symmetry - November 2008

symmetry - dimensions of particle physics

November 2008 Issue Cover

On the cover:
In the last few months of the BaBar experiment at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, scientists pulled one last trick out of their bag and produced a new particle— the bottom-most bottomonium. In doing so, the 500-member collaboration proved as agile as its cartoon namesake.
Photo: Bradley Plummer, SLAC

November 2008:
Click here to view the pdf of this issue.

Contents

Editorial: Starting up the Large Hadron Collider
The Large Hadron Collider successfully circulated beams for the first time in September. That wonderful achievement moves the LHC toward first collisions and physics results, but other labs are still working hard in friendly competition.

Commentary: Kate McAlpine
"I think rap is a good way to communicate. Rhyme has always helped embed words in my mind; hopefully science rap can help cement ideas in the minds of students and other interested people."

Signal to Background
Giving a hoot about restoration; open access to galaxies; ask a Nobel laureate; a collider inspires comic artists; Google commemorates the LHC first beam; eclipse chaser; letters.

BaBar and the Very Tiny Particle
In which the 500 members of the BaBar experiment buy enough time for one last adventure: capturing the bottom-most bottomonium.

The Dark Universe Debate
Who will be the first to prove the existence of dark matter and dark energy? A particle physicist and an astrophysicist go head to head.

Where Old Physics Stuff Goes to Live
The Fermilab boneyard is no burial ground; it’s a place where unwanted parts find new homes and lives. They’re matched with scientists who can put them to good use, donated to local schools and parks, or sold for recycling.

Q&A With eta sub b
symmetry’s Calla Cofield scores an exclusive interview with the particle…the ground state…the artist eta sub b, who recently emerged into the public spotlight after 30 years in hiding.

Essay: Robin Hanson
"Today’s LHC forecasts are no easier to score than the typical horoscope."

Logbook: LHC Startup
On September 10, 2008, scientists at the European laboratory CERN attempted for the first time to send a beam of particles around a new particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider.

Explain it in 60 Seconds: Magnet Quench
A magnet quench is a dramatic yet fairly routine event within a particle accelerator. In the case of a large superconducting magnet, such a quench generates as much force as an exploding stick of dynamite.

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Move over Britney, Lady Gaga’s in physics now

September 2, 2010

For years, the Britney Spears Guide to Semiconductor Physics has been floating around the Web intriguing, amusing, troubling, or infuriating different people. Doing one better, pop star Lady Gaga is now immortalized in the name of a published physics paper.

New print issue of symmetry: the many uses of accelerators

September 1, 2010

As of today you can see and download the latest print issue of symmetry. This issue looks at many of the varied uses of accelerators in society. Although accelerators were typically created for basic physics research, they are key components of many medical and industrial applications now.

First African School of Physics empowers students

August 30, 2010

Students from 17 African countries came together for the rare opportunity to learn about particle physics this month. Some African students have earned advanced science degrees but are looking for the specialized training in particle physics and its associated applications not usually offered on their own continent. The first African School of Fundamental Physics and its Applications in Stellenbosch, South Africa, provided that training and financially supported some African students.

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Issue Cover

In the last few months of the BaBar experiment at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, scientists pulled one last trick out of their bag and produced a new particle— the bottom-most bottomonium. In doing so, the 500-member collaboration proved as agile as its cartoon namesake.
Photo: Bradley Plummer, SLAC

View Issue PDF

Photo - Logbook: Archive

Cosmic Microwave Background

Oct/Nov 2006
John Mather and George Smoot shared the 2006 Nobel Prize for experiments on board of the COBE satellite. It took Mather’s experiment only nine minutes to record enough data to confirm the big-bang theory...

View Logbook Archive

Photo - Explain it in 60 Seconds: Archive

Dark Energy

Aug 2007
Dark energy is the weirdest and most abundant stuff in the universe. It is causing the expansion of the universe to speed up, and the destiny of our universe rests in its hands...

View 60 Seconds Archive


© 2007 symmetry A joint Fermilab/SLAC publication. PO Box 500 MS206 Batavia, IL 60510 USA