Friday Flyer - March 4, 2016

Spotlight on the Vanderbilt University QuarkNet Center: Vanderbilt continues to be an active QuarkNet center led by mentor Dr. William Gabella, with the support of emeritus mentor Dr. Med Webster and lead teacher Terry King. In 2015, the center offered a weeklong summer workshop with nine teachers participating. Much of the 2015 workshop focused on using cosmic ray muon detectors and included a two-day cosmic workshop led by Bob Peterson. On Thursday of the workshop week, 11 high school students joined the teachers and used the CRMDs to perform a speed of muon experiment. Teachers also had a chance to view several physics demos by theorist and demo curator Dr. Sourish Dutta, some of which teachers were able to adapt to bring to their own classrooms.

News from QuarkNet Central: Masterclass season is in full swing, as students all over the world learn, analyze, collaborate and connect. Feel free to follow or contribute to masterclass via social media including Twitter, @physicsIMC and #LHCIMC16, and Facebook.

Physics Experiment Roundup: The Tevatron at Fermilab hasn't been operational since 2011, but analysis of data from its detectors continues. Recently, physicists analyzing data from the DZero detector announced that they have discovered a new four-flavor particle, the tetraquark. See this Fermilab article for more technical details about the tetraquark.

Resources: Do the mysterious scribbles of Feynman diagrams keep you scratching your head? Then check out Don Lincoln's recent video about them, and learn the basics about these diagrams. Ever heard of a sterile neutrino? Learn more about this even sneakier neutrino possibility in this symmetry article. 

Just for Fun: A nice photo this week from Fermilab . . . reflection of Wilson Hall on car at sunset. (Photo from Fermilab This Week, Valery Stanley)

QuarkNet Staff:
Mark Adams: adams@fnal.gov
Ken Cecire: kcecire@nd.edu
Shane Wood: swood5@nd.edu