Coming Revolution in Particle Physics. Report of the Fermilab Long Range Planning Committee

摘要

In early 2003, the Fermilab Director formed a committee (Appendix A) to examine options for the long-range future of Fermilab. Specifically, the committee was asked to respond to a charge (Appendix B), which laid out the assumptions, which were to underlie our discussions. The committee met a few times during the spring of 2003 and formulated a plan of action. It identified a number of issues that deserved attention, and a subcommittee was formed to focus on each. We agreed that in addressing these key issues, a broader participation was appropriate. The manner in which that was achieved varied from subcommittee to subcommittee to group. In some cases the expanded membership participated in all the discussions, in others, particular presentations were solicited and heard. Some subgroups met regularly over several months, others convened only for a small number of discussions. We have attempted to list participants in Appendix C. General presentations indicating the purpose of the work were given, for example at the Fermilab Users Annual Meeting. In the remainder of the report we use chapter 2 to describe the Physics Landscape 2010-2020, which is the basis for what we would like to see happen. In chapter 3 we discuss the Linear Collider, which will be a major component of the laboratory program under any scenario and, if constructed nearby, a dominant one. In chapter 4 we describe a vigorous but evolutionary program to address the key neutrino physics areas, and in chapter 5 we discuss attractive initiatives, which would provide the necessary powerful source of protons and, hence, neutrinos for this program. A strong participation in the machine, the experiment (CMS), and the physics at the Large Hadron Collider is a constant for our deliberations and is discussed in chapter 6. Astroparticlephysics, which was introduced to the Laboratory twenty years ago, continues to develop and its growth is discussed in chapter 7. Accelerator research and development, the underpinning of our science core is addressed in chapter 8, and its sister discipline, detector research and development, is covered in chapter 9. In chapter 10 we examine the interdisciplinary science close to our field, which encircles our laboratory. In chapter 11 we outline some of the resource issues and the extent to which they were addressed before we present the conclusions.