CERNMay/June 2021 cerncourier.com COURIERReporting on international high-energy physics WELCOME CERN Courier – digital edition Welcome to the digital edition of the May/June 2021 issue of CERN Courier. MUON g–2 In April, a keenly awaited measurement from Fermilab strengthened the longstanding tension between the measured and predicted values of the MEASUREMENT OF THE MOMENT muon’s anomalous magnetic moment, generating media coverage worldwide (p7). Physicists now look forward to further data (p49) and to a deeper understanding of the tricky QCD calculations (p25) before weighing up possible signs of new physics. Meanwhile, in March, a new LHCb measurement of a parameter called RK, which compares the rate of certain B-meson decays to muons and electrons, reinforces hints that lepton-flavour universality may be violated in the B sector (p17). Also generating headlines this spring were the discovery of the odderon 50 years after its prediction (p8), and the demonstration of laser-cooled antihydrogen by the ALPHA collaboration (p9). Elsewhere in this issue: upgrades to the beam-intercepting devices at the heart of CERN’s accelerator complex (p38); ALICE makes strides towards understanding the extreme conditions of the early universe (p31); news from Moriond (p21); careers advice from accelerator physicist Suzie Sheehy (p52); assessing the economic impact of particle physics (p55); and much more. To sign up to the new-issue alert, please visit: http://comms.iop.org/k/iop/cerncourier To subscribe to the magazine, please visit: https://cerncourier.com/p/about-cern-courier Laser-cooled antihydrogen Flavour anomalies back in the spotlight Odderon finally discovered EDITOR: MATTHEW CHALMERS, CERN DIGITAL EDITION CREATED BY IOP PUBLISHING CCMayJun21_Cover_4.indd 1 13/04/2021 11:28 CERNCOURIER www. V OLUME 6 1 N UMBER 3 M AY /J U N E 2 0 2 1 CERNCOURIER.COM IN THIS ISSUE V OLUME 61 N UMBER 3 M AY /J U N E 2 02 1 MMS MUSIC/arXiv:1209.6330 CER N-PHO T O-202010-134-24 S Sheehy THE UNIVERSAL SYSTEM FOR A LARGE RANGE OF LOW AND HIGH VOLTAGE MULTICHANNEL POWER SUPPLIES MMS MMS HV LV compatible compatible Go with the flow How heav y quark s flow within Luminous future Upgrades to CERN’s Balancing act Suzie Sheehy on life cooling droplets of quark–gluon plasma. 31 beam-intercepting devices. 38 as a researcher and communicator. 51 NEWS PEOPLE ANALYSIS ENERGY FRONTIERS FIELD NOTES CAREERS OBITUARIES Fermilab on muon g–2 Flavour anomaly Anomalies intrigue at Harnessing the • Samoil Bilenky • Odderon discovered strengthened Moriond • NeuTel as CERN model • Arnulfo Zepeda W-IE-NE-R + ISEG SUPPORT OFFICE AT CERN • Laser-cooled • Higgsinos under vibrant as ever Paul Lecoq’s 50-year Domínguez • Roger antihydrogen • New the microscope • LHC reinterpreters career illustrates the Phillips Pierluigi Riboni Dr. Dipl.-Phys. Erich Schaefer • tetraquarks • ADS linac • Beauty-strange baryon think long-term. 21 power of CERN in • Harold Ticho • Philip Bat.: 13/R-023 • Support for Lebanon observed • Light neutral fostering international Karl Williams • Roland +41 75411 4301 • Challenging DAMA. 7 mesons probed. 17 collaboration. 59 Windmolders. 69 [email protected] FEATURES MSU photo archive MUON g–2 ALICE SYSTEMS FACILITIES HIGH CLASS EBS HV BOARDS Anomalous moment Going with the flow Intercepting Physics flies CONTROLLER BOARDS WITH LINUX INSIDE LOW VOLTAGE BOARDS Bipolar 4 quadrant high voltage for the muon The ALICE experiment is the beams high at SINP Integrated EPICS IOC, SNMP, OPC-UA Up to 16 channel LV for on site module with CFG. EBS perfectly The calculations needed making strides towards Major upgrades to dumps, Surveying the past, and Webservices, also „bare metal“ use. frontend hardware supply saves covers requirements of electron to resolve whether new understanding the collimators and targets present and future of Now with onboard Python script runtime. cable and installation space. optical systems or capacitive loads. physics is the source of extreme conditions of are under way to prepare Russia’s Skobeltsyn the reinforced muon the early universe. 31 for the high-luminosity Institute of Nuclear g–2 anomaly. 25 LHC and beyond. 38 Physics. 45 Up to 10 slots and 480 channels per crate OPINION DEPARTMENTS Highest channel density to save valueable installation space COMMENT INTERVIEW REVIEWS FROM THE EDITOR 5 Best ripple and noise characteristics Muon g–2: the promise Making a difference Calculating the NEWS DIGEST 15 of a generation Accelerator physicist curiosity windfall Arnold/FermilabC APPOINTMENTS 61 Up to 30 kV, up to 100 W per channel Perseverance and tight Suzie Sheehy discusses The economics of big & AWARDS collaboration are essential how to increase science Lectures on • RECRUITMENT 63 Pure LV compatible, pure HV compatible and mixed setup crates available for progress, write the appeal of a accelerator physics On the cover: Inside the Themis Bowcock and research career. 51 • A day with particles. 55 storage ring of Fermilab’s BACKGROUND 74 Interchangeable controller boards for networking and software control Mark Lancaster. 49 muon g–2 experiment. 25 CERN COURIER MAY/JUNE 2021 3 WWW.WIENER-D.COM | WWW.ISEG-HV.COM/MMS iseg_cerncourier_2021_05_06_dv_210413.indd 1 13.04.21 19:14 CCMayJun21_Contents_v3.indd 3 13/04/2021 11:41 CERNCOURIER www. V OLUME 6 1 N UMBER 3 M AY /J U N E 2 0 2 1 CERNCOURIER.COM FROM THE EDITOR Muons making headlines ver since it turned up unexpectedly in cosmic rays 85 years Rayner/CERN M ago, the muon has been a source of intrigue, famously Eprompting Isidor Isaac Rabi to exclaim “Who ordered that?” Similar to the electron in all but mass, it was the harbinger of a second generation of fermions and arguably marked the beginning of modern particle physics. Two results reported in this issue show that interest in the muon is far from over. Matthew Keenly awaited measurements of the muon’s anomalous mag- Chalmers netic moment announced by Fermilab on 7 April (p7) reinforce Editor the anomaly reported by a previous experiment at Brookhaven 20 years ago. Currently, theory and experiment, both known to a precision of better than one part per million, stand 4.2σ Freewheelin’ Artistic sketch of muons (blue) interacting with a apart. Meanwhile, a new LHCb measurement of a parameter magnetic field (purple), including “g–2” contributions, which are called RK, which compares the rate of certain B-meson decays to the subject of intense theoretical efforts (p25). muons and to electrons, strengthens hints that lepton-flavour universality (LFU) is violated in the B sector (p17). The latest RK Fermilab is at the very beginning of a campaign that will result lies 3.1σ f r o m t h e St a n d a rd M o d e l, c o n s t it ut i n g t h e fi r s t ultimately reduce the muon g–2 uncertainty by a factor of at s i n g l e-m e a s u r e m e nt “e v i d e n c e” for L F U v i ol a t i o n, a n d fit t i n g least three, while a completely independent measurement is a pat ter n of flavour anomalies seen by LHCb in recent years. expected from J-PARC in Japan. If something is indeed going Given the many channels studied in particle physics, 3σ on with the muon’s g-factor, it will only be natural that interest IPAC 21 effects come and go all the time. There is also noa priori rea- in a wider muon experimental programme is heightened. This son to expect these particular departures from the Standard includes Mu2e at Fermilab, Mu3e and muEDM at PSI, and COMET May 24 – 28, 2021 Model. The RK anomaly involves a change of quark flavour at J-PARC. A proposed experiment at CERN – where the first g-2 whereas g–2 doesn’t, note theorists, and there is no truly measurements were made 60 years ago (p49) – called MUonE model-independent connection between them. Scalar lepto- aims to precisely determine the leading hadronic contribution quarks and new gauge forces have been invoked to explain the to the g–2 measurement, while theoretical calculations relevant a n o m a l ie s, a n d f u r t h e r s uc h e ffor t s, r e q u i r i n g v a r y i n g fe at s to muon g–2 are an exciting work in progress (p25). of acrobatics, are sure to be uploaded to the arXiv preprint Regarding the flavour anomalies, for which the accom- server in the coming weeks and months. panying theoretical calculations are comparatively much cleaner, new LHCb measurements of RK-related observables Early days are in development, with LHC Run 3 to bring further statistical Clearly it is far too soon to tell if something is amiss with power. The recently started Belle II experiment at SuperKEKB Clearly it is far the muon. But the fact that both anomalies are in the muon in Japan is also building up a dataset that will provide a crucial too soon to tell sector, and that fresh data have caused them to grow rather independent check of the LHCb results in the coming years, than fade, has generated a buzz in the community, and seen while CMS and ATLAS are poised to contribute. if something Vacuum solutions particle physicists’ Twitter channels trend with the hashtag One way or another, the current picture should start to come is amiss with #CautiouslyExcited. The good news is that more measure- into focus towards the middle of the decade, around the time the muon ments are on the way.