The International Linear Collider, a cornerstone of future progress in physics, is many years away. But as I am constantly reminded, the seeds of groundbreaking experiments are planted in one decade, to be harvested in another. BaBar, the experiment I work on here at SLAC, is an example. Conceived of in the late ’80s as the “Stanford Beauty Factory”, it finished construction in 1999 and started operations in 2000. It’s now 2006, and there are two years left. That means that from conception to completion, the B factory is a 20 year project. And, data analysis will continue until at least 2012.
Today begins the planting of a new era. For many years, groups have been forming across the globe to design and develop accelerator and detector technology for the ILC. An electron/positron collider of this magnitude – 1035 interactions, per square-centimeter, per second, at 1 trillion electron volts – has never been built or operated. It presents a wide variety of physics and electronics challenges. SLAC is hosting the “SiD” – “Silicon Detector – workshop starting this afternoon. I’ll have the chance to go to sessions today, some tomorrow, and Saturday. I know nothing about this proposal, but this is my chance to jump in an learn.
