Physics Highlights from the DØ Experiment (1992--1999)
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, Illinois, U.S.A.

8. CONCLUSIONS

The studies by DØ, together with those by our companion experiment CDF at the Tevatron, and the experiments at LEP, SLC, HERA, and other accelerators, have taught us much about the character of particles and forces at smallest-distance scales. These results have given a qualitatively new understanding of the properties of matter, and have thus far demonstrated the surprising resilience of the Standard Model of particle physics. But the puzzles that this research has created make us eagerly anticipate the next round of experiments. There is an almost agreed expectation that the experiments of the coming several years will make breakthrough discoveries. There are pointed questions that have arisen from the past work that cry out for answers. Why is the top quark so heavy in comparison with its partners? Where is the Higgs boson, or whatever else nature has chosen to be the agent of electroweak symmetry breaking? Can we find evidence for supersymmetry and thus pave the way to unification of all the microscopic forces? Or, are the solutions to the questions before us to be found in some hitherto unexpected quarter? From the vantage point of the understanding obtained from the past run at DØ, we look forward with eager anticipation to the enhanced possibilities of the next run.

We note with pride the efforts of the many in the DØ collaboration whose ingenuity and hard work have made the results presented in this overview possible. We appreciate also the many contributions to our understanding that have come from our experimental and theoretical colleagues worldwide. And we are most grateful to our governments for the support that has made this research possible. The new results have brought not only new understanding of the structure of matter, but have also benefited society through the novel techniques that have been developed, and that over the course of time will enrich society in ways that are presently unforeseen.

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