. At the time of thediscovery, it was the most massiveparticle ever discovered.

Once the experiment hadrecorded significant data, it becameevident that there was more thanone particle involved in this high-mass discovery. The three peaks on the graph above indicate upsilon,upsilon prime and upsilon doubleprime, at 9.4 GeV, 10.0 GeV and 10.4 GeV, respectively.

By June 15, the collaborators hadcollected enough data to prove theexistence of the upsilon. On June 30,Steve Herb gave the officialannouncement of the discovery of theupsilon particle at a seminar at Fermilab,and on July 1 the collaboratorssubmitted a paper to Physics ReviewLetters. It was published without reviewAugust 1.

Since the discovery of the upsilon,physicists have found several levels ofupsilon states. Not only was the upsilonthe first major discovery for Fermilab, it was also the first indication of a thirdgeneration of quarks. A bottom quarkmeant there ought to be a top quark.Sure enough, Fermilab found the topquark in 1995.

The Horizon for b PhysicsTwenty years of b physics gave

physicists something to celebrate, andthe future of b physics gave themsomething to contemplate. The futurefor b physics is in the study of thephenomena of CP violation, anasymmetry between the behavior ofparticles and antiparticles.

“Part of the drive for b physics is CPviolation,” Lederman said. “Somehow b physics is almost a gift to clarify manyof these questions in particle physics.”

Both collider detectors at Fermilab,CDF and DZero, will improve theircapability to do b physics in Collider Run II. In Run I, the trackingspectrometer and silicon vertex detectorin CDF made b physics possible, said JoeKroll, Fermilab associate scientist.

“When we began, no one thoughtwe’d be doing b physics at the level weare,” Kroll said.

10 FermiNews July 18, 1997

Joel Butler, head of the ComputingDivision, is working with more than 50 other scientists on a proposal for a b physics detector at Fermilab, known as BTeV. Butler said the goal of theexperiment is to do enhanced studies of CP violation. The hardware in theproposed detector would include apowerful tracking system and a particleidentifier, with the capability to identifyparticles that emerge from the collisionin the same direction as the beamline.

Butler said the main advantage sucha detector at Fermilab would have overexperiments at other particle acceleratorsis the Tevatron’s ability to produce about100 billion b events each year.

“We are a much more eclectic b environment,” Butler said.

BTeV and b physics at the colliderdetectors, along with b physics at otherparticle accelerators, were all hot topicsat the symposium. Many of the nextgeneration of experiments will focus on b physics and search for CP violation.For instance, two complex machines,dubbed “b factories,” are underconstruction in Japan and California. All of this comes from an industry thatbegan at the Proton Center at Fermilabin 1977 with the discovery of theupsilon.

“It’s not so easy to find such niceobjects to study,” Lederman said, “and b mesons turned out to be a bonanza ofnew physics. If one has control, oneshould only make discoveries that yieldbonanzas.” ■

An upsilon hooked rug was one of manyembellishments in the experiment’sportakamp. The sign below the rugreads: “The Upsilon is still alive! But now its mass is 9.5?!”

b Quark Turns 20continued from page 9

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$8/personDinner served at 7 p.m.

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For reservations, call x4512Cakes for Special Occasions

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DinnerThursdayJuly 31Caesar Salad

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JULY 24“The ‘New’ Hong Kong: Is ‘One Country, Two Systems’ a Workable Model?” Lecture by Dr. James A. Winship, Augustana College.Thursday at 8 p.m. in Ramsey Auditorium. $5.

JULY 25International Film Society Presents: Denise CallsUp - Dir. Hal Salwen, USA (1995). Admission $4 in Ramsey Auditorium, Wilson Hall 8 p.m.

JULY 30The Heartland Blood Center blood drive,Wednesday, 30 July, from 9–2 in the WH GF NEconference/training room. Any questionsregarding donating, call x3232.

AUGUST 1NALWO Pot Luck Dinner at Kuhn Barn, 6 p.m.Everybody is welcome! Bring meat to barbecueand a side dish to share. For kids we have hotdogs and hamburgers. Soft drinks will be availableand, for adults, wine and beer. For moreinformation, call Martina, (630) 983–7021.

AUGUST 2The Fermilab Arts Series presents South African-band Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens. In1965, producer Rupert Bopape connected theMakgona Tsohle Band with Simon “Mahlathini”Mkabinde, a member of one of the leading vocalgroups, and the Mahotella Queens, a new singing,dancing female troupe. Mahlathini’s low, loudvoice and stealthy warrior’s dance led some tobelieve he had supernatural powers. Paired withthe lush, sunny harmonies and inventive dancesteps of the Queens, the super group became asensation throughout South Africa. After a hiatusin the late ’70s and early ’80s, the group returnedto an aggressive touring schedule, which continuestoday. See the power of this music for yourself asMahlathini and the Mahotella Queens come toFermilab’s Ramsey Auditorium on Saturday,August 2, 1997 at 8 p.m. Tickets and information,call (630) 840-ARTS.

CALENDAR

programs, is the current breakdown of thefederal budget, according to Barton. Presently,about two-thirds of the entire federal budgetgoes toward entitlement spending and intereston the national debt. Five years from now,according to Barton, that number could reach74 percent, or three out of every four dollars.Without entitlement reform, this choke ondiscretionary spending, where the nation’sscience programs reside, will continue,according to Barton. He mentionedentitlement reform is one of his priorities inCongress, saying the average entitlementprogram is growing at twice the rate of thefederal budget, as many discretionary programsare being cut.

“Unless we do something to reformentitlements—and I don’t mean reform as apseudonym for elimination, just bring them intoline with the rest of the country—it is going tobe impossible to fund any big science projectever again. And it will even be impossible tokeep any of the funds status quo,” Barton said.

Project fundingHe added that the mechanism for science

funding is another area that holds potential for change. He said the SuperconductingSupercollider is a case study on how not tofund big science, with the debate year after yearof whether the project was worth the money.

“We should do big science projects like we[build] aircraft carriers,” said Barton. “We voteon it, we put it in the budget, we appropriatelong-term, we baseline and we match to thebaseline. But we don’t come back the next yearand say, ‘Should we build that aircraft carrier?’We should do it multiyear and appropriate fromthe [beginning] and then monitor. The secondthing we should do is have internationalagreements lined up before the fact.” ■

Max Chertok and Teruki Kamon, both ofTexas A&M University, show Rep. Bartonsome inner components of the CDF detector.

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M I L E S T O N E SBORNKatherine Elizabeth, to Steve (FESS/Engineering)and Lisa Dixon on June 27, 1997, at 10:30 a.m.

HONOREDDianne Engram, in the EEO Office, for serving on a DOE review panel that presented workplacediversity awards to contractors and operationsoffices in May.

RETIREDRichard Janes (ID #463, BD/BE/RF andInstrumentation Group) on July 16, 1997.

FOR SALE■ ’90 Honda Accord EX 4-door, 5-speed, 101K miles. Maintenance current. Very clean, ingood condition. Asking $7000 obo. Contact David,x4001, or e-mail [email protected].

■ ’89 Ford E-150 conversion van V8, p/s, p/w,pdl, 4 captains chairs, center table, fold-down rearseat, tinted glass, CB, AM/FM cassette stereo, air.$4,800. Call Jim, x4076 or (630) 208-9131.

■ Master Volt 6-kv generator, 8-hp Briggs &Stratton engine; watt: max=6,000, rated=4,400;voltages: 120v (two duplex receptacles), 240v (twoduplex receptacles); 60 cycle/single phase. New atBuilders Square about $525. Will sell for $325 obo. Royal Sovereign 40-pint dehumidifier withautomatic humidistat, frost control, and shut-off.Has hose attachment to avoid having to emptybucket. New at Builders Square about $200. Will sellfor $80 obo. Sotz double-barrel wood-burningstove, very efficient, perfect for garage, work shop orbasement, $125 obo. Call x2332 or (630) 393–9079 or e-mail [email protected].

■ Dresser, $50; six-month-old box spring andmattress, $50; couch, $50; coffee table, $25; endtable with built-in radio/alarm clock, $25.Negotiable. Must sell, moving August 15th. Call Eric, x3003 or (630) 778–1630, or [email protected].

■ Childcraft wooden crib and changing table set,like new. Paid $400, sell for $150. Pastel balloonscrib bedding set (bumper pads, dust ruffle, diaperstacker), like new. Bought at Baby’s Room for $150,sell for $35. Call Kathy, x2779 or (630) 232–4306,or e-mail [email protected].

■ GE gas stove, profile series, stainless steel, Naturalgas and LP gas jets, sel-cleaning oven, sealedburners. Paid $1350 in Oct ’96 asking $1100 onlyused for a few hours. Will deliver within a reasonabledistance of the lab; Kenwood multi-componentstereo system with cabinet. System includes lineartracking turn table, amplifier KA-94, synthesizerAM/FM tuner KT-54 (memory holds 14 AM and14 FM stations), graphic equalizer GE-34, dual deckcassette recorder KW-64W, CD player DP-840, 2 4way 150 watt speakers JL-840, $2000 obo. Aircompressor 1-1/4 hp 3 gallon tank $200 obo; 8'6"couch with built-in recliners at each end and a rockerrecliner $350; 16 ft. fiberglass DuoMarine boatneeds work, hardware already removed and roughsanding completed $100 obo includes trailer. CallTerry, x4572 or e-mail [email protected]

■ Beautifully updated home in Warrenville/Summerlakes. Four spacious bedrooms, large closets,MB walk-in and 1.5 baths. All-new light oak kitchencabinets and new vinyl flooring. Freshly painted andairy. You will love the space and private yard withstorage shed. Close to I-88, schools (District 200) and shopping. Clubhouse w/pool, tennis and gym.Call Barbara, (630) 393-2885.

Published by the Fermilab Office of Public AffairsMS 206 P.O. Box 500 Batavia, IL 60510630-840-3351ferminews@ fnal.gov

Fermilab is operated by Universities Research Association, Inc.,under contract with the U.S. Department of Energy.

✩ U.S. GOVERNMENTPRINTING OFFICE: 1997--545-057/60020

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The deadline for theFriday, August 1, 1997, issue of FermiNews is Tuesday, July 22.

Please send your articlesubmissions, classifiedadvertisements and ideasto the Public AffairsOffice, MS 206 or e-mail [email protected]

FermiNews welcomes letters from readers. Please include yourname and daytimephone number.


C L A S S I F I E D S

FOR RENT■ Sublet 1 bedroom in a 2-bedroom apartmenteither fall (Sept.-Dec.) or fall and spring (Sept.-May),$400/month, heat included. Naperville, on Rte. 59just south of I-88. Close to lab, ~ 6 miles/15 minutes. Nice place; AC, microwave, dishwasher,new carpet and paint. Walking distance to Route 59train station, and golf course. Near Fox Valleyshopping mall. Complex has swimming pool, sandvolleyball court, lighted tennis court, and free bagelsevery morning! Contact Andy, (630) 428–2310(evenings), or e-mail [email protected]

WANTED■ Highly interactive, experienced childcare sought.Long-term position from July 1997 caring for apleasant, musical 2-1/2-year-old girl, fivedays/week, 9–5. Cognitive development trainingdesirable; English fluency and car necessary. Salaryvery competitive. References please. Nicole Jordan,Warrenville, (630) 393-3970.

■ French tutor: I am French, and I help childrenand adults learn and practice the French language.Call Madame Ploquin, (630) 682–9048, or fax,(630) 690–7478.

■ Information on former farmers. Fermilab’sarchives staff asks anyone with knowledge of familieswho farmed the site before Fermilab arrived to shareinformation for an upcoming recognition event.Please call A. Kolb, x2543.

L A B N O T EFERMILAB OPEN HOUSE

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory will hosta Lab-wide Open House on September 13, 1997. All people from Chicagoland and beyond arewelcome to visit the world’s highest energy particleaccelerator laboratory and explore experimental areasof the Lab not normally open to the general public.Visitors will also be able to attend science lectures,explore Fermilab’s prairie and visit the LedermanScience Education Center, among other activities.

Fermilab employees and users are encouraged to volunteer. The Lab is expecting 20,000 – 30,000visitors for the Open House, and volunteers areneeded to give tours, give lectures, serve food andperform general coordination. If any employee oruser wants to volunteer, please contact your sectionor division office. The Lab will provide lunch for thevolunteers. All employees are also encouraged toinvite family, friends and neighbors to the Open House, which will occur rain or shine from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on September 13.

quark turns 20, lederman turns 75 - fermilab · nobel laureate leon lederman, spokesman for the...

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