Fermilab
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), located just outside Batavia, Illinois, near Chicago, is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory specializing in high-energy particle physics. Since 2007, Fermilab has been operated by the Fermi Research Alliance (FRA), a joint venture of the University of Chicago, and the Universities Research Association (URA); although in 2023, the Department of Energy (DOE) opened bidding for a new contractor due to concerns about the FRA performance.[2] Fermilab is a part of the Illinois Technology and Research Corridor.
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 A satellite view of Fermilab. The two circular structures are the Main Injector Ring (smaller) and Tevatron (larger). | |
| Established | November 21, 1967 (as National Accelerator Laboratory) |
|---|---|
| Research type | Accelerator physics |
| Budget | $546 million (2019)[1] |
Field of research | Accelerator physics |
| Director | Lia Merminga |
| Address | P.O. Box 500 |
| Location | Winfield Township, DuPage County, Illinois, United States 41°49′55″N 88°15′26″W |
| Nickname | Fermilab |
| Affiliations | U.S. Department of Energy University of Chicago Universities Research Association |
| Leon Max Lederman | |
| Website | www |
| Map | |
  Location in Illinois | |
Fermilab's Main Injector, two miles (3.3 km) in circumference, is the laboratory's most powerful particle accelerator.[3] The accelerator complex that feeds the Main Injector is under upgrade, and construction of the first building for the new PIP-II linear accelerator began in 2020.[4] Until 2011, Fermilab was the home of the 6.28 km (3.90 mi) circumference Tevatron accelerator. The ring-shaped tunnels of the Tevatron and the Main Injector are visible from the air and by satellite.
Fermilab aims to become a world center in neutrino physics. It is the host of the multi-billion dollar Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) now under construction.[5] The project has suffered delays and, in 2022, the journals Science and Scientific American each published articles describing the project as "troubled".[6] [7] Ongoing neutrino experiments are ICARUS (Imaging Cosmic and Rare Underground Signals) and NOνA (NuMI Off-Axis νe Appearance). Completed neutrino experiments include MINOS (Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search), MINOS+, MiniBooNE and SciBooNE (SciBar Booster Neutrino Experiment) and MicroBooNE (Micro Booster Neutrino Experiment).
On-site experiments outside of the neutrino program include the SeaQuest fixed-target experiment and Muon g-2. Fermilab continues to participate in the work at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC); it serves as a Tier 1 site in the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid.[8] Fermilab also pursues research in quantum information science.[9] It founded the Fermilab Quantum Institute in 2019.[10] Since 2020, it also is home to the SQMS (Superconducting Quantum and Materials Science) center.[11]
In the public realm, Fermilab is home to a native prairie ecosystem restoration project and hosts many cultural events: public science lectures and symposia, classical and contemporary music concerts, folk dancing and arts galleries. The site is open from dawn to dusk to visitors who present valid photo identification.
Asteroid 11998 Fermilab is named in honor of the laboratory.