1 Career Exploration: Physics and Fermilab Joe Grange
[email protected] Slide 2 Physics in a nutshell We try to understand
the physical world in terms of its most basic building blocks and
how they interact ?? 2 Slide 3 3 p n e Everything we see, feel or
touch arises from a small number of ingredients Slide 4 4 Amazing
variety from such simple ingredients Slide 5 5 And spectacular
complexity Slide 6 20 th Century hubris: they thought they had it
all figured out 6 p n e In this field, almost everything is already
discovered, and all that remains is to fill a few unimportant
holes. (1878) Johann Philipp Gustav von Jolly advising Max Planck
not to pursue physics 1918 Slide 7 7 Planck went on to help develop
quantum mechanics, receiving the Nobel prize in 1918 His theory not
only described new phenomena, it also revolutionized the
description of the atom that von Jolly was so happy with! 20 th
Century hubris: they thought they had it all figured out Slide 8
Since then, (mostly) weve focused on going smaller and smaller 8
1960s: protons and neutrons are not fundamental particles, theyre
made of quarks! p n Slide 9 Since then, (mostly) weve focused on
going smaller and smaller 9 By the way Slide 10 Since then,
(mostly) weve focused on going smaller and smaller 10 By the way
Discovered at Fermilab!! (1995) Slide 11 Fermilab and the top 2
detectors independently and jointly discovered the top quark 11
Slide 12 1970s: the standard model Incredibly successful theory
that has predicted almost every modern physics result 12 The
standard model also predicts the existence of a particle that hasnt
been seen yet: Slide 13 1970s: the standard model Incredibly
successful theory that has predicted almost every modern physics
result 13 The standard model also predicts the existence of a
particle that hasnt been seen yet: Slide 14 Search for Higgs 14
Large Hadron Collider on Swiss/French border only recently eclipsed
Fermilab in terms of energy. They are leading the search, and there
have already been rumors about discovery Slide 15 Physics
propaganda 15 In 2009 there were wild speculations that the Large
Hadron Collider turning on might induce black holes that would
swallow the Earth (!!!) Part of the job training to be a physicist
is learning how to think critically (video clip) Slide 16 Searching
for new particles isnt the only thing going on in modern physics.
Cosmic ray research very active field - we know they exist, but
what creates them? Supernovae? Fermilab astrophysics group heavily
involved in the Auger observatory, Argentina (1200 sq. mile
detection area) Speaking of those cosmic rays 16 Slide 17 17 Slide
18 Cosmic rays have practical purposes too! 18 Very penetrating -
can x-ray LARGE items Historical rumors of hidden chambers in Gisa
pyramid, cosmic rays can verify/refute! Slide 19 19 1968 Cosmic
rays have practical purposes too! Slide 20 20 1968 Cosmic rays have
practical purposes too! Slide 21 21 1968 Cosmic rays have practical
purposes too! Slide 22 What I do: neutrino physics 22 Neutrinos are
kind of like electrons, except Neutral Neutr- VERY small mass -ino
Neutrinos change flavors as they travel e ! One of the very few
results not predicted by the standard model Pinning down exactly
how they change flavors and interact with matter is one of the most
active fields in physics today Slide 23 Neutrino detectors around
the world 23 Neutrinos are so hard to detect we need massive
amounts of stuff to make them interact, then we detect only the
light given off by the particles they create Super Kamiokande,
Kamioka Japan Houses 50,000 tons of ultra-pure water!! Slide 24
Neutrino detectors around the world 24 Neutrinos are so hard to
detect we need massive amounts of stuff to make them interact, then
we detect only the light given off by the particles they create
What the heck are those yellow ball-like things? Slide 25 The
detection mechanism of almost every neutrino experiment
Photo-multiplier tubes 25 1921 When photons (thought to be purely
wave-like) are shined on atoms, electrons are knocked out. 19 th
century physicists: Photons cant do that, only particles can!
Particle-wave duality essential to quantum mechanics discovered!
1905, Albert Einstein Slide 26 The detection mechanism of almost
every neutrino experiment Photo-multiplier tubes 26 1921 When
photons (thought to be purely wave-like) are shined on atoms,
electrons are knocked-out. 19 th century physicists: Photons cant
do that, only particles can! Particle-wave duality essential to
quantum mechanics discovered! 1905, Albert Einstein Slide 27
Neutrino detectors around the world 27 The biggest detector in the
world: IceCube Use 1 cubic km (~1/4 cu. mi.) of ice as a neutrino
detector! Slide 28 Neutrino detectors around the world 28 The
biggest detector in the world: IceCube Slide 29 Neutrino detectors
around the world 29 MiniBooNE and MINERvA: my experiments at
Fermilab MiniBooNE MINERvA Slide 30 What do I do? 30 Most of my
time is spent programming - developing algorithms to extract
information from data Slide 31 What do I do? 31 But a big part of
experimental physics is dealing with hardware and developing
cutting-edge electronics Most of the skills needed to succeed at
these tasks are learned on the job Photo taken Fall 2009, I got to
spend ~2 months ~30 stories underground putting together the
MINERvA detector Slide 32 What do I do? 32 But a big part of
experimental physics is dealing with hardware and developing
cutting-edge electronics Most of the skills needed to succeed at
these tasks are learned on the job Photo taken Fall 2009, I got to
spend ~2 months ~30 stories underground putting together the
MINERvA detector Slide 33 How I got here - a typical path 33
Bachelors, Physics 2006 (minor Mathematics) Math minor often reqd
Masters of Science, 2009 First two years of graduate school can be
very challenging - often > 12 hours of studying/teaching per day
for a wide variety of topics After course work completed, you
specialize in the area youre interested in Still quite common to
work/study > 12 hrs/per day, but (IMO) its much more fun!
Working on new ideas, new data, etc. Slide 34 Other very cool
things in physics for the next generation 34 Dark matter! NOT in
the standard model Image from the Hubble telescope: light seems to
be distorted General relativity (Einstein again!): That means
theres a whole bunch of mass there that we cant see! We should be
able to detect it directly, but it hasnt happened yet. (Very active
field) Slide 35 Other very cool things in physics for the next
generation 35 Dark energy! Motivation: from a variety of sources,
the universe seems to be expanding, when we expect it to be
contracting since gravity is always attractive. Dark energy
predicted to be 74% of the universe, dark matter 22% - just 4% for
stars, planets and us! Slide 36 Other very cool things in physics
for the next generation 36 Dark matter and dark energy just
conjecture for now - we think they exist in some form but maybe we
have everything backwards and something totally different is the
truth! Must rigorously test these hypotheses before we can claim
this is correct. Slide 37 Other opportunities available to those
with physicist training 37 Roughly 90% of PhD physicists end up in
a field other than academia Finance modeling Software development
Defense Science policy advisors Medical physics Slide 38 Some of
the great technology advances made possible by physics research 38
World Wide Web Not Al Gore! Proton/neutron cancer therapy
Monitoring nuclear nuclear nonproliferation Medical diagnostics
Power transmission Superconducting wires much more efficient
Analyzing DNA/protein structures Important for pharmaceutical
development Slide 39 Its a very exciting time to do particle
physics!! 39 Higgs discovery may be right around the corner (last
particle discovery? Standard model says yes, history says no way)
Fully describing neutrino physics a hot topic Dark matter / dark
energy: who knows?? So many other topics I dont have time to talk
about Slide 40 Opportunities at Fermilab 40 Saturday morning
physics: http://smp.fnal.gov/http://smp.fnal.gov/ Specifically to
teach high school students Three sessions throughout school year -
next session: October 2 thru December 4, 2010 Summer internships:
get real experience dealing with detectors, data etc. All full this
summer though If nothing else, looks awesome on college apps
http://ed.fnal.gov/interns/programs/ Slide 41 Come to Fermilab! 41
Free tour every Wednesday at 10:30am Ask a scientist program every
first Sunday of the month, 1pm Short talk by a physicist followed
by a tour, questions greatly encouraged! Private tours available
too (costs $$ though) Or email me, Ill be happy to show you around!
([email protected])
