. 24/7 Space News .
STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Ground broken on beamline for most advanced neutrino experiment
by Staff Writers
Batavia IL (SPX) Nov 15, 2019

In attendance at the groundbreaking ceremony were Jim Siegrist, Associate Director of Science for High-Energy Physics for the U.S. Department of Energy; Mark Thomson, Executive Director of the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council; Sergio Bertolucci of the National Institute for Nuclear Physics in Italy; Patrice Verdier, Deputy Director of IN2P3-CNRS in France; Manfred Krammer, Head of the Experimental Physics Department at CERN; Maciej Chorowski of the Wroclaw University of Science and Technology in Poland; Roberto Cesar, Special Advisor for the Sao Paulo Research Foundation FAPESP in Brazil; a representative from U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth's office and local mayors and elected officials. Fermilab also received messages of support from U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, U.S. Representative Lauren Underwood (IL-14) and U.S. Representative Bill Foster (IL-11).

The U.S. Department of Energy's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory joined with its international partners this week to break ground on a new beamline that will help scientists learn more about ghostly particles called neutrinos.

The beamline is part of the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF), which will house the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), an international endeavor to build and operate the world's most advanced experiment to study neutrinos.

Hosted by Fermilab, LBNF will send trillions of neutrinos 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) through the Earth to South Dakota - a journey that requires no tunnel, as neutrinos are rarely stopped by matter. On their way, the neutrinos will cross two DUNE particle detectors: one at Fermilab and one a mile underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota.

DUNE is a truly international experiment, bringing together more than 1,000 scientists from more than 30 countries around the world.

The last two years have been busy ones for this project. In July of 2017, Fermilab and its international partners convened at Sanford Lab for a unique groundbreaking ceremony a mile under the surface, kicking off construction of the South Dakota portion of the facility that will house the largest of the DUNE particle detectors.

And earlier this year, Fermilab began work on its site in Illinois for a new linear accelerator, part of its Proton Improvement Plan II (PIP-II) that will power the world's most intense beam of neutrino particles, produced by LBNF. DUNE scientists will use this beam to study the properties of these tiny, elusive particles that could hold clues to many of the universe's most closely guarded secrets.

This ceremony celebrated the start of the site preparation work for the Illinois portion of LBNF. Over the next few years Fermilab will build a new beamline for its accelerator complex to direct those neutrino particles to South Dakota, and an underground cavern on the Fermilab site to house a multi-component particle detection system. Collectively that detector area and beamline are known as the LBNF near site, and it's the final piece of the puzzle that will bring DUNE to life.

At the Fermilab site, crews will construct a new beamline that will extract proton particles from Fermilab's largest accelerator, the Main Injector, and precisely aim them toward the DUNE detector in South Dakota. As part of the project, crews will also excavate an underground cavern on the Fermilab site that will hold a target hall (where the protons smash into a target to create smaller particles), a decay area (where the beam is filtered until it is almost entirely neutrinos) and a sophisticated particle detector, one designed to characterize the beam so scientists know exactly what they are sending to South Dakota and can predict what should show up on the receiving end.

Much of that work will happen over the coming years. The initial work will prepare the site for the beamline. Crews will deliver a clear field for the main construction. The road that runs around the Main Injector will also be re-routed out of the footprint of the future beamline facilities. For more on the upcoming work at the LBNF near site, read this article.

When completed, LBNF/DUNE will be the most advanced neutrino experiment ever built, and the largest experiment ever built in the United States. At its peak, construction of LBNF is expected to create almost 2,000 jobs in Illinois and a similar number in South Dakota. The experiment will attract students and young scientists from around the world, helping to foster the next generation of scientists and engineers.

Scientists on DUNE will study the interactions of neutrinos in both detectors, looking to better understand the changes these particles undergo as they travel across the Midwest in the blink of an eye. Scientists have known for some time that neutrinos come in three types. One of the most surprising things scientists have learned about neutrino, however, is that they change between those three types as they travel long distances. DUNE will bring us closer to understanding the mechanism that makes that possible.

DUNE scientists also will look for the differences in behavior between neutrinos and their antimatter counterparts, antineutrinos, which could give clues as to why the visible universe is dominated by matter.

In addition, DUNE will watch for neutrinos produced when a star explodes, which could reveal the formation of neutron stars and black holes and will investigate whether protons live forever or eventually decay, bringing us closer to fulfilling Einstein's dream of a grand unified theory.


Related Links
Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment
Stellar Chemistry, The Universe And All Within It


Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly


paypal only
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal


STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Giant neutrino telescope to open window to ultra-high-energy universe
Beijing, China (SPX) Oct 29, 2019
The long-sought, elusive ultra-high-energy neutrinos, ghost-like particles that travel cosmological-scale distances, are key to understanding the Universe at the highest energies. Detecting them is challenging, but the Giant Radio Array for Neutrino Detection (GRAND), a next-generation neutrino detector is designed to find them. A decades-old mystery: where are the most energetic particles coming from? A major open question in astrophysics for the past fifty years has been the origin of the ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
UAE's first astronaut urges climate protection on Earth

Commerce leaders introduce the NASA Authorization Act of 2019

Are we set to taste space wine

Cygnus NG-12 cargo vehicle looking good on arrival

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
ATLAS Space Operations partners with Aevum to support ASLON-45 Space Lift

All four engines are attached to the SLS Core Stage for Artemis I

Advanced electric propulsion thruster for NASA's Gateway achieves full power demonstration

Not your average rocket launch; 45th SW supports Pegasus ICON

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
NASA's Mars 2020 will hunt for microscopic fossils

At future Mars landing spot, scientists spy mineral that could preserve signs of past life

ESA's Mars orbiters did not see latest Curiosity methane burst

With Mars methane mystery unsolved, Curiosity serves scientists a new one: oxygen

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Beijing eyes creating first Earth-Moon economic zone

China conducts simulated weightlessness experiment for long-term stay in space

China plans more space science satellites

China's absence from global space conference due to "visa problem" causes concern

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Space Talks 2019: bringing space to you

SpaceX faces competitors in race to build Internet-satellite constellation

EU must boost spending in space or be squeezed out: experts

SpaceX launches Starlink satellites with first reused rocket nose

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
Plasma crystal research on the ISS

A cheaper way to scale up atomic layer deposition

Headwall and geo-konzept Announce Hyperspectral Remote-Sensing Center in Europe

Florida aerospace forum showcases expanding space-related technology

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
NASA instrument to probe planet clouds on European mission

Distant worlds under many suns

Study refines which exoplanets are potentially habitable

Life on Venus and the interplanetary transfer of biota from Earth

STELLAR CHEMISTRY
NASA renames faraway ice world 'Arrokoth' after backlash

New Horizons Kuiper Belt Flyby object officially named 'Arrokoth'

Juice cast in gold

SwRI to plan Pluto orbiter mission









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.