People
| Name: | Jeffrey W Berryhill |
| Title: | Wilson Fellow |
| Email: | berryhil@fnal.gov |
| Phone: | 630.840.8837 |
Profile
Areas of research:
CMS Trigger Studies group and Electroweak Physics Analysis Group
What is your main focus on the CMS experiment?
I spend half of my time commissioning the trigger system for CMS. The trigger system is a fast electronic filter. We sort through 40 million images and only keep a fraction to use for analysis. Think of it as a very fast digital camera shooting forty million images in a second. We cannot possibly store every photo, so we have to be selective on the ones we take. We choose the images that have higher energy and give more information. The other half of my time is spent on analysis.
What inspired you to study particle physics?
Most people get into particle physics really early. In high school, I had a challenging physics teacher. Every time I asked him about particle physics, he always seemed stumped. I thought that was interesting.
What is your favorite part about being a scientist?
I like not just the theoretical part, but also the hands-on aspect and not being stuck in an office. By conducting experiments, you have insight into something unprecedented. I never know what is going to happen. I like being able to solve interesting things that are so extreme and that have never been seen before.
What is one thing about Fermilab that surprises most people? What even surprised you?
I think that the kind of person who works here is not distinguishable from the average person. We do not wear white coats, like some people think.
Assuming you already have your laptop what would you rescue from your burning office or lab?
I would grab the following items: pictures of my family, an old CDF prototype I designed, and my copy of The Quantum Theory of Fields .
What kind of music do you listen to?
I listen to all kinds of music for entertainment, but when I am working, for background music, I listen to electronic and classical. Given a choice to see any band live, I would see Radiohead.
