I realized minutes after posting the last post that I have not complied fully with my editor´s request to comment on 2005 from my personal point of view. That is, whatever happened to me this year.
It has been a very complicated, interesting, successful, exhilarating, joyful year for me. Sad, also, because of the death of an old friend. But let´s go in order.
I completed a year of convenership of the jet energy and resolution working group. The group produced jet energy corrections that were instrumental in reducing the uncertainty in the top quark mass measurements by CDF, and opened the door to the most precise determination of that quantity. Of course, the merit is not mine, but I was there to coordinate the works, and I am proud of it.
Scientific results I produced or helped produce include finding the Z decay to b quark pairs in CDF run II data, measuring the top pair cross section using the all-hadronic decay channel, producing a first measurement of the top pair cross section using a new methodology that allowed to rescue many such events and become CDF´s third-best measurement of that quantity.
I must not forget, of course, the development of a brand new algorithm, the Hyperball algorithm, that promises an increased precision in the measurement of jet energy resolution, but is also a versatile tool that I have started investigating how to apply to the stock market or the cardiac risk evaluation.
During 2005 I´ve traveled lots, presenting scientific results in La Thuile, Corfu, Chicago. I went back and forth with Fermilab several times (10). I enjoyed it, but I must confess it was stressful at times.
I was also able to spend a lot of time on vacation with my family and enjoyed the company of my kids immensely. I climbed a couple peaks with Filippo, my 6yo son.
I spent a lot of time also with my students. I want them to succeed in particle physics, and I think I did good in motivating them and giving them the impulse to look at the future with optimism.
Finally, this year I remodeled the house I bought last December, and finally moved there in September. The house is now finally ready, and I enjoy it a lot. I think it came out beautifully!
Last but not least, I managed to keep track of my life on this blog. It was complicated to find the time at times, but I think I managed with some bump and disconnection here and there. QD has been a very interesting experiment and I am proud of having had the honor of participating in it. I often brag about it with friends :)
That is all. The interested reader will find much more in these pages, and should she or he want more, just please ask at [email protected]
I also would like to mention that I have a permanent web page at
I have not kept it updated for long now, but will go back doing it now that QD is finished. So long everybody!
I will miss reading your blog. It is the third thing I check each day, following my two email accounts.All the best in your new position. Hope to play bridge again soon.
Posted by: riqie arneberg | December 28, 2005 at 04:57 PM
I discovered your blog late in the year, and I got hooked! I like your forthright style. "Drunk for a week long" is not what I would expect from a respected physicist and family man, but your honesty about your life is what makes you so human and likeable. That, and your sense of humor and joie de vivre, which is so infectious! Thanks, Tommaso, for sharing your very interesting life so well-told for a whole year. If you ever tire of being a physicist, you'd make a darn good writer.
Posted by: Diane Greenberg | December 30, 2005 at 08:51 AM
I am unable to email you at the address provided by the link on your home page. Please send a brief note so I can capture a valid email address.
alternate e-mail [email protected]
Posted by: riqie arneberg | December 31, 2005 at 06:57 AM