MEASURING PROPERTIES OF THE BOTTOM QUARK

Using the ultra-high-energy Fermilab Tevatron collider located in Batavia, Illinois, Professor Pitts and his group study the production and decay properties of the bottom quark, seeking generally to better understand the origins of the universe and mechanisms responsible for its evolution. The Fermilab particle accelerator, known as the Tevatron, collides ultra-high-energy protons and their antimatter counterparts, known as antiprotons. The Tevatron collider allows physicists to measure the properties of states of matter that do not occur naturally.

During his Center appointment, Professor Pitts will continue construction of dedicated, high-speed electronics that measure the properties of more than 2.5 million proton-antiproton collisions per second. In addition, he is the leader of an experimental analysis team that studies the properties of bottom quark decays. His primary interest lies in using the bottom quark to understand further how and why nature treats matter and antimatter differently.