WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. physicists have come up with an exciting new plan to “detect the quantum universe,” from the tiniest bits of matter to the furthest reaches of the cosmos.
On December 7 the Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel (P5), a committee of experts that gathers approximately once a decade, unveiled its draft document, laying out a roadmap for U.S. particle physics over the next two decades. “What we are really after is: ‘How does the universe work?’” says Hitoshi Murayama, chair of P5 and a theorist at the University of California, Berkeley.
To advance this age-old quest, the P5 document put forward a number of key recommendations, including crucial cost-saving measures for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), a ambitious $3-billion effort in South Dakota that is currently the nation’s largest particle physics endeavor. The 164-page document also provided strong support for building the Cosmic Microwave Background Stage IV (CMB-S4) project—a series of telescopes to study the early universe—and for pursuing R&D for a muon collider, a technically challenging goal that could yield discoveries of new particles and interactions.
The recommendations have received a mostly positive reception, despite some cuts. “We are excited about the document,” says Lia Merminga, director of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) in Batavia, Ill. “We enthusiastically believe it offers an ambitious vision and roadmap.”
For proponents of a muon collider, it was like Christmas come early: Language in the document called for a “muon shot” akin to the “moonshot” of the U.S. Apollo program in the 1960s. “I am extremely elated,” says Isobel Ojalvo, an experimental particle physicist at Princeton University. Ojalvo and other early career researchers are excited about a muon collider, she says, “not only because it’s a paradigm shift in particle physics but also because it is a challenging problem to solve.”
On Monday, a group of researchers gathered at Fermilab, the center of U.S. particle physics. They discussed the document and its implications, with hours of questions and comments ranging from technical scientific inquiries to concerns about the document’s formatting.
After the questions ended, the physicists made their way to a reception where Murayama and Merminga cut into a cake decorated with a clear message: “SHOOT FOR THE MUON.”
Originate Questions
Throughout the past century, physicists have used experiments of increasing power and precision to explore how the universe works at the smallest scales. Their efforts have led to the Standard Model of particle physics, which describes the fundamental building blocks of matter (leptons and quarks) and the forces that control them (the electromagnetic, strong and weak forces). At the same time, scientists have also developed a standard model of cosmology to account for the largest scales. This is a recipe for the evolution of the universe, from the beginning of time to today (and beyond): Start with the big bang. Add one part dark matter, » …Read More
