SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Emulating an electron beam in our X-ray laser ?? This slithery sector 0 visitor was photographed by SLAC scientist Eric Cunningham just in time for #WildlifeWednesday. Sector 0 is where an optical laser kicks electrons out of a photocathode, producing an electron beam inside our new superconducting accelerator. That beam later gets wiggled inside magnets to produce X-rays. Even the most powerful X-rays in the world need a little wiggle to make rattling discoveries!

Studying history, and making it ?? Congratulations to physicist and historian of physics Michael Riordan for winning the American Physical Society 2025 Abraham Pais Prize for the History of Physics. The award recognizes Riordan’s "important contributions to the history of post-World II physics, including the discovery of quarks, the invention and development of the transistor, and the search for the Higgs boson; and for making these stories interesting and accessible to both non-academic and academic readers." https://lnkd.in/gVSrijV8

These are our users: Scientists from around the world who conduct research at SLAC’s light sources shine light on the latest discoveries and innovations in talks, workshops and discussions. Learn more about our recent users' meeting: https://lnkd.in/gyzQ9a_Y

Congratulations to Kelly Gaffney, professor of photon science at SLAC and Stanford University, for being named among the 2024 fellows of the American Physical Society! Fellowship recognizes members for their outstanding efforts to advance physics, and Gaffney is selected for “seminal contributions to the development of novel ultrafast X-ray methods and their application to solution phase chemical and molecular dynamics.” Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gX4SYhfa

Even before completion, the SLAC-built LSST Camera is already winning photography awards. The world’s largest digital camera will soon be mounted on the Rubin Observatory in Chile. Before it traveled to South America, a CNRS team built a filter exchange system for the camera and came to SLAC to test it. This photo captured the team reflecting in the filters themselves, and was recently recognized with one of the top prizes in the 2024 CNRS Physics of the Universe photo competition. #CapturingTheCosmos

50 years ago, the discovery of the J/psi particle launched the modern era of particle physics. On November 11, 1974, teams working with two of the world’s most powerful accelerators at Brookhaven National Laboratory and SLAC announced that they had independently discovered the same elementary particle. Burton Richter and colleagues from SLAC and Berkeley Lab made their discovery of a new particle they called “psi” by colliding electrons and their antimatter opposites in SLAC’s SPEAR ring collider. Samuel Ting’s Massachusetts Institute of Technology team had found the particle by smashing protons into a beryllium target at Brookhaven National Laboratory. They named it “J”. Two years later Richter and Ting shared the Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery of the J/psi particle. Their findings proved that the theory of quarks as fundamental building blocks of matter was correct, sparking a “November revolution” launching rapid progress in our understanding of the basic laws of nature. We’re hosting a one-day symposium to revisit the history leading up to this discovery, the observations from both labs, and the continuing influence of their findings. Join us virtually on #NationalSTEMDay Nov.8: https://bit.ly/3ZZzJY7

Want to learn about an ancient pathway and the modern tools at SLAC that are helping to illuminate this chemical messenger from the dawn of life? Tune into tonight’s #SLACPublicLecture to find out more from Macon Abernathy, and stick around after for a live Q&A: stanford.io/4gZZMo8

How did the earliest organisms on Earth evolve the means to thrive, grow, and reproduce under the sparse conditions of our young planet? Join the #SLACPublicLecture tomorrow, when Macon Abernathy will share how scientists use SLAC’s Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource to reveal more about an ancient pathway from Earth’s earliest eras: stanford.io/4gZZMo8

Did you come out to our STEM Community Day? ?? Interactive exhibits, engaging demos, and group tours showcased some of the amazing science happening at SLAC! If you missed this opportunity to join us, you can check out one of our upcoming tours: https://lnkd.in/gCiZwz49

?? We'll be tabling at next week's Quantum Career Fair! Stop by the SLAC booth and learn more about opportunities in quantum science and engineering: https://lnkd.in/gYwx2_-Y #SLAChires #hiring #opportunity