Concerns for the future of US particle physics were allayed on Thursday. A panel of senior physicists reporting to the (DoE), the main US funder for accelerator laboratories, said that it should be possible for the US to commit to several cutting-edge projects including a new US-based linear collider, which had been threatened by budget cuts.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 do everything we鈥檇 like to do, it can鈥檛 all go as quickly as it should, but we can do a great deal,鈥� says from the University of Chicago. 鈥淯nder all but the very worst scenario we will be able to make significant progress in all areas.鈥�
Particle physics is at a precarious crossroads in the US, as the hub of activity shifts from the US to Europe. The highest energy accelerator in the world, the at , will be superseded later this year by the (LHC) at , the European centre for particle physics near Geneva. The Tevatron will close in the next few years.
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Continued support for US scientists working at the LHC should be a major priority, the panel said at a meeting chaired by Shochet in Washington DC on Thursday. US researchers comprise the largest group from any single nation working at the LHC, with around half of US particle physicists involved in LHC collaborations.
Sudden cuts
Future collaborations are threatened by the sudden budget cuts imposed in December, when the DoE鈥檚 high-energy physics budget was slashed by $93 million (12%). One upshot was that work on the US-based (ILC), the next-generation particle accelerator after the LHC, was suspended.
This left US physicists facing the possibility that they could be without an advanced accelerator facility of their own for decades. Asian, European and US researchers can use each others鈥� facilities without contributing towards the running costs, but if the US has no facilities to offer, US researchers may be forced to pay to use Asian and European accelerators.
But Shochet鈥檚 panel concludes that last year鈥檚 budget cut was a blip and that government attitudes to fundamental physics are generally positive. After examining several possible future funding scenarios, they say that ILC development should be able to start up again in all but the worst outcomes.
Enigmatic particles
贵别谤尘颈濒补产鈥檚 , designed to fill many of the gaps in our knowledge about tiny, enigmatic particles called neutrinos, should also be released from its frozen status, according to the panel鈥檚 recommendations. If these are implemented, the whole of particle physics should continue to flourish, Shochet says.
鈥淲e tried to come up with that balance where we can make progress on all the major questions in the field,鈥� he told 快猫短视频.
More than a hundred physicists attended the meeting and they voted unanimously to accept the panel鈥檚 recommendations, released to the public today. The recommendations will now be passed to a DoE committee for approval.
Focus on America 鈥� Delve into the science and technology questions facing the USA in our special report.
