Theoretical physics
Branch of physics
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| January 13 2025 | Laboratory Director Lea Merminga resigned, with Young-Kee Kim from the University of Chicago appointed as Acting Director. |
| January 1 2025 | Department of Energy established new management for Fermilab, with the Fermi Forward Discovery Group, LLC (FFDG) taking over. |
| November 2024 | Fermilab laid off 2.5% of its workforce in an attempt to address ongoing financial challenges. |
| October 1 2024 | Department of Energy awarded the laboratory management contract to the Fermi Forward Discovery Group, LLC (FFDG). |
| August 2024 | Fermilab underwent a one-week furlough and closure of operations due to a budget shortfall. |
| July 29 2024 | Fermilab Director Lia Merminga issued a brief response to the whistleblower allegations, dismissing some claims and telling scientific staff to 'stop whining' at an All Hands Meeting. |
| July 15 2024 | A detailed whistleblower report was uploaded to the arXiv physics preprint server, exposing alleged cover-ups and workplace issues at Fermilab. |
| June 2024 | The whistleblower report was delivered to DOE officials Dr. Juston Fontaine and Geraldine Richmond, detailing multiple allegations of misconduct at Fermilab. |
| 2023 | An incident involving guns on the Fermilab site occurred, with allegations of cover-up and subsequent promotion of the perpetrator. |
| September 1 2023 | Bonnie Fleming announced a temporary shutdown of the Fermilab accelerator system for safety reasons. |
| August 2023 | Fermilab researchers announced more evidence that muons are not behaving as predicted by current sub-atomic physics theory, potentially indicating the existence of a new force of nature. |
| June 2023 | SeaQuest experiment completed its run. |
| June 2023 | ANNIE (Accelerator Neutrino Neutron Interaction Experiment) completed its run, with plans for a future run. |
| June 2023 | MicroBooNE (Micro Booster Neutrino Experiment) completed its experimental run. |
| June 2023 | Muon g−2 experiment, measuring the anomalous magnetic dipole moment of the muon, completed its run. |
| June 2023 | MINERνA (Main INjector ExpeRiment with νs on As) completed its experimental run. |
| June 2023 | ICARUS experiment is currently running at Fermilab after being relocated from Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS). |
| June 2023 | MiniBooNE (Mini Booster Neutrino Experiment) completed its experimental run. |
| June 2023 | NOνA (NuMI Off-axis νe Appearance) experiment is currently running. |
| May 2023 | Director Lia Merminga posted a response on the Fermilab website addressing the public petition about access restrictions, defending the new access policies. |
| May 25 2023 | A contractor fell 23 ft while working on the PIP II project site, requiring air-lifting to hospital in what was considered the worst on-site accident in decades. |
| March 1 2023 | DOE held an informational meeting for potential bidders, highlighting significant challenges in financial and acquisition management at Fermilab. |
| March 1 2023 | Informational meeting for potential management contract bidders revealed ongoing tritium contamination challenges at Fermilab, with tritium from the NuMI beamline integrated into the industrial water cooling system across the research complex. |
| January 2023 | The Department of Energy (DOE) announced a two-year process to rebid the contract for Fermilab's management due to ongoing performance issues. |
| 2022 | A sexual harassment lawsuit was filed and won by a NOvA and DUNE collaborator in the UK against Fermilab. |
| 2022 | Science and Scientific American published articles describing the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) as 'troubled'. |
| 2022 | Department of Energy Office of Science decided to phase the LBNF/DUNE experiment due to rising costs, with Phase I targeting completion of two detector modules by 2028–29 and beamline by 2032. |
| November 7 2022 | Regina (Gina) Rameika joined the DOE's Office of Science as the associate director for High Energy Physics. |
| September 2022 | Deputy director for Research Joseph Lykken announced he would step down, to be replaced by Bonnie Fleming from Yale. |
| April 2022 | PIP-II project approved for construction with $978M from the Department of Energy and an additional $330M from international partners. |
| March 31 2022 | James Siegrist, associate director for High Energy Physics in the Department of Energy Office of Science, stepped down. |
| February 9 2022 | Patricia McBride, a Fermilab physicist, was elected spokesperson of the CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid) collaboration at CERN, representing a significant leadership role in international particle physics research. |
| 2021 | Fermilab reported initial study results that potentially challenge the Standard Model, suggesting the possibility of discovering new forces and particles. |
| 2021 | Fermilab announced a breakthrough in superconducting YBCO magnet technology, capable of increasing field strength at 290 tesla per second and reaching a peak magnetic field strength of around 0.5 tesla. |
| September 2021 | Nigel Lockyer resigned as Director of Fermilab and was replaced by Lia Merminga. |
| 2020 | High-energy physics community expressed concern about major project costs diverting funds from core research, leading to a congressional budget increase of about $250M for high-energy physics. |
| 2020 | Fermilab began introducing severe restrictions on site access for both public and scientists, marking a significant departure from its traditionally open laboratory model. |
| 2020 | Construction began on the first building for the new PIP-II linear accelerator. |
| 2020 | Began construction of the first building for the PIP-II accelerator, located near the Booster ring on a portion of the former Tevatron site. |
| 2020 | Prototype detector (ProtoDUNE) completed test beam data collection, demonstrating over 99% efficiency. |
| 2020 | Became home to the SQMS (Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems) Center. |
| 2019 | Fermilab founded the Fermilab Quantum Institute. |
| 2019 | US Department of Energy began raising flags about Fermilab's performance, starting a series of low performance grades in subsequent years. |
| 2018 | Large prototype detector at CERN began taking data with test beam. |
| 2018 | Fermilab began taking data for the Muon g−2 experiment, continuing the research from the Brookhaven experiment. |
| 2018 | Planned replacement of Booster cavities with a new design. |
| 2017 | The ICARUS neutrino experiment was relocated from CERN to Fermilab, expanding the laboratory's neutrino research capabilities. |
| 2016 | Conceptual Design Report for LBNF/DUNE project published, initially projecting first two detector modules to be complete by 2024 and beam operational by 2026. |
| 2015 | Expected completion of Linac vacuum pump replacements and Booster cavity refurbishment, preparing for increased beam repetition rate. |
| September 2015 | The transported superconducting magnet was refurbished and powered on, confirming its original magnetic field uniformity of 0.13%. |
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