Change is in the Air

picture from science.nature.nps.gov

Today, the LHC ended the last of its heavy ions runs. Data-taking for 2011 is over, with over 5 inverse femtobarns of data delivered to each of the multipurpose experiments. The technical shut-down has begun.

CERN won't shut down of course, not for a while yet. Analyzing all that data is going at a fever-pitch, and with the end of beams in the accelerator tunnel the accelerator and experiments will be swarmed by engineers and technicians making repairs. But things are changing.

My little corner of this great enterprise is changing, too. As I'm planning on graduating next summer, my time at CERN now has an end date. I will return to the US early next year.

Boy oh boy, do I have a lot to get done.