[New Symmetry Issue] Physics Madness; LHC Does a Dry Run; CERN Control Centre

T H E S U P E R S Y M M E T R I C S I X T E E N

A joint Fermilab/SLAC publication

march 2015dimensionsofparticlephysicssymmetry

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Table of contents

Contest: Physics Madness: The Supersymmetric Sixteen

Breaking: The LHC does a dry run

Deconstruction: Inside the CERN Control Centre

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contestMarch 24, 2015

Physics Madness: TheSupersymmetric SixteenWhich physics machine will reign supreme? Your vote decides.By Lauren Biron

March is here, and that means one thing: brackets. Weve matched up 16 of the coolestpieces of particle physics equipment that help scientists answer big questions about ouruniverse. Your vote will decide this years favorite. The tournament will last four rounds, starting with the Supersymmetric Sixteen today,moving on to the Elemental Eight on March 27, then the Fundamental Four on March 31and finally the Grand Unified Championship on April 3. The first rounds match-ups arebelow. You have until midnight PDT on Thursday, March 26, to vote in this round. Maythe best physics machine win!

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Supersymmetric SixteenMatch 1

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LUX

The Large Underground Xenon dark-matter detector is the current record-holder formost sensitive experiment searching for the most popular type of dark matter particle. Itssix-foot titanium tank holds liquid xenon at minus 150 degrees Fahrenheit a mile belowground in a former gold mine. LUX made news in 2013 when it released the worlds moststringent constraints on dark-matter particles and shot down potential hints of dark matterreported by other groups.

More info

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Large Hadron ColliderThe LHC is the most powerful particle accelerator in the world. The machine

accelerates protons and other ions close to the speed of light and guides them around a17-mile tunnel using magnets that generate fields 100,000 times as strong as theEarths. Scientists smash particles together to recreate in miniature the conditions afterthe big bang. Experiments at the LHC discovered the Higgs boson in 2012. When itrestarts this year, the LHC will search for things like supersymmetry, dark matter andextra dimensions.

More info

Match 2

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Planck

This space telescope, run by the European Space Agency with significantparticipation from NASA, gave us the worlds most precise map of the universe in themoments after the big bang. Through Planck, scientists have refined the standard modelof cosmology and homed in on the properties of neutrinos.

More info

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Borexino

This massive solar neutrino detector, located in a cavern in the Gran Sassomountains in Italy, contains 300 tonnes of active liquid scintillator within an 11-metersphere surrounded by 2000 photomultiplier tubes. Solar neutrinos interact with thescintillator, letting scientists measure the rate of nuclear reactions powering the sun. In2014, scientists used it to discover that the sun releases as much energy today as it did100,000 years ago. Borexino also found evidence of geoneutrinos, particles created byradioactive decay within the Earth.

More info

Match 3

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Holometer

Using a laser and mirrors, the Holometer is probing the smallest scale of spacethePlanck scale, 10 trillion trillion times smaller than an atomto determine if the universe islike a hologram. Scientists are checking to see if the information of our universe could becoded in tiny packets in two dimensions, creating a pixelated universe that just appearssmooth and three-dimensional from our everyday perspective.

More info

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CEBAFThe Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility at Jefferson Lab was the worlds

first large-scale application of superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) technology. Theaccelerator, which has been upgraded and is now running at almost three times itsoriginal design energy, is a powerful tool to investigate the structure of an atoms nucleusdown to the level of quarks and the glue that holds them together.

More info

Match 4

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Fermi TelescopeThe Fermi Space Telescope peers into the gamma ray universe, gathering

information about objects emitting high-energy light to answer questions about blackholes, pulsars, dark matter, quantum gravity and cosmic rays. The telescope, which orbitsthe Earth every 95 minutes, has already recorded the highest-energy gamma ray burstand solar flare ever observed by scientists. It also discovered and studied more than 150gamma-ray pulsars, several dozen of which are seen to pulse only in gamma rays.

More info

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Daya BayThe Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment, based in China, uses 110-ton

antineutrino detectors to track the ghostly particles produced at nearby nuclear powerplants. The experiment is known for discovering a hard-to-measure property of neutrinooscillations, a key piece of the neutrino puzzle scientists had been trying to solve for adecade. While gathering information on how neutrinos morph from one type to another,Daya Bay detectors amassed the most data on antineutrinos from a group of nuclearreactors to date.

More info

Match 5

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Super KSuper-Kamiokande is a massive neutrino experiment containing 50,000 tons of

ultrapure water, housed 1000 meters below a mountain in Japan. Super K helpsresearchers study whether protons decay and is one of the heavy hitters of neutrinoresearch. It collected the largest sample of solar neutrinos in real time and was the firstexperiment to detect oscillations of atmospheric neutrinos. Its observations implied thatthe ghostly particleswhich were predicted to be masslesshave a mass after all, amystery that has yet to be explained.

More info

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DEAP

The DEAP-3600 detector at Canadas SNOLAB is scheduled to begin taking datalater this spring. Located 2km below ground in Vale Creighton Mine, it will be the mostsensitive particle detector to search for the most sought-after type of dark matter, theWIMP. Its massive sphere, which will contain 565 imperial gallons of liquid argon, will be20 times more sensitive to finding these types of particles than the current best.

More info

Match 6

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Hubble Space TelescopeSince it was launched into space in 1990, Hubble has taken stunning images of

galaxies and nebulae in ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared wavelengths. It helpednarrow down the Hubble constant, the rate at which the universe is expanding, whichhelps drive our understanding of dark energy. Scientists used Hubble to discover Plutosfifth moon, find evidence of proto-planetary disks, and identify black holes at the center ofgalaxies.

More info

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Fermilab Neutrino Beam

When youre trying to study particles as hard to detect as neutrinos, it helps to makeyour own and start with a whole bunch of them. Fermilabs particle accelerators makethe most powerful beam of high-energy neutrinos in the world. Two focusing horns tunethe energy and shape of the beam and then send the neutrinos straight through the earthto detectors 450 and 500 miles away. Upgrades to the accelerator complex will increasethe beams intensity even further.

More info

Match 7

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Dark Energy CameraBoasting a staggering 570 megapixels, DECam is the most powerful digital camera in

the world. It hunts dark energy, the mysterious force pushing the universe apart, as a partof the Dark Energy Survey. But thats not all it does. While surveying the skies, it alsocomes across goodies such as asteroids, supernovae and trans-Neptunian objects. Froma mountaintop in Chile, DECam can see light from up to 8 billion light-years away andcapture more than 100,000 galaxies in each snapshot.

More info

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RHICBrookhaven Labs Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider was the first machine to create

quark-gluon plasma, a state of matter that existed a fraction of a second after the bigbang. At the time, it was the hottest matter ever produced in a laboratory. RHIC is theonly machine in the world able to collide beams of polarized protons and was the first thatcould collide ions as heavy as gold.

More info

Match 8

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LIGOThe Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory will use the worlds largest

precision optical instruments to test Einsteins prediction that massive objects moving inspace send out ripples in spacetime. LIGO seeks to measure these ripples as theydisturb beams of light traveling through its 4-kilometer tunnels and to use them to furtherinvestigate the nature of gravity and the cosmos. Its instruments are so sensitive, theycan see a change on the scale of a thousandth the size of a proton.

More info

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IceCubeMade of a cubic kilometer of Antarctic ice, IceCube is the worlds largest neutrino

detector. In 2013, some of the 5,000+ sensors strung down 86 holes drilled into the icepicked up signals from the highest-energy neutrinos ever found, nicknamed Bert, Ernieand Big Bird. IceCube scientists aim to discover the cosmic sources that produce thesehigh-speed intergalactic visitors. The site is also an enormous muon detector that seesmore than 100 billion muons every year.

More info

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breakingMarch 20, 2015

The LHC does a dry runEngineers have started the last step required before sending protonsall the way around the renovated Large Hadron Collider.By Sarah Charley

All systems are go! The the Large Hadron Colliders operations team has started runningthe accelerator through its normal operational cycle sans particles as a final dressrehearsal before the restart later this month.

This is where we bring it all together, says Mike Lamont, the head of CERNsoperations team.

Over the last two years, 400 engineers and technicians worked a total of 1 millionhours repairing, upgrading and installing new technology into the LHC. And now, theworlds most powerful particle accelerator is almost ready to start doing its thing.

During this final checkout, we will be testing all of the LHCs subsystems to makesure the entire machine is ready, says Markus Albert, one of the LHC operatorsresponsible for this dry run. We dont want any surprises once we start operation withbeam.

Engineers will simulate the complete cycle of injecting, steering, accelerating,squeezing, colliding and finally dumping protons. Then engineers will power down themagnets and start the process all over again.

Everything will behave exactly as if there is beam, Albert says. This way we canvalidate that these systems will all run together.

Operators practiced sending beams of protons part of the way around the ring earlierthis month.

During this test, engineers will keep a particularly close eye on the LHCssuperconducting magnet circuits, which received major work and upgrades during the

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shutdown.

The whole magnet system was taken apart and put back together again, and withupgraded magnet protection systems everything needs to be very carefully checked out,Lamont says. In fact, this has been going on for the last six months in the poweringtests.

They will also scrutinize the beam interlock systemthe system that triggers the beamdump, which diverts the beam out of the LHC and into a large block of graphite if anythinggoes wrong.

There are thousands of inputs that feed into the beam interlock system, and if any ofthese inputs say something is wrong or they are not happy about the behavior of thebeam, the system dumps the beam within three turns of the LHC, Lamont says.

During the week of March 23, engineers plan to send a proton beam all the wayaround the LHC for the first time in over two years. By the end of May, they hope to starthigh-energy proton-proton collisions.

Standard operation is providing physics data to the four experiments, Albert says.The rest is just preparatory work.

LHC restart timelineFebruary 2015

The Large Hadron Collider is now cooled to nearly its operational temperature.

Info-Graphic by: Sandbox Studio, Chicago

LHC filled with liquid heliumThe Large Hadron Collider is now cooled to nearly its operational temperature.

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Read more

A first set of superconducting magnets has passed the test and is ready for the LargeHadron Collider to restart in spring.Info-Graphic by: Sandbox Studio, Chicago

First LHC magnets prepped for restartA first set of superconducting magnets has passed the test and is ready for the Large

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Hadron Collider to restart in spring. Read more

Engineers and technicians have begun to close experiments in preparation for the nextrun.Info-Graphic by: Sandbox Studio, Chicago

LHC experiments prep for restartEngineers and technicians have begun to close experiments in preparation for the nextrun.Read moreLike what you see? Sign up for a free subscription to symmetry!

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deconstructionMarch 18, 2015

Inside the CERN Control CentreTake a tour of one of the most important rooms at CERN.By Sarah Charley

CERN is more than just the Large Hadron Collider. A complex network of beam linesfeeds particles from one accelerator to the next, gradually ramping up their energy alongthe way.

Before reaching the LHC, protons must first zip from the source, down a linearaccelerator (Linac2), and through a series of other accelerators (the Proton SynchrotronBooster, the Proton Synchrotron and the Super Proton Synchrotron). Ions accelerated atCERN have their own unique journey through another set of accelerators that eventuallybring them to the PS, SPS and finally, the LHC.

At one point, each of CERNs accelerators had its own team and its own controlroomwhich made communication between the different accelerators cumbersome, saysMike Lamont, the Beam Departments head of operations. The guys running the SPSwould have to push an intercom to communicate with the PS. So, during theconstruction of the LHC, the control rooms were brought together into one room. TheCERN Control Centre was born.

If the accelerator complex is CERNs nervous system, then the CCC is its brain. Letus take you on a tour of one of the most important rooms at CERN.

The islands

The CCC is made up of four islands, each a circular arrangement of consoles anddisplays. Each island hosts the controls for a set of machines.

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PS and Booster island

This island controls the Proton Synchrotron (PS) and Booster, two of the oldestaccelerators at CERN. The PS was CERNs flagship machine when it accelerated its firstprotons in 1959. Now it passes its particles on to the Super Proton Synchrotron, whichfeeds particles either to the LHC or a number of fixed-target experiments. The PS alsoserves a number of other users, which include the anti-proton decelerator (the AD) and aneutron experimental facility (nTOF).

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SPS island

This island controls the Super Proton Synchrotron, the second largest accelerator inCERNs complex. It ramps up the energy of protons and ions before diverting them tofixed-target experiments or injecting them into the LHC.

LHC island

This island controls CERNs largest and most powerful accelerator, the Large HadronCollider. Its the end of the line for particles that are about to get the ride of a lifetime.The LHC accelerates protons or ions to even higher energies and drives them intocollisions in the center of the massive detectors of the ATLAS, ALICE, CMS and LHCbexperiments.

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Technical infrastructure island

What would an accelerator be without power? The infrastructure that supports CERNsaccelerator complex is so important that it gets its own island in the CCC. Here, operatorsoversee things like the ventilation, safety systems and the electrical network. Even duringa shutdown when no accelerators are running, there are always two people operating thisisland. A separate team also based at this island looks after the vast cryogenics systemthat cools the helium used in the LHC magnets.

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Operators

The men and women who oversee the performance of the accelerators are a collection ofoperators, engineers and physicists. They are responsible for ensuring that all of theequipment in CERNs massive accelerator complex runs like clockwork.

During operation with beam, there are always at least two operators per island tomonitor the machines health and safetyeven in the middle of the night and over theholidays.

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Champagne bottles

This row of empty bottles represents the history of the LHC: first beam in the LHC, recordenergy, record luminosity, first collisions and about a dozen other events. Operators,physicists and engineers celebrated them all with personalized bottles ofbubblygenerously donated by the experiments as a thank you to the men and womenin the CCC.

Wall screens

How do you make sure an accelerator is healthy? You can check on it in real time.CERNs accelerators are outfitted with special technology that monitors things such asbeam quality, beam intensity, spacing between the proton bunches, cooling and thepower supplies. The computer monitors lining the walls of the CCC give the operatorsreal-time updates about the heath of the accelerators so that they can quickly respond ifanything goes wrong.

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Access Control

Wedged between the computer screens are huge metal boxes with rows of yellow, greenand red buttons and dangling keys. It looks like something you might find in a 1960s sci-fimovie, but it is actually the system that controls access to the underground areas.

This allows us to let people into ring, Lamont says. Its carefully controlledbecause this area can contain a high level of radiation, so we want to make sure we knowwho goes in and out. The need for very high reliability is so important that the operatorsin the CCC use physical keys and switches instead of a software system.

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