On October 13th 1985 the Tevatron collider started operations, producing the first man-made proton-antiproton collisions at 1.6 TeV center-of-mass energy in the core of the CDF detector. 25 years have passed. It is frankly unbelievable that the machine is still operating today, and with it CDF, which was back then the only game in town (D0 came later).
I find it even more unbelievable if you consider that much of the technology, the magnets, the devices that produced the collisions and the ones that recorded them are still those of 25 years back. 25 years are like a two glaciations time span for particle physics standards.
In 1985 we did not know whether the top quark existed -that was the main reason for building the CDF detector, in fact. But more than that, the Standard Model was still a largely untested theory -particularly in the sector of quantum chromodynamics. And especially there the CDF detector provided crucial input toward the end of the eighties. Along with the string of other successes, new particle discoveries, and crucial measurements of fundamental quantities that are recorded in about 500 scientific publications since then.
I frankly think that such an outstanding achievement deserves the highest respect by the full scientific community. For that reason, I always find it rather envious-sounding any criticism that comes from some colleagues at times. Fortunately, the praising voices overcome the detractors by two orders of magnitude.
About the chance that the Tevatron continues to run until 2014, I wrote already my opinions here. I think that once the LHC proves what it has promised, there is no reason in continuing the Fermilab collider program.
However, today I feel I must say from the heart: Long live the Tevatron! Long live CDF!
