Friday Flyer on Monday - May 10, 2021
The Friday Flyer comes out every other week. Look for the next issue on May 21.
Spotlight on Big Analysis of Muons
As you may know, the Big Analysis of Muons (BAM) was pushed back to May 24, 25, and 26. We wanted to get it right before we rolled it out. You might remember BAMC - where the C is for CMS - from spring 2020. This time, BAM features both an ATLAS measurement and a CMS measurement. It is pretty much ready to go and you can find it by going to quarknet.org, selecting the MASTERCLASSES button, and then BIG ANALYSIS OF MUONS. That takes you to the main page, which is effectively the teacher page. The ATLAS and CMS pages are more geared to the students.
So what is BAM? It is a chance for students to have a masterclass experience with authentic ATLAS or CMS data, all online. This make a virtual masterclass very doable. BAM relies on a somewhat simplified measurement (muons only) and plenty of online support in the form of videos and text. There is also support for teachers so they can coach their students in the data analysis. BAM kicks off Monday May 24 with introductory talks via webinar by Don Lincoln from Fermilab (CMS, 8 am US Central Time) and Elodie Resseguie from Lawrence Berkeley Lab (ATLAS, 2 pm US Central Time).
If you have a group of students for BAM, please fill in the registration, due Tuesday May 18. Please note: only teachers should register, making one registration per class.
Join in and get your students to end the academic year with LHC data!
News from QuarkNet Central
The Big Analysis of Muons (BAM) is coming, having been postponed to May 24-26. Learn more above and, by all means, register your class!
Centers are making summer plans! We have some 42 responses now to the QuarkNet RFP. Mentors and teachers, now is a good time to decide on meeting dates and activities, if you have not already done this. When you have new information or items to discuss, please contact the QuarkNet staff teacher who works with your center. (That would be Spencer, Shane, or Ken.)
Are you interested in learning about the latest doings in particle physics education and outreach from the International Particle Physics Outreach Group (IPPOG)? Then register to join the IPPOG forum e-group. An e-group is basically a listserv; the term is derived from Old CERNish.
This is the third-to-last edition of the Friday Flyer this academic year. We come out again on May 21 and June 4 and then we go on our summer shutdown for maintenance and upgrades.
Physics Experiment Roundup
There is plenty of news from the particle world and beyond. We start at Sanford Lab where, according to Fermilab News, rocks gotta move to excavate the DUNE detector cavern. Over at CERN, they will be getting some serious field with the new 11 T magnets being delivered for the High Luminosity LHC, according to CERN Bulletin. The same source also reports the approval of a new LHC experiment, the Scattering and Neutrino Detector at the LHC (SND@LHC), which will measure forward neutrinos produced in collisions in ATLAS.
Getting back to rocks, symmetry explains how physicists might work with geologists to probe for dark matter. APS Physics continues the dark matter search by way of exoplanets and then goes on about neutron stars, probing them with gravitational waves and x-rays, finding that they can be even more massive than we thought, and using the Lead Radius Experiment (PREX) at Jefferson Lab to probe the neutron-rich outermost layers of lead nuclei (iwhich gives insight into, yes, neutron stars).
Resources
Kirsty Duffy is back with a new Even Bananas video about the size of a neutrino and Physics Today gives us information on exotic nuclei and fundamental forces.
Now that we're warmed up we go on to the Universe in my pocket (TUIMP) and their myriad of informative booklets on matters astronomical (H/T Bharat Ratra).
We finish with two interesting resources from USC physicist and Hollywood advisor Clifford Johnson. He offers insights on public outreach in symmetry and a very interesting video, Graphic talk about the universe, in the Fermilab Lecture Series.
Just for Fun
Physics Today: Art and Science.
Fermilab News: Baby bison
That is all.
QuarkNet Staff:
Mark Adams: adams@fnal.gov
Ken Cecire: kcecire@nd.edu
Spencer Pasero: spasero@fnal.gov
Shane Wood: swood5@nd.edu