The social structure of experimental'' strings at Fermilab; a physics and detector driven model
Physicists in HEP have been forced to organize large scientific projects without a well defined organizational or sociological model to guide them. In the absence of such models, what structures do experimentalists use to develop social structures in HEP In this paper, I claim that physicists organize around what they know best, the physics problems they study and the detectors and devices they study them with. After describing the advent of management'' in HEP, I use a case study of 4 Fermilab experiments as the base upon which to propose a physics and detector driven model of social structure for experiments. In addition, I show how this model can be extended to describe strings'' of experiments, where continuities of physics interests, spectrometer design, and a core group of physicists become a definable sociological unit that can exist for over 15 years. A dominate theme that emerges from my analysis is the conscious attempt on the part of experimenters to remove the uncertainties that are part of the practice of HEP.
- Research Organization:
- Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- DOE/ER
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC02-76CH03000
- OSTI ID:
- 6312957
- Report Number(s):
- FNAL-TM-1706; ON: DE91005714; TRN: 91-001491
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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