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Conceptual illustration

Muons: Emblems of discovery

01/13/26
Diana Kwon

Once a surprise to physicists, these particles are useful tools inside and outside the realm of particle physics. 

A burst of light
02/01/06

Luminosity

Luminosity is a measure of how many particles are brought together in a certain space over a certain period of time.

02/01/06

Collimation

In high-energy collisions, luminosity, or beam brightness, isn't the only thing to consider; low background noise at the detectors is also important. When wayward particles bounce around inside detectors, they can mimic real collisions, muddy results, and even damage parts of the collider.

02/01/06

Battle of the boxes

Last October, the front of the SLAC computing center looked like an elaborate children's war game in progress. Ad hoc piles of polystyrene, plastic, wooden pallets, and cardboard created an image of bunkers and trenches in a plastic post-industrial landscape.

02/01/06

Terry Mart: Counting papers

Citation numbers and the Impact Factor of journals are often used to evaluate the quality and the importance of research. Both quantities have some shortcomings, and people using these indicators should know when and when not to use them.

02/01/06

GLAST into space

Particle physics detectors in space will record gamma rays in search of dark matter, the evolution of stars, and nature’s most powerful particle accelerators.

02/01/06

Hitting the broad side of a (classified) barn

The distinctive and amusing term "barn" originated with two Purdue University physicists working on the Manhattan Project in 1942—and it was classified information by the US government until after World War II.

02/01/06

ICFA: The committe behind the future of particle colliders

If the proposed International Linear Collider (ILC) completes the evolution from physicists' dream to discovery machine, Jonathan Dorfan will know when and where the transforming moment occurred: August 20, 2004, in Beijing, China.

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