A rchive Date
[ 07-06-2000 ]
Category
[ Science ]
sub-Categoy
[ Physics ]
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[A new tool for the subatomic search
Fermilab scientists dedicate $260 million Main Injector
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BATAVIA, Ill., June 1 - In the search to understand the tiny parts of atoms and ultimately the nature of all things, scientists at Fermilab on Tuesday dedicated their new $260 million accelerator ? the Main Injector.
HOUSE SPEAKER Dennis Hastert, who was joined at the dedication by U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson and Illinois Gov. George Ryan, said the accelerator is the culmination of more than a decade of work that began when he was still a newcomer in Washington.
"This project makes Fermilab ... the most important and most powerful energy and physics research tool in the world," he said of the racetrack-shaped accelerator located in his district.
The Main Injector is about 30 feet below ground and two miles in circumference. Inside, atom particles race around the track at nearly the speed of light before being injected into another accelerator where they collide.
Richardson said the accelerator dramatically increases the rate of collision, making it easier for scientists to study the nature of matter and energy.
"What would have taken 10 years of data collection can now be done in a year," he said.
HOLY GRAIL
He also speculated that this new accelerator could lead to the discovery of the elusive Higgs particle, a holy grail among physicists. The Higgs particle is believed to hold nature's secret of how matter gets its mass, he said.
Exactly what scientists will be trying to uncover at this research facility can be confusing to non-physicists. Their last, great discovery came in 1995 when researchers there discovered the top quark.
Quarks, which are now thought to be the basic building block of matter, are the most basic type of subatomic particle known.
COMPLEX FIELD
Hastert noted that his "C+" in high school physics didn't prepare him to understand the work done by teams of international scientists in this western Chicago suburb.
"Particle physics may be one of the more abstract parts of science," outgoing Fermilab Director John Peoples Jr. said after the dedication ceremony.
He said the work done at Fermilab won't have a tangible effect for the average citizen for many years. He likens their work to that of astronomers who studied the sky almost 300 years ago. Their work enriched this century, but did little for people in the 17th century.
He said physicists are trying to learn "about our origin, how the universe began, and how we might apply that."
© 1999 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.]
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