World's Most Powerful Particle Beam Created by Fermilab Scientists

There may be a new world record for a particle beam. Scientists have announced that Fermilab has set a new world record for the most powerful high-energy particle beam for neutrino experiments.

A key element in a particle-accelerator-based neutrino experiment is the power of the beam that gives birth to neutrinos. The more particles you can back into the beam, the better your chance is to see neutrinos interact in the detector. In this case, the record beam surpasses that of the 400-plus-kilowatt beam sent to neutrino experiments from particle accelerators at CERN.

This is just the first step in several goals at Fermilab. The next is to deliver 700-kilowatt beams to the lab's various experiments. Ultimately, Fermilab plans to make additional upgrades to its accelerator complex over the next decade in order to achieve beam power in excess of 1,000 kilowatts.

"We have the world's highest-power beam for neutrinos, and we're only going up from here," said Ioanis Kourbanis, head of the Main Injector Department at Fermilab, in a news release.

Laboratory-made neutrino experiments start by accelerating a beam of particles, typically protons, and then smashing them into a target to create neutrinos. Scientists then use particle detectors to "catch" as many of these neutrinos as possible and record their interactions.

This latest effort could be huge in terms of particle discoveries.

"Reaching this milestone is a fantastic achievement for Fermilab; beam power is everything in our field," said Mark Thomson, DUNE co-spokesperson. "The ability for Fermilab to deliver, yet again, gives the international neutrino community huge confidence in the future U.S.-hosted neutrino program."

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