Speaker: Daniel Kodroff (LBNL) - Title: New Results on Solar Neutrinos and Light Dark Matter Searches with the LUX-ZEPLIN Experiment
2026-01-22 16:00 - 17:00 UTC
Research Progress Meeting
Date: January 22, 2026
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Daniel Kodroff, LBNL
Title: New Results on Solar Neutrinos and Light Dark Matter Searches with the LUX-ZEPLIN Experiment
Abstract: LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) is a direct detection dark matter experiment led by Berkeley Lab. Located nearly a mile underground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in South Dakota, USA, LZ employs a 7 tonne active volume of liquid xenon in a dual-phase time projection chamber (TPC). In this talk, I will discuss the status of the experiment and present recent results on searches for dark matter candidates and coherent elastic neutrino nucleus scattering (CEvNS) from Boron-8 solar neutrinos. I will then discuss the implications of these measurements and the experiment’s future prospects.
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Vladimir Tishchenko (Brookhaven National Laboratory) - Title: The Muon g-2 Experiment: A Precision Test of the Standard Model
2026-01-29 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: January 29, 2026
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Vladimir Tishchenko, Brookhaven National Laboratory
Title: The Muon g-2 Experiment: A Precision Test of the Standard Model
Abstract: The anomalous magnetic moment of the muon, aμ, is among the most precisely measured quantities in particle physics and a powerful probe of physics within and beyond the Standard Model. The Muon g-2 Experiment at Fermilab was motivated by a long-standing ~3.5σ discrepancy between theory and experiment and aimed to improve the experimental precision by a factor of four. In 2025, the collaboration reported its final result based on six years of data, reaching a precision of 127 parts per billion. This talk will summarize the experimental method, key systematic challenges, and the final measurement, and discuss its implications for ongoing efforts at the precision frontier.
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Kirit Karkare (Boston University) - Title: On-Chip Millimeter-Wave Spectroscopy for Line Intensity Mapping: SuperSpec and SPT-SLIM
2026-02-12 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: February 12, 2026
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Kirit Karkare, Boston University
Title: On-Chip Millimeter-Wave Spectroscopy for Line Intensity Mapping: SuperSpec and SPT-SLIM
Abstract: Answering outstanding questions in cosmology – such as understanding the nature of inflation, dark energy, and reionization – requires observations of ever-increasing volumes of the universe. In this talk I will discuss how we can use line intensity mapping (LIM) of far-IR emission lines to measure large volumes at high redshift. This technique is enabled by advances in millimeter-wave spectrometer technology. I will present two on-chip spectrometer projects: SuperSpec, which pioneered the concept and was deployed to the Large Millimeter Telescope, and SPT-SLIM, a pathfinder LIM experiment at the South Pole. Both projects saw first light in 2025. I will discuss what we’re learning from their first observations and outline the path towards large, dense focal planes with the sensitivity required for next-generation cosmology.
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Jamie Bock (JPL) - Title: Spectrally Mapping the Sky with SPHEREx
2026-02-19 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: February 19, 2026
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Jamie Bock, JPL
Title: Spectrally Mapping the Sky with SPHEREx
Abstract: Launched in March 2025, SPHEREx is an all-sky spectral survey satellite designed to address three science goals with a single instrument, a wide-field imager. SPHEREx probes the physics of inflation through measurements of non-Gaussianity by studying large-scale structure, surveying a large cosmological volume at low redshifts. The program charts the origin and history of galaxy formation by mapping large-scale spatial power in two deep fields located near the ecliptic poles. SPHEREx also investigates the origin of water and biogenic molecules in the early phases of planetary system formation – from molecular clouds to young stellar systems with protoplanetary disks – by measuring ice absorption spectra. Following in the tradition of all-sky missions, SPHEREx will be the first all-sky near-infrared spectral survey, producing four complete all-sky maps that will serve as a rich archive for the astronomy community. With over a billion detected galaxies, hundreds of millions of high-quality stellar and galactic spectra, and over a million ice absorption spectra, the archive will enable diverse scientific investigations across astronomy. Our two-year mission recently completed its first map of the full sky. I will share the performance of the instrument in flight and some early results.
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Jason Rhodes (JPL) - Title: Mapping the Dark Universe with Euclid
2026-02-26 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: February 26, 2026
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Jason Rhodes (JPL)
Title: Mapping the Dark Universe with Euclid
Abstract: After 2 decades of preparation, the European Space Agency’s Euclid space telescope was launched on July 1, 2023. Euclid’s primary goal is to study the dark universe and help us better understand the enigmatic dark matter and dark energy that make up the bulk of the universe. I will talk about my personal journey in bringing Euclid to fruition, give the details of the Euclid telescope and instruments that make it so powerful as a dark energy probe, talk about the science that came out of Euclid’s 60 square degree data release in 2025, plans for science with Euclid’s ~2000 square degree data release in late 2026 and Euclid’s eventual full data release of 14,000 square degrees.
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Calvin Leung (UC Berkeley) - Title: From Radio Interferometry to Astrophysics and Cosmology using Fast Radio Bursts
2026-03-05 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: March 5, 2026
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Calvin Leung (UC Berkeley)
Title: From Radio Interferometry to Astrophysics and Cosmology using Fast Radio Bursts
Abstract: Since their discovery, Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) have ascended into one of the most exciting areas of astrophysics due to their mysterious origin and emerging broad utility as cosmic probes. I will outline how the CHIME/FRB Outriggers array — a widefield VLBI array — leads this growing field. Next, I will showcase the immense potential of FRBs as probes: of the diffuse baryons in the circumgalactic medium; the feedback processes which drive galaxy evolution; and eventually, how FRB cross correlations with weak lensing surveys may enable clean measurements of dark matter on megaparsec scales.
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: J. Pedro Ochoa-Ricoux (UIC) - Title: First Physics Results from the JUNO Experiment
2026-03-19 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: March 19, 2026
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: J. Pedro Ochoa-Ricoux (UIC)
Title: First Physics Results from the JUNO Experiment
Abstract: Neutrinos are elusive particles with unique properties that offer key insights into the fundamental structure of matter and the cosmic sources that produce them. The Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) is a next-generation, 20-kiloton liquid scintillator detector, the largest of its kind in the world, located in China and recently brought into operation after more than a decade of design and construction. In this talk, I will review the initial detector performance and present the first results from the experiment, based on about 60 days of data, which provide world-leading estimates of two neutrino oscillation parameters. I will also briefly outline the broader physics program enabled by JUNO and the additional measurements it aims to pursue.
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Anže Slosar (BNL) - Title: LuSEE-Night: A lunar radio-astronomy pathfinder.
2026-03-26 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: March 26, 2026
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Anže Slosar (BNL)
Title: LuSEE-Night: A lunar radio-astronomy pathfinder.
Abstract: LuSEE-Night is a novel collaborative effort between NASA and DOE aiming to land a path-finder radio telescope on the far side of the Moon. The instrument consists of 4 monopole antennas and will observe the radio sky between 0.1Mhz and 50MHz. This observational band is largely inaccessible from the Earth due to ionosphere and radio interference, but offers potentially transformational information about the early universe. The instrument is manifested for launch on the Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 2, targeting a landing in spring 2027. The mission will attempt numerous firsts: the first US landing on the lunar far side; the first far-side landing by a private company; the first modern US attempt to survive and operate through a lunar night; the first demonstration of radio calibration from an in-orbit calibrator around any planetary body; and, crucially, the first far-side radio instrument to deliver science-grade data. This talk describes the science case, the instrument design, and future opportunities for fundamental physics enabled by the lunar far side.
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Elliot Lipeles (U Penn) - Title: The Hadron Collider Option
2026-04-02 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: April 2, 2026
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Elliot Lipeles (U Penn)
Title: The Hadron Collider Option
Abstract: Hadron colliders have enormous physics reach, but were sidelined in the current cycle of large project planning primarily because of cost. I review the physics motivation and reach of a hadron collider, along with the technology options, the interplay of energy and luminosity constraints, and what they mean for the ultimate project cost as we currently understand it.

https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Thomas Essinger-Hileman (NASA Goddard) - Title: Science with CLASS and Future CMB Space Missions
2026-04-16 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: April 16, 2026
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Thomas Essinger-Hileman (NASA Goddard)
Title: Science with CLASS and Future CMB Space Missions
Abstract: The cosmic microwave background (CMB) is a unique probe of the state of the early universe and its evolution since recombination approximately 380,000 years after the Big Bang. CMB observations have been critical in building a concordance model of cosmology consisting of a spatially flat universe dominated by dark matter and dark energy. Current CMB projects from the ground and balloons continue to address fundamental questions in astrophysics, cosmology, and particle physics: Did cosmic inflation create our Universe? What is the nature of dark energy? When and how did the first stars reionize the universe? and What is the mass of the neutrinos? I will highlight ongoing work to constrain reionization and the mass of neutrinos with the Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS), which observes more than 65% of the sky from the Atacama Desert of Chile, as well as need for future CMB space missions like LiteBIRD and a NASA CMB Probe satellite to make the ultimate measurements of the CMB at large angular scales.
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Ritoban Basu Thakur (JPL) - Title: Quantum sensing, Dark Matter Searches & Astrophysics in the Far-IR.
2026-04-23 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: April 23, 2026
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Ritoban Basu Thakur (JPL)
Title: Quantum sensing, Dark Matter Searches & Astrophysics in the Far-IR.
Abstract: Advances in superconducting kinetic inductance detectors (KIDs) are opening new windows in both astrophysics and fundamental physics. This talk presents two connected applications at the frontier of photon sensitivity. (i) For PRIMA, the PRobe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics, we have developed single-photon-sensitive KID arrays operating at 25 μm. This first photon-counting array demonstrated in the 3–18 THz band, will enable background-limited imaging and spectroscopy for a cryogenic space telescope targeting galaxy evolution, planet formation, and cosmic dust. (ii) QUALIPHIDE (QUAntum LImited PHotons In the Dark Experiment) applies these photon-counting MKIDs to search for hidden photon dark matter beyond the standard quantum limit, which will also empower broadband experiments such as BREAD. Basu Thakur’s group is also developing nonlinear kinetic inductance devices for advanced quantum sensing, promising a new generation of THz detectors that will serve both next-decade astrophysics observatories and unexplored dark matter phase space.
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Special RPM: Industry Career Panel
2026-04-28 15:00 - 17:00
Special Research Progress Meeting
Date: April 28, 2026
Time: 3:00- 5:00 pm [Note special start time]
Location: Building 50 Auditorium [In-Person and HYBRID] [Note special location]

Panelists:
Luigi Capodieci [Synopsis]
Katie Copic [Fieldwork]
Tobias Ostermayr [Nvidia]
Nadav Outmezguine [Microsoft AI]
Khilesh Mistry [Block Inc.]
Title: Industry Career Panel
Summary: The Industry Career Panel will consist of panelists that have backgrounds similar to postdocs and graduate students at LBNL and/ or have extensively worked in departments that often employ people with these backgrounds. This event is especially geared towards postdocs and graduate students preparing to apply for jobs in industry. Attendees are encouraged to bring questions about any aspect of the industry job application process.

https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/95679892182?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 956 7989 2182
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Rupert Croft (CMU) - Title: Cosmological simulations, AI and the high redshift Universe
2026-04-30 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: April 30, 2026
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Rupert Croft (CMU)
Title: Cosmological simulations, AI and the high redshift Universe
Abstract: AI assistance can turn complex astrophysical supercomputer simulations into easily accessible tools. I will introduce applications to cosmology, including hybrid AI-physics codes, and a agentic system that can set up and run a billion particle simulation in seconds. As a use case for this type of modelling, I will explore the Lyman-alpha forest of intergalactic absorption in quasars and how it can both be gravitationally lensed, and also used to make large-scale maps of the intergalactic radiation intensity. I will also present cold dark matter simulation predictions for the mysterious “little red dots” seen by the Webb telescope at high redshift.
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]
