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Fermilab’s Alvin Tollestrup Page 2 Number 160 June 14, 2004 Life found in radioactive soil “Warm” collider technology Research Scientists at DOE’s Pacific Northwest An international collaboration based at Highlights . National Laboratory have discovered a DOE’s Stanford Linear Accelerator Center variety of living bacteria in an extreme has met both of its crucial technical environment beneath a once-leaking goals—clearly demonstrating the high-level radioactive waste storage tank viability of using the warm radio at the Hanford Site near Richland, frequency (rf) technology to accelerate Washington. Sediments retrieved from electrons and positrons to the massive beneath the tanks are among the most energies needed in the international radioactive in the world to have been linear collider. The Next Linear Collider studied with molecular biological group and the Global Linear Collider methods. The sediments had been group first showed in December that rf exposed to radioactive and chemical supply stations can produce the power contaminants for decades, yet despite required to add 65 mega-electron volts the extremely harsh conditions, a total of (MV) of energy to the electrons for each 56 different genera of bacteria were meter they travel. The second goal, met found, representing over 150 different in April, shows that newly designed species. The PNNL findings were accelerator structures—the copper pipes reported at the recent American Society the electrons travel in—can sustain this for Microbiology annual meeting in New acceleration gradient of 65 MV per Orleans. meter and that the rf power can be [Bill Cannon, 509/375-3732; shaped into an ideal wave for the [email protected]] electrons to surf on, while keeping an extremely low breakdown rate. Sandia research brings high- [Neil Calder, 650/926-8707; temperature fuel cell closer [email protected]] A new type of polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) being developed at Mapping carbon flux DOE’s Sandia National Laboratories Climate researchers take great interest in could bring the goal of a micro fuel cell how the earth’s ecosystems store and closer to realization using diverse fuels release carbon into the environment. like glucose, methanol, and hydrogen. The Ameriflux network of carbon flux towers, sponsored by several govern- DOE Pulse highlights work This Sandia Polymer Electrolyte ment agencies including DOE, measures being done at the Department Alternative (SPEA) could help fulfill the carbon uptake and release in 60 U.S. of Energy’s national laborato- need for new, uninterrupted autono- locations. These one-kilometer ries. DOE’s laboratories house mous power sources for sensors, measurements are extrapolated into a world-class facilities where communications, microelectronics, continuous estimate across the U.S.’s 7.8 more than 30,000 scientists healthcare applications, and transpor- million square kilometers. Researchers at and engineers perform cutting- tation. A higher-temperature PEM DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory edge research spanning DOE’s material is one of the goals of DOE’s have combined data on climate and soils science, energy, national Hydrogen, Fuel Cells, and Infrastructure with satellite-based measurements of security and environmental Technologies Program, and the vegetation and productivity to produce quality missions. DOE Pulse researchers have demonstrated that 90 flux ecoregions. The Flux Ecoregion (www.ornl.gov/news/pulse/) is under identical operating conditions, the Website’s maps come in several colorful distributed every two weeks. SPEA material can deliver higher power formats with features including zoom For more information, please outputs with methanol and hydrogen and animation—perfect for researchers contact Jeff Sherwood than Nafion, recognized as the current and cartophiles alike. ([email protected], state-of-art PEM material for fuel cells. [Bill Cabage, 865/574-4399; 202-586-5806). [Howard Kercheval, 505/844-7842; [email protected]] [email protected]] At Fermilab, a full house for “Alvin: The Symposium” A SEARCH FOR NO COLOR According to standing-room-only crowd packed the One West the fundamental conference room at DOE’s Fermilab on Tuesday, June 1 theory of particle A for a symposium honoring the 80th birthday of physicist physics, the Alvin Tollestrup, whose many achievements include his indispensable subatomic world is contributions in building the Tevatron with its groundbreaking use of a very colorful 1,000 superconducting magnets. place. The theory “We’re using Alvin’s 80th birthday as a way predicts that quarks to honor him and all the good things he’s done and gluons, the tiny for the lab,” said Fermilab physicist Peter Limon. building blocks of In the experiment, The first speaker, Vladimir Shiltsev, honored protons and scientists use CEBAF’S the Greek definition of symposium (“a convivial neutrons in the accelerator to slam meeting for drinking, music and intellectual nucleus of the electrons into the nuclei discussion”) by playing Greek music. Shiltsev atom, have a special of a target element. discussed the Tevatron and other particle physics Alvin Tollestrup kind of charge Pictured here is a accelerators, Giovanni Punzi spoke on the CDF called color. sample aluminum Silicon Vertex Tracker, and Jim Annis discussed the proposed Dark Color charge target. Energy Survey. The wide-ranging topics represented Tollestrup’s comes in three wide-ranging contributions to the lab and to physics, and his focus varieties: red, blue and green. Quarks only on the future. exist in combinations where their color “It was neat to have talks by people that are really doing charges add up to no color. For instance, a important stuff, instead of the standard kind of thing where you look proton, which has three quarks, has a quark back at what has been accomplished over the years,” Tollestrup said. of each color, adding up to white (no color). “It was great that so many people came.” While a proton itself has no color, color Tollestrup, whose 80th birthday was March 22, began his particle charge from its individual quarks still leaks physics career in 1946 as a graduate student at Caltech, where he out, allowing a proton to interact with other spent the next 25 years. In 1975 he arrived at Fermilab on sabbatical, particles. That’s how protons and neutrons intending to stay only six months. He began working on bind together to makeup the atomic nucleus. superconducting accelerator technology, and the short stay turned But Kawtar Hafidi, an Assistant Scientist into a 29-year career at the laboratory—a career that included at Argonne, and her colleagues are looking winning the 1989 National Medal of Technology along with for quark-based particles with color charge Fermilab’s Helen Edwards, Dick Lundy and Rich Orr for their work in that doesn’t leak out. Hafidi is a spokesperson the design, construction and initial operation of the Tevatron, which for the 101st experiment to conclude data- remains the world’s highest-energy particle accelerator. taking at Jefferson Lab, an experiment The idea of using superconducting magnets, fostered by Fermilab looking for color transparency. founding director Robert R. Wilson, was initially received with Hafidi says quantum theory predicts that skepticism. Tollestrup remembers giving a presentation at another lab there are particles that are so small, because in “a big room with these guys sitting up there laughing... they their quarks are bound together so tightly, thought we were nuts.” they can coast along without interacting with Over the years, Tollestrup has worked extensively on the Tevatron other particles. When this happens, it’s said magnets, served as co-spokesperson for the CDF experiment, and has the medium these particles are traveling become involved in the creation of an astrophysics center at the through is ‘color transparent.’ laboratory. He has also remained energetic in championing the cause “It’s like the particle becomes invisible to of young researchers, sponsoring seminars on careers in accelerator the medium,” Hafidi says, “If we see the research, and presenting an annual award to postdoctoral researchers signal that we’re looking for in these results, which is funded by Fermilab’s operating consortium, Universities it will be the first evidence of color Research Association, Inc. The research must be performed in transparency ever. It’s very important. There conjunction with a Fermilab experiment or accelerator physics are no other theories that can explain the project, or under the auspices of the Fermilab Theory Group. The results we’re anticipating without color 2004 Tollestrup Award for Postdoctoral Research went to Nicole Bell, transparency.” She expects her team will of the Fermilab Theoretical Astrophysics Group, for her work in have preliminary results as early as cosmological neutrino research. The award carries a $3,000 prize. December. Submitted by DOE’s Fermilab Submitted by DOE’s Jefferson Lab.