On the Eve of Collider Run II

As the days dwindled down to a precious few, people from the Fermilab community and beyond shared their thoughts about the imminent start of Collider Run II at the Tevatron.

Andre Turcot, Dzero Collaborator:
I hope it works.

Robin Erbacher, CDF Collaborator:
I'm ready to get my hands on some data and analyze it.

Michael Witherell, Director Fermilab
Thank God we are starting on time. Now we can look forward to the excitement of seeing new physics results. We can't predict what Nature has in store for us. All we can guarantee is the opportunity for discovery.

Dan Johnson, deputy chief, Accelerator Operations:
When a shutdown starts, we have lots of time. Now, however, it's the hectic moment where we have to get everything together and come up, so it's exciting.

Boaz Klima, DZero collaborator:
Three years to the next discovery. Either the Higgs or something even more exciting. I have a mass prediction for the Higgs: 123 GeV.

Jonathan Dorfan, director, SLAC:
The discovery reach of Run II is breathtaking. Your friends at SLAC look forward to celebrating with you some early successes.

Gene Fisk, DZero collaborator:
This moment in the history of particle physics represents the culmination of preparations by Fermilab, experiment collaborators and the worldwide scientific and engineering communities in the search for new physics. We look forward to the physics revelations that will follow.

Joe Lykken, Theory Group:
Two recent results from other experiments add to the excitement of Run II. The g minus two results from Brookhaven have a straightforward interpretation as signs of supersymmetry with light particles. The increasingly interesting sine two beta results from BABARadd to the importance of B physics in Run II, and also suggest new physics. I will be shocked and disappointed if we don't have at least one major discovery.

Bob Mau, chief, Accelerator Operations:
The next couple of weeks should be quite exciting. This start-up is no different from any other. I always go into these things feeling like we're doomed, but we never are. We have a lot of good people here.

Steve Holmes, associate director:
I hope it works. I'll feel satisfied if we achieve five times ten to the thirty-one by December 31-- I won't say what year.

Wyatt Merritt, DZero collaborator:
I remember the excitement of being able to look at real data from the Run I detector after the many years of waiting, and Run II should be even more exciting.For DZero, the upgrade has so much new capability that it is like a completely different detector, and there is so much physics that can be done with it that we will feel like kids in a candy store.

Harry Weerts, DZero cospokesman:
I am surprised at the perception that Run IIa is just an appetizer for Run IIb, the main course. If we don't see new physics in Run IIa, then it's unlikely that we will see it in Run IIb. But Run IIb is important, to run up the Higgs curve. In Run IIa, we will increase our data over Run I by a factor of 20. Then in Run IIb, it will only be a factor of seven. The first step is the largest one; that's why it's important to do a good job on IIa. Run IIa is the main course. Run IIb is the dessert.

Young-Kee Kim, CDF collaborator:
It's exciting. I've been completely absorbed by the detector, but now commissioning is continuing beyond just the detector to the experiment and offline analysis. CDF has a lot of potential. We don't know what Run II will bring.

Avi Yagil, CDF collaborator:
I'm jubilant. Our detector is in great shape, and it is a beautiful thing. Now we have to make it happen. But we should not predict what discoveries we will make. We are like space explorers; we don't know what we are looking for. God put it there we're just searching. We have models and predictions, but we do not know what's out there.

Matthias Kasemann, Computing Division head:
One of the biggest challenges of modern HEP experiments is the huge data volume. HEP is a very data-intensive science. Fast and efficient access to several hundred terabytes of data determines the time it takes to produce the scientific answer, who finds the Higgs first. Both CDF and DZero have developed elaborate data-handling systems to manage their data and to reduce it to the final set of plots for publication. I hope the investment pays off and we will learn something substantial from Run II data. The experiments are well prepared to discover what is out there to discover.

Bob Kephart, co-project manager, CDF upgrade:
It has been a long haul, five years since the last time CDF took physics data. The new CDF II detector is now complete and installed. I think CDF is right where we wanted to be with more than five years before the LHC competition arrives. Just a few more things to work out before Run II Physics. (like...commissioning a whole new detector and new offline software: details, details) It should be fun!

Rob Roser, CDF collaborator:
Run II is very exciting. Our sensitivity to new physics is not just the factor of 20 increase in luminosity. We gain an additional factor due to increase in beam energy (40 percent in the case of the top quark) and an additional increase due to the improved acceptance and efficiency of our silicon detectors. For top physics, we are looking at about a 50-fold improvement! Lets get started!

Florencia Canelli, DZero grad student:
I believe that graduate students deserve special gratitude for the upgrade effort. Many students worked (and are still working) full time and spent years on upgrade projects at the expense of graduating in a reasonable amount of time. Let the data come, and let the students go!!!

Cathy Newman-Homes, co-project manager, CDF upgrade:
Like everyone else, I am looking forward to the start of Run II. I started working on the CDF upgrade in February, 1992, so it's like giving birth after being pregnant for nine years

Luciano Maiani, CERN director general:
After the very exciting final year of LEP, the torch for exploring the high-energy frontier of physics has now passed to the Tevatron. I would like to wish all at Fermilab the very best of luck on the start up of Run II. Enjoy the physics, and listen hard for the LHC coming up behind!