Lab Partners: NSF and DOE
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Volume 19 FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 1996 Number 7 Lab Partners: NSF and DOE by Leila Belkora, Office of Public Affairs experiments have had co-spokesmen from NSF- funded university groups. n a spring day in Chicago, if you long for NSF also funds fixed-target experiments and Othe crack of the bat and the scent of mustard special projects at Fermilab. The agency supports on hotdogs, head to Wrigley Field. In the seventh groups at KTeV and NuTeV, where experi- inning stretch you’ll sing a chorus of “Take Me menters hope to shed light on CP violation and Out to the Ball Game,” along with announcer neutrino-nucleon scattering, respectively. Two Harry Caray; baseball at Wrigley just wouldn’t be experiments related to charm quarks, E831 and the same without it. After the game, should you E835, are supported in part by NSF. This year, travel about 40 miles west to Fermilab, approximately 70 graduate students are receiv- you’d find another essential pair- ing their training in NSF-funded ing: Fermilab depends on research groups both at collider funding from the Depart- and fixed-target experi- ment of Energy, but ments. On a smaller scale, high-energy physics NSF grants to Fermilab here would be incom- augment research in plete without the cosmology and facili- support of the tate international National Science collaborations in Foundation, as well. particle physics with I nside NSF’s largest India and Korea. f contribution at In dollars, Fermilab is to the col- NSF’s contribution lider program. At to the national high- Wonyong Lee DZero, seven NSF-sup- energy physics program Profile ported groups built the is about 10 percent that 2 central drift chamber, the of DOE. Fermilab physi- Fermilab trigger system, the calorime- cist Joel Butler, who heads Inventions ter electronics, and other compo- the Computing Division, cau- 4 nents of the detector. At CDF, NSF- tions, however, that the numbers University of supported groups contributed heavily to the ver- don’t tell the whole story. “NSF’s importance Michigan tex detector and trigger. A report recently drafted is larger than its fraction of the budget,” he says. 6 by a special panel at the funding agency states that “There are serious problems for the field [of high- the 12 universities with NSF-funded groups on energy physics] when the NSF has problems.” Magnet Milestone the collider experiments—Arizona, Columbia, Butler served on the NSF Special Emphasis Panel 9 Illinois at Chicago, Michigan State, Northern that reported to the High Energy Physics Illinois, Notre Dame, NYU, and Stony Brook at Advisory Panel in February 1996. The Special Classifieds DZero, and Chicago, Johns Hopkins, Rochester Emphasis Panel reviewed NSF’s priorities and 12 and Rutgers at CDF—together received $4.86 M strategies for coping with the current squeeze on from NSF in 1995. An indication of NSF’s high the federal budget. visibility in the collider program is that both continued on page 8 A PARTICLE PHYSICS TRAILBLAZER Wonyong Lee receives Korea’s most prestigious award and inspires a new generation of particle physics research by Korean groups at Fermilab by Donald Sena, Office of Public Affairs LEE’S RESEARCH HISTORY As an assistant professor at Columbia in onyong Lee, a professor at Columbia 1965, Lee teamed up with Leon Lederman, WUniversity and mentor to two genera- now director emeritus of Fermilab, and Samuel tions of physicists at Fermilab and beyond, C.C. Ting, among others, to investigate anti- recently won Korea’s prestigious Ho-Am Prize matter. The Columbia group, working at for his significant contributions to the field of Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long high-energy physics. Island, produced the antideuteron. “The dis- The Ho-Am prize, awarded by the Samsung covery was the first observation of the strong Welfare Foundation, carries a $60,000 award force that holds nuclei of atoms together act- for Dr. Lee and another $50,000 to support ing in an anti-nucleus, which told physicists his research. The Foundation announced the that antimatter obeys at least some of the same award on February 7, and the Columbia physi- laws as matter does,” according to a Columbia cist received it at a March 22 ceremony in University release announcing Lee’s award. Seoul. The Ho-Am prizes are awarded each Soon after that experiment, Lee headed a year to people born in Korea but living any- study at Brookhaven, the “eta experiment,” where in the world and working in one of six which researched C violation in electromag- fields: basic science, engineering, medicine, netic interactions. Peoples was an assistant pro- arts, communication and social service. fessor at Columbia and Nash was a graduate Besides his own contribution to particle student on that study. physics, Lee has had a significant effect on “We grew up with that experiment,” said Lee. many scientists at Fermilab. John Peoples, Nash said the eta study was significant not Fermilab’s director; Associate Director Tom just for the physics, but because it was one of Nash; Jeff Appel, head of the the first on-line experiments. He added that Physics Section; the late Mike the experiment used some of the first automat- Gormley and Main Injector ic tracking systems—techniques considered project manager Steve Holmes very difficult at the time. He said this study are all former students, post- and other work with Lee prepared him for his docs or colleagues of Lee. The future as a researcher. Columbia physicist was also “He trained you to have an extremely thor- instrumental in opening ough analytical view of what you were doing, opportunities for Korean both in terms of designing an experiment and groups and universities to per- analyzing it,” said Nash. form research at Fermilab, as In the 1970s, a collaboration of researchers well as persuading the Korean from several universities, including Columbia, Ministry of Science to support did a series of experiments in Fermilab’s wide- the endeavor. band photon beam. The study was the first to In a letter congratulating observe the photoproduction of the J/psi Lee on his award, Peoples said, meson, and the collaboration reported the first “I am delighted at this recog- observation of a charmed baryon. The team nition of your many achieve- also observed and measured more photo-pro- ments in our field throughout duced charmed particles. The experiment, a distinguished career over known as E87, ran until 1978, according to many years. In addition to the Holmes, who was a Columbia postdoc at the profound effect you had on my time. Among the people working with Lee own career, I want to also note were Peoples and Joel Butler, now head of your important and successful Fermilab’s Computing Division. efforts to help establish high “We have a lot of students from E87 who energy physics research in are very successful and doing great things at Photo by JOE PINEIRO of Columbia University Wonyong Lee recently won Korea’s most presti- Korea; Korean scientists are Fermilab,” said Lee, the study’s spokesman. gious award, the Ho–Am Prize, for his work now playing a significant part Collaborators on that experiment cite Lee’s in particle physics. in the Fermilab program.” leadership as one of the reasons for its success. “I regarded Wonyong as the intellectual KOREAN INFLUENCE leader of the E87 effort,” said Holmes. Peoples said Lee helped begin a tradition of “Wonyong is among the most imaginative Korean physicists engaging in research at physicists I have worked with.” Fermilab. At first, according to Lee, Korean E87 laid the groundwork for professors and students came here future experiments with similar with the help of Fermilab funds, themes, including E687 and but more recently the Korean E831. Currently, the pro- government has con- fessor is involved in a tributed increased sup- number of studies, port to the research including a cosmic ray effort. experiment. Many Korean insti- The type of tutions currently research that Lee has engage in research at done over his career Fermilab or have receives recognition worked here in the from many quarters. recent past, including Jim Griffin, legislative Korea U., Kyungsung aide for Rep. Charles U., Seoul National U., Rangel (D–NY), said Gyeongsang National the Congressman, U. and Chonnam who represents the National U. Presently, district that includes Wonyong Lee, John Peoples and Leon Lederman the team from Korea Columbia University, at a 1972 experiment. University, led by Joo supports government- Sang Kang, is working sponsored science and research. Noting that a primarily on analysis for E687 and preparing balance must be struck between applied and for E831, two descendants of E87. basic research, Griffin added that the search for Kang recently had two students receive and study of the most basic constituents of mat- Ph.D.s for work at Fermilab. Byung Gu Cheon ter is “kind of a divine question; it’s inspiring earned his degree for work on E687 and C.L. and compelling on a lot of different levels.” Kim for his studies as part of the DZero collab- oration, one of Fermilab’s collider experiments. RETURNING TO FERMILAB In addition, Seoul National University has a After a bit of a hiatus from Fermilab, Dr. Lee few people at Fermilab working on fiber tracking will return for the NuMi project—the search for upgrades for the DZero detector and analyzing neutrino mass. Scientists hope to conduct two data from the recently completed Run Ib. experiments that will take advantage of the Lee said he hopes that the Korean groups Laboratory’s newest accelerator, the Main will continue their work at Injector, now being built.