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Top turns 10, in a manner of speaking
After the discovery of a new elementary particle 10 years ago by Fermilab's CDF and DZero detector collaborations, a group from DZero threw a party. Between bottles of bubbly celebrating the top quark's detection, a contest of brains was in full-swing. The challenge: translate the title of the discovery paper, "Observation of the top quark," into as many languages spoken within the collaboration as possible. The prize: a bottle of wine.
Many of those hand-written translations, which had been saved by DZero physicist Meenakshi Narain, were on display at Fermilab in October as scientists honored the 10th anniversary of the top quark discovery. Hundreds of Tevatron collaborators, past and present, gathered with national and international scientists for the Top Turns Ten celebration. In addition to a day of speeches and reflections, visitors inspected an array of posters highlighting the discovery's technical aspects, its meaning, and the parties that ensued.
Next to a poster of DZero collaborators drinking beer and toasting champagne appeared the translations, about 40, in languages from Korean to Berber. "The whole party was into it, walking up to each other and saying ‘Hey, I speak this language, what do you speak?'" said Narain, a DZero postdoc at the time of the discovery. "It was a great way to learn about people's backgrounds." With 36 translations, Narain won. But just behind her was University of California, Riverside, physicist Ann Heinson, an assistant research physicist at the time. One of Heinson's translations: "DZero takes a butchers at the top quark." The tongue: Cockney. "I figured I might as well add my own language," she said.
Kendra Snyder
