A Laboratory in Transition Katie Yurkewicz InterAction Collaboration Meeting November 4, 2013

A Laboratory in Transition

Katie YurkewiczInterAction Collaboration MeetingNovember 4, 2013

Fermilab Status Update – InterAction Collaboration MeetingK. Yurkewicz

11/2/2013 2

2013 U.S. Particle Physics Landscape

• Majority of particle physics funding in U.S. comes from DOE’s Office of High Energy Physics (OHEP)– NSF is the other major funder, primarily for universities

• Fermilab is now the primary DOE national laboratory for particle physics– Receives almost half the OHEP annual funding– SLAC, Brookhaven, Berkeley, Argonne have sizeable

programs, but they are not their lab’s main focus

• Community’s scientific aspirations exceed available budgets– Two-stage planning process kicked off in 2012


11/2/2013 3

• Snowmass process– One-year process

started in fall 2012– U.S. community

identified the most critical scientific questions and the experimental tools and techniques needed to address them

– No discussion of resources or prioritization of projects

The U.S. Planning Process: Stage 1


11/2/2013 4

Snowmass Strategic Goals for Particle Physics (1)• Probe the highest possible energies and smallest distance

scales with the existing and upgraded LHC and reach for even higher precision with a lepton collider; study the properties of the Higgs boson in full detail.

• Develop technologies for the long-term future to build multi-TeV lepton colliders and 100 TeV hadron colliders.

• Execute a program with the U.S as host that provides precision tests of the neutrino sector with an underground detector; search for new physics in quark and lepton decays in conjunction with precision measurements of electric dipole and anomalous magnetic moments

• Search for the particles making up dark matter through complementary paths, and search for possible particles connecting to the dark sector

• Study the cosmic microwave background and map the evolution of the universe, to reveal the origin of cosmic inflation, unravel the mystery of dark energy, and determine the ultimate fate of the cosmos


11/2/2013 5

Snowmass Strategic Goals for Particle Physics (2)

• Invest in the development of new, enabling instrumentation and accelerator technology

• Carry on theoretical work in support of these projects and to explore new frameworks that address the outstanding mysteries

• Invest in the training of physicists, to develop the most creative minds to generate new ideas in theory and experiment that advance science and benefit the broader society

• Increase our efforts to convey the excitement of our field to others


11/2/2013 6

• Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel (P5)– Using Snowmass as

input, will develop a 10-year plan in the context of a 20-year vision for the field

– First face-to-face meeting this past weekend at Fermilab

– Preliminary findings in March; Final report in May

The U.S. Planning Process: Stage 2


11/2/2013 7

The P5 Challenge

• New Energy Secretary has stated he will help particle physics build its projects – if community can unify behind a practical plan

• Projects currently on the table total >$6B• About $2B available for new projects over next 10

years – in the most optimistic scenario• Need to demonstrate that the U.S. is a reliable

partner for global projects• Community discontent over ongoing shift of DOE

funds to construct new particle physics projects


11/2/2013 8

History of OHEP Funding


11/2/2013 9

In Steps a New Laboratory Director

• Nigel Lockyer– Long-time collaborator and leader of

Fermilab’s CDF experiment– Started at Fermilab September 3– Very well-received by funding

agencies, Fermi Research Alliance board, particle physics community

• Thanks to Tim for training Nigel so well!

Nigel S. Lockyer


11/2/2013 10

Many Challenges Ahead: Users

• Fermilab exists to support its user community• More than half of U.S. particle physics community is

working on LHC• Despite Fermilab leading accelerator contributions

(entry for US to LHC) and support for US CMS, lab no longer recognized as natural “home base” for the majority of U.S. particle physicists

• At Intensity Frontier, NOvA, LBNE far detectors off-site; no need for experimentalists to visit Illinois


11/2/2013 11

Employee Challenges

• Lab has struggled to launch next flagship project– LBNE phase 1 (surface detector) not accepted by

community• Majority of lab staff are accelerator builders and

accelerator operators; LBNE does not motivate them– Major efforts ongoing to reorient Project X to

deliver high-power beams to LBNE at project start, within budget constraints

• Declining budgets and staff over last five years


11/2/2013 12

Fermilab Staffing


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Political Challenges

• Current administration favors green energy, technology transfer

• DOE waiting for new P5 plan and community support – won’t affect budgets for two more years

• Politicians want to know what we are doing onshore that leads the world

• Difficulty making the case that LHC success = U.S. success

• A universal challenge: cost of major particle physics projects (flagship Basic Energy Sciences project in U.S. will lead the world for years and cost ~$800M)


11/2/2013 14

The Challenge of Internationalization

• The new plan for LBNE – and potentially for Fermilab as a whole - requires internationalization at a new level for the lab

• How do we build projects that are international from the start?

• How do we do that within a DOE system that is trending toward greater restrictions on international collaboration?

• How do we assure international partners that the U.S. – and Fermilab – are reliable and worthy of investment?


11/2/2013 15

Lots of Good Signs

• For a new flagship project– Underground LBNE received very strong support

from Snowmass study– Lots of international interest (Europe, India, Brazil)– Growing collaboration (now more than 400)

• From employees– New director mobilized scientific staff to engage

in planning the lab’s future– Other actions taken by new director popular

among non-scientific staff– Key point will be decision on major accelerator

project


11/2/2013 16

Lots of Good Signs

• For technology transfer– Illinois Accelerator Research Center new building

almost complete– Goal is to engage industry in transforming

accelerator technologies for society– New director bringing extensive TRIUMF

experience to setting up feasible business plan for IARC

• For a (more) unified U.S. community– High degree of unity at Snowmass regarding top

priorities


11/2/2013 17

A Busy Time for Fermilab Communication• New director recognizes importance of

communication• Many new initiatives to support lab transition– Internal (need to bring employees along)– Users (rebuild support from U.S. community)– External (communicate and build support for lab

plan)• Fermilab communication also continues to support

U.S. community and DOE OHEP• Taking a hard look at lab communication function

and whether it can support new director’s vision• Asking collaboration for peer review in spring 2014

Documents

A Laboratory in Transition Katie Yurkewicz InterAction Collaboration Meeting November 4, 2013