The date was April 23rd, 2023. It was a gray and rainy Sunday, hardly the type of weather anyone would want to be outside in. But assembled outside of building 39 stood 7 unsuspecting students, perhaps looking a little dazed. To any unacquainted eye, this group would look nothing more than an angsty bunch of teenagers ready to depart on a school-sanctioned field trip to the zoo. But as it turns out, these 7 students were MIT’s brightest young particle physicists, eager to present their work at the FCC Workshop at Brookhaven National Laboratory. After months of cutting edge research, it felt only fitting that their projects culminated at such a prominent physics national lab. Led by the great Christoph Paus and Jan Eysermans, the group set off on a journey of unforeseen adventures, group bonding, and inner growth.
After being denied passage on the ferry taking us from Connecticut to New York, we made our first stop at Dunkin Donuts, acquiring the first of what would become an utterly insane amount of coffee. Properly caffeinated, we crossed into New York the long way around. In doing so, the clouds parted and offered us a view of New York City. A little while later, the group of particle physicists finally crossed into the great town of Brookhaven, the real gem of New York.
After arriving at the hotel slightly delirious but mostly hangry, we began to ponder where to eat. Motivated by a nearly unquenchable desire for novel culinary experiences, we went to a random strip mall down the road from our hotel. For better or for worse, two of the international members of our cohort, Marina and NYC is somewhere back there “We had a free Sofia concert today”3 Even Tim, who famously ate over 50 sushi rolls at Monk Fish once, could not finish this calzone Bon Appétit Jan tries a fortune cookie for the first time Jan, were introduced to two of the great joys of American cuisine: aggressively Americanized Chinese food and excessive portion sizes.
The next day, we awoke at the crack of dawn (or what felt like it for some of us), and drove to Brookhaven National Lab. “Ooooh… Aaaaah” could hear from the front seat as we drove through the facility. Upon arriving, we quickly acquired as many free things as possible, mingled (?) with some of the other physicists, and spectated some riveting presentations given by fellow FCC’ers. The highlight of the afternoon was certainly the
presentation given by Jan Eyserman. His charisma was almost overwhelming, so much so that, at times, we had a hard time paying attention to the actual content of his presentation.
We also took an impromptu nature walk during one of the coffee breaks. In the following picture, Bella was either cracked out on coffee or possessed by a demon, and I’m not sure which was the case.
Following the presentations, we went on a tour of the control room for the collider at Brookhaven, RHIC. Over the course of the tour, we felt like we got to know RHIC a lot better, and by the end RHIC felt like a brother to us. You will be missed, RHIC.
Following the tour, we made a pit stop at Walmart. It was eventful, to say the least.
Following our trip to Walmart, we returned to Brookhaven for a reception. Us freshma—err, I mean “first years” (and Casey)— and Professor Paus reminisced about the good ol’ days, when we could eat worms and scorpions-ona-stick and say the word “you guys”. Unfortunately, nowadays we are stuck eating charcuterie boards and saying the word “unhinged”. Oh, how the times have changed.
Upon arriving back at the hotel, some of us put the finishing touches on our presentations. Some of us ran 8 miles to get food from a local pasta place. Some of refused to put on shoes or socks. But as we drifted off to sleep that night, all of our dreams were filled Higgs bosons, Mu’s and Tau’s, symmetries and asymmetries… it
was the night before the presentations!
The next morning, we awoke at the crack of dawn. As we ate breakfast, I could tell that the tension in the air was palpable. After consuming the first coffee of what would become a caffeine-record for all of us, we set off for Brookhaven.
The presentations were a resounding success. It was fitting that some members of the generation that will mostly utilize the FCC were at the conference and presenting, and we can all now say that we presented to a room full of particle physicists. The only room I can think of that would be more nerve-racking to present to would be a room full of hip-millennials that you accidentally say the words “you guys” to.
As the conference wrapped up, we collectively decided to head into NYC for dinner. We settled on a restaurant called “OBA” in Queens, which either means “Wow!” in Portuguese (according to Marina) or is a Turkish name for ancient tents where nomadic families and friends gathered for meals and conversation (according to
Google). While I wouldn’t necessarily call us nomadic, we did gather for conversation and meals, and are a self-proclaimed “physics family”. It was a great way to end a trip that, at times got a little cra- “unhinged”, and will definitely last as a trip to remember.
PS …. here is the official workshop photo, which has been added later (October 11, 2023)
What a trip… The best ever! A few weeks later I got a ticket though, because I was speeding at 7:35pm in a school zone (35 mph). It was worth it!