Helping to Unravel the
Mysteries of the Universe
J
efferson Science Associates (JSA), a joint venture
between Southeastern Universities Research
Association, Inc. (SURA) and PAE, manages and
operates the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator
Facility (Jefferson Lab) in Newport News, Virginia, one
of ten research facilities funded by the U.S. Department
of Energy’s Office of Science. JSA is responsible for
the design, construction, operation, maintenance and
management of the facility.
Researching Life’s Smallest Matter to Understand the Universe
Jefferson Lab is a renowned nuclear physics research facility whose mission is to expand knowledge of
the universe by studying sub-atomic particles known as quarks and gluons. These building blocks
of matter, as scientists call them, combine to form protons and neutrons that are found in the nucleus
Jefferson Science Associates or JSA, a PAE joint
venture, manages and operates Jefferson Lab, a nuclear
physics research facility in Newport News, Virginia.
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Q3 2016 | Inside PAE | Technical Services
of the atom. Although scientists
understand matter’s makeup,
they don’t understand how the
particles build our world and
universe.
“This kind of science explores
the most fundamental mysteries:
Why are we here? Why is it
that one particular combination
of quarks and forces takes on
that material property, while a
different combination of quarks
and forces makes up the human
body?” said Jefferson Lab Chief
Planning Officer Dr. Allison Lung.
“What makes Jefferson Lab
unique is that we conduct
experiments with a continuous
electron
beam
versus
a
pulsating one,” said Jefferson
Lab Public Affairs Specialist
Debbie Magaldi. The continuous
electron beam acts as a “giant
microscope” to study matter deep
inside the nucleus of the atom.
“It’s a special kind of technology
called
superconducting
Few
radiofrequency.
facilities in the world can do what
we do here.”
Attracting Scientists From
Around the World
Each year, Jefferson Lab attracts
hundreds of researchers to its
facility to conduct experiments in
nuclear physics. “The resources
we have here are highly attractive
to scientists,” said Debbie.
Scientists who want to conduct
experiments
at
Jefferson
JSA performs all operations and
Lab submit proposals and
management of the laboratory
then argue the merits of their
and oversees the research
experiment to the Program
program for visiting scientists or
Advisory Committee, made
“users” who travel to the lab to
up of international and worldconduct experiments. “In order
renowned nuclear physicists
to continuously attract scientists,
and accelerator scientists. “The
we must maintain a cutting-edge
committee looks for two things,”
research machine,” explained
Debbie explained. “First, will
Allison.
“The
operations,
experiment results produce
maintenance and management
valuable outcomes for the
of the lab is imperative to the
mission.”
JSA employees Phil Adderley and Yan Wang carefully
position a spherical electrode on its base in an injector test
facility. The electrode and insulating base are part of an
electron source, which generates electrons for use in particle
accelerators. Adderley and Wang are testing the elements for
high-voltage applications.
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called
detector
packages.
Detector packages track the
charge of the particles, the
trajectory and the energy
momentum of the particles. The
captured data allows scientists
to calculate and determine what
those particles looked like or
how they were behaving at the
point of impact.
Jefferson Lab’s CEBAF “accelerates”
beams of electrons using superconducting
radiofrequency technology, which is
encapsulated in large, cylindrical vessels
called cryomodules. There are more than
50 cryomodules in CEBAF. Electrons may
circulate through CEBAF as little as half an
orbit to as many as 5.5 times. The blue and
red magnets, seen here, keep the electron
beam on track.
Experiments Seek to Confirm
Our Theories of What Makes
Up Matter
One of the most highly anticipated
experiments will take place in a
newly constructed facility that
transforms the electron beam
into a high-energy beam of
photons— or particles of light.
“For that particular experiment,
we are trying to create new
particles—dubbed exotic hybrid
mesons—never before seen
but predicted by a theory,” said
Debbie.
The new facility is a part of an
upgrade that is nearly complete.
The upgrade tripled the energy
of CEBAF’s electron beam over
the original design, allowing it
to explore even deeper into the
international community, and
second, can it be done?”
The committee is very strict
about
which
experiments
get
approved.
Once
approved,
the
committee
makes
recommendations
to lab leadership regarding
experiment
priorities
and
run times. “Scheduling is
key,” Debbie added. “Some
experiments have to run longer
than others, and we can only
conduct so many at one time.”
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Q3 2016 | Inside PAE | Technical Services
Studying Matter at the Speed
of Light
Jefferson
Lab
uses
the
Continuous Electron Beam
Accelerator Facility (CEBAF)
to carry out experiments that
take a few weeks to several
years to complete. The tunnel
of the accelerator curves at
each end, making it look like
a racetrack. The accelerator
propels a beam of electrons at
close to the speed of light into
targets, which are positioned in
four experimental halls (or end
stations). Large, stainless-steel
vessels called cryomodules
contain the components that
“accelerate” the electron beam,
while magnets, of different sizes
and types, focus and steer the
beam. The electrons in the
beam probe the building blocks
of matter in the targets.
Target composition changes
depending on the research.
Targets can be made of any
element on the Periodic Table
and in various forms, such as
hydrogen or helium gas or solid
carbon or lead. Targets are
situated near massive devices
“
heart of matter. “Through part of
the ongoing upgrade process,
we have refurbished or replaced
virtually every one of the many
thousands of components in
CEBAF,” said Allison, who serves
as the project lead. Parts of the
upgrade are already complete,
with the fully upgraded machine
expected to come on-line in
2017.
Saving
Lives
Through
Research
While Jefferson Lab research
focuses on exploring the nature
of matter, the public is already
reaping tangible benefits. “One
of our greatest successes so
far is the transfer of detector
technology to nuclear medicine,”
said Debbie. “For example,
when people get a mammogram,
doctors can detect the density
of structures inside the breast.
Denser areas could mean cancer,
or could be completely normal.
Instead of detecting only tissue
density, which a mammogram
does, nuclear medicine allows
doctors to see what those cells
are actually doing for more
accurate diagnoses.”
JSA licensed a number of patents
for their detector technologies to
a company, Dilon Technologies,
for a machine for breast
imaging. This new machine uses
nuclear detection technology
to spot cancers in women that
mammograms can’t detect.
“We have saved lives with this
technology,” said Debbie.
Radical Research
“Back in the 1800s, we
discovered electricity and did
not know what to use it for,” said
Debbie. “But now, what would
life be like without it? That same
type of life-altering discovery is
what the research conducted
at Jefferson Lab is laying the
groundwork for right now. We
in JSA are supporting that. We
don’t always know what the
research will be used for, but
give it 100 years, and it may just
change everything.”
CEBAF propels an electron beam
at close to the speed of light into
targets, which are positioned
near
detector
packages
in
one of four experimental halls
like the one pictured below.
Few facilities
in the world
can do what
we do here.
”
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