- Also called:
- Fermilab
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
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What is the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory?
The Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, or Fermilab, is a U.S. national laboratory located in Batavia, Illinois, about 27 miles west of Chicago. Fermilab was founded in the mid-1960s to conduct world-class research in nuclear physics.
Fermilab's first particle accelerator, a proton synchrotron, began operating in 1972. In the 1980s, the Tevatron, a more-powerful particle accelerator, was constructed. The Tevatron was the world’s highest-energy particle accelerator until 2009 and closed in 2011. In 1995, scientists working at the Tevatron discovered the top quark.
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Where is Fermilab located?
The Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) is a U.S. national particle-accelerator laboratory and center for particle-physics research. It is located in Batavia, Illinois, approximately 43 km (27 miles) west of Chicago.
Fermilab was founded in the mid-1960s and formally occupied the Batavia site in 1968. The site extends over 2,800 hectares (6,800 acres). Fermilab attracts scientists from almost every U.S. state and from 45 countries for collaborative research into the fundamental nature of matter and the field of subatomic particles.
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What kind of research is done at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory?
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) is a U.S. national laboratory that focuses on particle-physics research. Scientists from around the world come to Fermilab to study the fundamental nature of matter and subatomic particles.
Fermilab's research has included:
* Discovery of the bottom quark
* Discovery of the top quark
* Examination of B-meson decay to explore the matter/antimatter imbalance in the universeFermilab restores native prairie grasses to the area, maintains a bison herd, and establishes a waterfowl habitat. It was also recognized as a National Environmental Research Park for ecological studies in 1989.
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What is a particle accelerator, and why is it important at Fermilab?
A particle accelerator is a device that produces a beam of fast-moving, electrically charged atomic or subatomic particles. Accelerators have electric fields to accelerate particles, and magnetic fields control particle paths. They are used for research into nuclear structure, nuclear forces, and the properties of unstable elements. They also have uses for radioisotope production, industrial radiography, and radiation therapy.
Fermilab was founded to conduct world-class research in nuclear physics. Its first particle accelerator was a proton synchrotron that began operating in 1972. In the 1980s, the Tevatron was constructed. Fermilab attracts scientists from almost every U.S. state and from 45 countries for collaborative research into the fundamental nature of matter and subatomic particles.
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What are some major scientific discoveries that have happened at Fermilab?
Fermilab, located in Batavia, Illinois, has been the site of major scientific discoveries in particle physics. A team led by Leon Lederman found the first evidence for the upsilon meson in 1977, which confirmed the existence of the bottom quark. In 1995, scientists at Fermilab also discovered the top quark, the sixth and most-massive quark, through experiments involving 1.8-TeV proton-antiproton collisions in the Tevatron. In 2000, physicists at Fermilab reported the first experimental evidence for the existence of the tau-neutrino. In 2010, the Tevatron was also used to detect a preference for B-mesons to decay into muons rather than antimuons, which could explain the universe's matter-antimatter imbalance.
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How does Fermilab work with scientists from around the world?
Fermilab, located in Batavia, Illinois, attracts scientists from almost every U.S. state and from 45 countries for collaborative research into the fundamental nature of matter and subatomic particles. It was founded in the mid-1960s to conduct world-class research in nuclear physics. Operated for the U.S. Department of Energy by the Universities Research Association, a consortium of research universities, Fermilab provides a collaborative environment for scientists worldwide to study the universe's deepest mysteries.
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Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, U.S. national particle-accelerator laboratory and center for particle-physics research, located in Batavia, Illinois, about 43 km (27 miles) west of Chicago. The facility is operated for the U.S. Department of Energy by the Fermi Forward Discovery Group. Fermilab was founded in the mid-1960s in response to a 1963 recommendation by the Atomic Energy Commission to build a national particle-accelerator facility to conduct world-class research in nuclear physics. The Batavia site, which extends over 2,800 hectares (6,800 acres), was selected in 1966 and formally occupied in 1968. Fermilab attracts scientists from almost every U.S. state and from 45 countries worldwide for collaborative research into the fundamental nature of matter, in the field of subatomic particles.
Fermilab’s first particle accelerator was a proton synchrotron, a cyclic accelerator with a ring circumference of 6.3 km (3.9 miles). It began operation in 1972 and could accelerate protons to 400 gigaelectron volts (GeV; 400 billion electron volts). In the 1980s a second and more-powerful particle accelerator, the Tevatron, was constructed in the same tunnel but below the original synchrotron ring.
The Tevatron was a superconducting synchrotron that took advantage of the higher magnetic-field strengths produced by superconducting magnets to accelerate protons to significantly higher energy levels. The original main ring became part of the preaccelerator injection system for the Tevatron, accelerating particles to 150 GeV and then transferring them to the new superconducting ring for acceleration to 900 GeV. In 1987 the Tevatron began operation as a antiproton colliderproton-—with 900-GeV protons striking 900-GeV antiprotons to provide total collision energies of 1.8 teraelectron volts (TeV; 1.8 trillion electron volts). The original main ring was replaced in 1999 by a new preaccelerator, called the Main Injector, which delivered more-intense beams to the Tevatron and thus increased the number of particle collisions by a factor of 10. The Tevatron was the world’s highest-energy particle accelerator until 2009, when it was supplanted by the Large Hadron Collider of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). The Tevatron closed on September 30, 2011.
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In 2019, construction began on the Proton Improvement Plan II (PIP-II), a new linear accelerator that will fire a beam of protons toward a target at the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility, also located at Fermilab. The protons will interact in the target to produce pions that will then decay and release neutrinos. Those neutrinos will then travel underground to a facility in South Dakota 1,300 km (800 miles) away. PIP-II is scheduled for completion in 2028.
In 1977 a Fermilab team led by American physicist Leon Lederman, studying the results of 400-GeV proton-nucleus collisions in the original main ring, discovered the first evidence for the upsilon meson, which revealed the existence of the bottom quark. The bottom quark, the fifth quark to be detected, is a member of the third and heaviest pair of quarks. The companion particle of this pair is the top quark, which is the sixth and most-massive quark; in 1995 it was also discovered at Fermilab. Scientists inferred the existence of the top quark, produced in the Tevatron as a result of 1.8-TeV proton-antiproton collisions, on the basis of its decay characteristics. In 2010, scientists used the Tevatron to detect a slight preference for B mesons (particles that contain a bottom quark) to decay into muons rather than antimuons. This violation of charge-parity symmetry could lead to an explanation for why there is more matter than antimatter in the universe.
The Fermilab site, consisting of thousands of hectares of undeveloped land, offers a prime opportunity to study and restore a native prairie ecosystem. Since 1975 Fermilab has been engaged in a wide-ranging prairie-restoration project—restoring native prairie grasses to the area, maintaining a herd of bison on the grounds, and establishing a waterfowl habitat. In 1989 Fermilab was recognized as a National Environmental Research Park, a protected outdoor laboratory for ecological studies.