D Zero week

A few weeks ago, the D Zero experiment had its collaboration meeting. As I have just started my PhD, this was my first time at the experiment, and indeed my first time in America! It was a bit of an adventure, which is why I have taken so long to write about it (I needed to recover first), but it was a good experience.

About D Zero itself; D Zero is a general purpose detector for the Tevatron accelerator. The laboratory (Fermilab) is essentially built in a nature reserve; originally, the land was all arable fields, but now it has been reclaimed as prairie land (complete with buffalo, coyote and all sorts of other animals). Obviously, it was fairly cold out there, but I was quite happy - until I 'found' that frozen stream, that is.

It was good to meet the people who work on D Zero; I have done Summer work at CERN in the past, and I found the atmosphere at the two laboratories is very different. I learnt a lot about the experiment itself, as well as how the collaboration works.

I was also able to spend some time in the city. I like Chicago a lot, especially the beach, the Art Institute and the Millennium park. I had a rather unfortunate experience at Lincoln Park Zoo, but it would be best not to go into details here.

Overall, I really enjoyed the whole trip; it was very valuable to me, and now I have a clearer idea of where my PhD is going.