Fermilab
high-energy particle physics laboratory in Illinois, USA / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), just outside Batavia, Illinois, near Chicago, is a US Department of Energy national laboratory specializing in high-energy particle physics. As of January 1, 2007, Fermilab is operated by the Fermi Research Alliance, a joint venture of the University of Chicago, Illinois Institute of Technology and the Universities Research Association (URA). Fermilab is a part of the Illinois Technology and Research Corridor.
The English used in this article or section may not be easy for everybody to understand. (September 2023) |
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Established | November 21, 1967 (as National Accelerator Laboratory) |
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Research Type | Nuclear |
Field of Research | Particle physics |
Director | Piermaria J. Oddone |
Address | P.O. Box 500 |
Location | Winfield Township, DuPage County / Batavia Township, Kane County, near Batavia, Illinois, USA |
Telephone | (630) 840 3000 |
Affiliations | US Department of Energy University of Chicago Universities Research Association |
Nobel Laureates | Leon Lederman |
Website | fnal.gov |
Fermilab's Tevatron was a landmark particle accelerator; at 3.9 miles (6.3 km) in circumference, it was the world's second largest energy particle accelerator (CERN's Large Hadron Collider is 27 km in circumference), until being shut down on September 30, 2011. In 1995, two teams at Fermilab (CDF and DØ, detectors which utilize the Tevatron) announced the discovery of the top quark.
In addition to high energy collider physics, Fermilab is also host to a number of smaller fixed-target and neutrino experiments, such as MiniBooNE (Mini Booster Neutrino Experiment), SciBooNE (SciBar Booster Neutrino Experiment) and MINOS (Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search). The MiniBooNE detector is a 40-foot (12 m) diameter sphere which contains 800 tons of mineral oil lined with 1520 individual phototube detectors. An estimated 1 million neutrino events are recorded each year. SciBooNE is the newest neutrino experiment at Fermilab; it sits in the same neutrino beam as MiniBooNE but has fine-grained tracking capabilities. The MINOS experiment uses Fermilab's NuMI (Neutrinos at the Main Injector) beam, which is an intense beam of neutrinos that travels 455 miles (732 km) through the Earth to the Soudan Mine in Minnesota.
A large piece of land was reserved for Fermilab, but much of the equipment is underground. The Fermilab scientists decided to use the land surface as an experiment in restoring Illinois original prairie. They also started a farm to raise al herd of American bison.[1][2] The Fermilab Nature Areas is a separate non-profit group that administers these programs.[3]
Asteroid 11998 Fermilab is named in honor of the laboratory.