SPEAKER: Chamindu (Chami) Amarasinghe – U. of Michigan – TITLE: Expansive Dark Matter Searches with LZ
2022-12-01 16:00 - 17:00 UTC | HYBRID 50A-5132 (Sessler Conference Room), https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/91782268585, 50A-5132
This is a VIRTUAL Event
TITLE: Expansive Dark Matter Searches with LZ

ABSTRACT: LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) is an underground direct detection experiment that conducted its first search for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) and set world-leading upper limits on spin-independent and spin-dependent WIMP-nucleon couplings. In this talk I describe this result, and discuss how the WIMP search can be extended by considering all possible WIMP-nucleon interactions at the energy scale of direct detection using an effective field theory (EFT) approach. I also describe how tools from machine learning are applied in the EFT search, and how unsupervised learning can be used to detect anomalies of various sources in data. Finally, I will briefly discuss an experimental concept to measure electron and photon yields of nuclear recoils in liquid xenon at extremely low energies (below 0.3 keVNR), in order to improve the sensitivity of experiments like LZ to low mass WIMPs.
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SPEAKER: Roger Huang – LBNL – TITLE: Neutrinos from Different Angles
2022-12-05 13:00 - 14:00 | HYBRID 50A-5132 (Sessler Conference Room), https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/91782268585, 50A-5132
This is an IN-PERSON Event
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132
TITLE: Neutrinos from Different Angles
ABSTRACT:
There still remain many outstanding questions about the behavior and properties of neutrinos, which are the subject of a wide range of experimental programs around the world. CUORE (Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events) is a cryogenic calorimetric experiment operating at ~10 mK to search for neutrinoless double-beta (0νββ) decay in Te-130, which could shed light on the nature of neutrino masses and whether they are Majorana particles. I will present the most recent 0νββ results from CUORE, as well as discuss development of deep-cryogenic electronics aimed towards its next-generation upgrade to CUPID (CUORE Upgrade with Particle ID).
In a different regime of neutrino physics, DUNE (Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment) is a long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment that will enable a variety of precision measurements, including determination of the neutrino mass hierarchy and high-resolution probes of the neutrino CP-violating phase factor. I will discuss the current status and plans for DUNE and its upcoming prototype program ProtoDUNE-II, with a focus on the cryogenic charge readout electronics for the far detectors. I will also discuss efforts to improve neutrino cross-section unfolding methods with the aid of neural networks using the Omnifold technique

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SPEAKER: Anne Fortman – Harvard – TITLE: Searching for massive new particles using ionization energy loss and time of flight at ATLAS
2022-12-06 12:00 - 13:00 | HYBRID 50A-5132 (Sessler Conference Room), https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/91782268585, 50A-5132
This is an IN-PERSON Event
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132
TITLE: Searching for massive new particles using ionization energy loss and time of flight at ATLAS
ABSTRACT:
During Run 2, the LHC achieved collisions with a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, potentially allowing us to produce new fundamental particles of higher masses than ever before. Using ionization energy loss and time-of-flight, we can reconstruct the mass of heavy new particles predicted in a variety of models. In this talk, we discuss the excess seen in the first-wave effort of a search using the Run 2 dataset at ATLAS, and introduce an expanded search including time-of-flight. We present future prospects and discuss the hardware upgrades necessary to continue searching for new physics at the High Luminosity LHC.

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SPEAKER: Maria Martinez-Casales – Iowa State University – TITLE: Constraining neutrino interaction incertainties for oscillation measurements in NOvA
2022-12-06 16:00 - 17:00 | HYBRID 50A-5132 (Sessler Conference Room), https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/91782268585, 50A-5132
This is an IN-PERSON Event
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132
TITLE: Constraining neutrino interaction incertainties for oscillation measurements in NOvA
ABSTRACT:
The NuMI Off-Axis Neutrino Appearance (NOvA) experiment is an 810 km baseline neutrino oscillation experiment measuring the fundamental properties of neutrinos and antineutrinos, using the high statistics data from the Near Detector (ND) at Fermilab to produce predictions for the Far Detector (FD) in Minnesota. The expected neutrino spectrum is simulated using GENIE, with the neutrino cross section model adjusted to better describe the ND data by modifying the rate of Meson Exchange Current (MEC) interactions and the Final State Interactions. In measurements published so far, NOvA has compared the Far Detector data to an energy spectrum obtained from a data-driven prediction method based Near Detector (ND) data called extrapolation. This talk presents an alternate approach that directly constrains physics model parameters in the NOvA simulation using the ND data. The neutrino and antineutrino simulation is divided into subsets based on the multiplicity and topology of visible particles. These samples have meaningful features that are used to constrain the neutrino interaction model and flux parameters using Poisson maximum likelihood fitting procedure. This work shows the fitting method effectively constrains the model uncertainties with pseudodata generated by randomly varying physics parameters in the ND simulation. This is an initial step towards achieving a full analysis that includes the physics model parameters constraint from the ND data fit to measure the neutrino oscillation parameters.
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SPEAKER: Ciaran Hasnip – University of Oxford – TITLE: The DUNE Neutrino PRISM
2022-12-07 13:00 - 14:00
This is an IN-PERSON Event
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132
TITLE: The DUNE Neutrino PRISM
ABSTRACT:
The observation of neutrino flavour oscillations, and the non-zero neutrino mass, is the first confirmed measurement of physics beyond the standard model of particle physics. The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is a next-generation neutrino experiment designed to study these flavour oscillations in a 1300 km baseline neutrino beam. DUNE aims to measure CP violation in the lepton sector, determine the neutrino mass hierarchy and precisely measure the neutrino oscillation parameters in a single experiment. The Precision Reaction Independent Spectrum Measurement (PRISM) concept presents a novel way to perform a neutrino oscillation analysis, which has the potential to significantly reduce the impact of neutrino cross section systematic uncertainties in DUNE through the use of data-driven predictions of the measured neutrino event rate. After introducing the physics of neutrino oscillations, this seminar will review the DUNE experiment and the role PRISM will play in its physics program.
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SPEAKER: Jaafar Chakrani – Laboratoire Leprince-Ringuet, CNRS, Ecole polytechnique – TITLE: Neutrino interactions: a challenge for T2K and beyond
2022-12-08 16:00 - 17:00
This is an IN-PERSON Event
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132
TITLE: Neutrino interactions: a challenge for T2K and beyond
ABSTRACT:
Neutrino oscillations offer a unique opportunity to explore physics beyond the Standard Model. Multiple current and planned experiments aim at precisely characterizing these oscillations with neutrinos artificially produced in accelerators. This is the case of the T2K experiment, located in Japan, which provides one of the world-leading constraints on how neutrinos oscillate.
An important obstacle in the making of such results is the modeling of neutrino interactions which could bias oscillation measurements. Indeed, the uncertainties associated with neutrino-nucleus interactions are difficult to quantify and constrain as they cover a large range of poorly-understood nuclear physics of how neutrinos interact.
In this seminar, I will present how accelerator-based neutrino experiments measure these oscillations, with a focus on how we tackle the challenge of modeling neutrino-nucleus interactions in the T2K experiment. Furthermore, I will show how the ongoing upgrade of the T2K near detector will provide valuable information to significantly improve our understanding of neutrino interactions. Finally, I will discuss the prospects of overcoming this challenge in the context of the next-generation experiment DUNE.

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SPEAKER: Josephine Paton – University of Oxford – TITLE: Directional Neutrino Measurements in Liquid Scintillators
2022-12-09 12:00 - 13:00
This is a VIRTUAL Event
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132
TITLE: Directional Neutrino Measurements in Liquid Scintillators
ABSTRACT:
Neutrinos are one of the most enigmatic particles in the Standard Model. Precise measurements of their properties are vital for our understanding of the subatomic world, and may bring us closer to answering questions such as “Why do neutrinos have mass?” and “Why is the universe matter dominated?”. In order to do this, novel technologies and methodologies are being developed to extract as much information as possible from the interactions of neutrinos on matter.
Liquid scintillators have been utilised in neutrino detectors for decades, benefitting from a high light yield which leads to precise energy reconstruction. However, scintillation light is isotropic, meaning scintillator detectors do not benefit from the directional information used in Cherenkov-based neutrino detectors. Significant investment has been put into developing new methods to extract Cherenkov information from scintillation signals, allowing for a combination of energy precision and directional background rejection. In this talk I outline the methods developed for directional reconstruction in the SNO+ experiment, and present the first demonstration event-by-event directionality of solar neutrinos in a high yield scintillator.
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Meeting ID: 917 8226 8585

SPEAKER: Kevin Fanning – Ohio State – TITLE: Excitement and Challenges with Multiplexed Spectroscopic Galaxy Surveys
2022-12-16 12:00 - 13:00
This is an in-person Event
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5132
TITLE: Excitement and Challenges with Multiplexed Spectroscopic Galaxy Surveys
ABSTRACT:
The ongoing Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Survey is collecting galaxy redshifts at an astounding rate. Analysis from this new data promises exciting new constraints on big cosmological problems such as dark energy models and primordial non-gaussianity along with a measurement of the sum of the neutrino masses. Key technologies including the robotic focal plane system help enable nearly 5,000 simultaneous spectra with on average 2 minutes between exposures. In this talk I will describe some of the challenges encountered optimizing the DESI instrument for science results. Furthermore, I will discuss some of the impact the focal plane and fiber assignment algorithms have on galaxy clustering data and some novel mitigations I am exploring to resolve this problem. Finally, I will conclude with a look to the future and how we can engage in current efforts to build on the success of DESI.
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SPEAKER: Peter Sorensen (LBNL)- TITLE: Snowmass Report Highlights 4: Instrumentation Frontier
2023-01-19 16:00 - 17:00 | HYBRID – 50A-5132 – Sessler Conference Room
This is an In-Person [Hybrid] Event
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132
TITLE: Snowmass Report Highlights 4: Instrumentation Frontier
ABSTRACT:
The Particle Physics Community Planning Exercise (a.k.a. “Snowmass”) is organized by the Division of Particles and Fields (DPF) of the American Physical Society. Snowmass is a scientific study. It provides an opportunity for the entire particle physics community to come together to identify and document a scientific vision for the future of particle physics in the U.S. and its international partners. Snowmass will define the most important questions for the field of particle physics and identify promising opportunities to address them.
The Snowmass exercise is now approaching its end, with most groups’ reports now available from the website (https://snowmass21.org/start).
This seminar series has reviewed the most important messages coming out from these reports in a set of talks, with ample time for questions. In this final planned installment, delayed by the Chamberlain interview talks, we will hear highlights from the Instrumentation Frontier, presented by Peter Sorensen.
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SPEAKER: Dan Carney (LBNL) - TITLE: The End of Measurement and The Last Lab
2023-01-26 16:00 - 17:00
This is an In-Person Event
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132
Title: The End of Measurement and The Last Lab
Abstract: I will give a breezy overview–designed to be provocative and hopefully enjoyable–of the way quantum mechanical noise enters a number of “holy grail” experimental targets in HEP. The recent theoretical observation that PTOLEMY as designed cannot actually detect relic neutrinos, due to Heisenberg uncertainty in the tritium target, will serve as an opening cautionary tale. I will then explain how one could in principle circumvent this problem, and use this as a springboard to discuss a few other possible experiments: measurement of the neutrino mass using a PTOLEMY-esque scheme, detection of “single gravitons” and/or gravitational entanglement, and finally the direct detection of ultraheavy dark matter purely through its gravitational interaction.
These examples are chosen to motivate the core idea: the fundamental limits imposed by quantum mechanical noise are still broadly unknown, and a great deal of work is still needed to both identify these limits theoretically and engineer devices that can approach them.
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SPEAKER: Post Doc Industry Event - TITLE: How to Transition from Academia to Industry?
2023-02-02 16:00 - 17:00 | 50-Auditorium
This is an In-Person {HYBRID} Event
Location: B50 Auditorium
TITLE: How to Transition from Academia to Industry?
ABSTRACT: Physics division IDEA committee is hosting a second panelist event where we invite former LBNL physics division postdocs to share their experiences on making transitions from academia to industry. Please join us in person or through zoom for a lively discussion.
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SPEAKER: Steve Choi (Cornell)- TITLE: Probing fundamental physics by mapping the millimeter and submillimeter sky
2023-02-07 16:00 - 17:00
This is an In-Person Event
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5-5132
Title: Probing fundamental physics by mapping the millimeter and submillimeter sky
Abstract: Cosmology has transformed from a field of speculation to precision science as a result of a wealth of data from sensitive instruments. In particular, precise observations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) have revolutionized our understanding of the Universe. Despite the success of the standard model of cosmology (ΛCDM) in describing much of the cosmos with just six parameters, many fundamental questions remain unresolved. Are there primordial gravitational waves? Are there new light relic particles? How will the current cosmological tensions be resolved? Improved mapping of the millimeter and submillimeter sky will help address these questions. I will highlight recent results from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT), and describe how the new ACT maps will advance our understanding of the Universe beyond Planck. I will also present recent progress on CCAT-prime and Simons Observatory that are paving the way for CMB-S4 in pursuit of next-generation cosmology.
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Speaker: Sara Simon (Fermilab)-Title: Precision Cosmology with the Cosmic Microwave Background
2023-02-09 16:00 - 17:00
This is an In-Person Event
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5-5132
Title: Precision Cosmology with the Cosmic Microwave Background
Abstract: The cosmic microwave background (CMB) provides an unparalleled opportunity to advance our understanding of the fundamental physics of the universe. Recent and ongoing experiments have contributed to our understanding of neutrinos, dark energy, and dark matter through measurements of large-scale structure imprinted on the CMB and constrained the conditions in the early universe, tightly restricting inflationary and other cosmological models through measurements of CMB polarization. Next-generation CMB experiments like CMB-S4 will further constrain the sum of the neutrino masses and the number of relativistic species, expand our understanding of dark energy and dark matter, and set new constraints on cosmological models describing the first moments of the universe. The polarization in the CMB is faint, so future experiments must be at least an order of magnitude more sensitive than current experiments. These unprecedented levels of sensitivity require improved systematic mitigation via modeling and novel calibration techniques. I will give an overview of the science achievable with these next-generation experiments and the advances in technology that are critical for its this leap in performance.
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NO RPM TODAY 2/14/2023
2023-02-14 16:00 - 17:00

SPEAKER: Clara Verges (Harvard)- TITLE: A window on the Universe with the next-generation of millimeter-wave telescopes
2023-02-16 16:00 - 17:00
This is an In-Person Event
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5-5132
Title: A window on the Universe with the next-generation of millimeter-wave telescopes
Abstract: Cosmology has experienced a considerable surge in the past thirty years, and is now well established as a precision science. While the standard cosmological model provides an effective description of the observed Universe, many fundamental questions remain unresolved. From shedding light on the very first fractions of second after the Big Bang to unveiling the dark Universe and looking for exotic physics, the Cosmic Microwave Background continues to be a unique probe for fundamental physics. The next generation of CMB polarisation observatories, embodied by CMB-Stage 4 for ground observations, will explore this window into the Universe in an unprecedented way, enabling breakthrough science. I will review how current experiments such as the BICEP/Keck telescopes pave the way for this next stage by developing efficient technologies and observing strategies, and by sharpening constraints on theoretical models. I will then discuss the technological challenges that the CMB community must meet to ensure the scientific success of future experiments.
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Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464
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SPEAKER: Seth R. Johnson (ORNL)-TITTLE: Celeritas v0.2: a new Monte Carlo particle transport code for detector simulation on GPUs
2023-02-21 16:00 - 17:00
This is an In-Person Event
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5-5132
SPEAKER: Seth R. Johnson (ORNL)
TITLE: Celeritas v0.2: a new Monte Carlo particle transport code for detector simulation on GPUs
ABSTRACT: Celeritas is a new Monte Carlo particle transport code for simulating High Energy Physics detectors on GPUs. The initial development release supports standard EM physics in a standalone testing mode. In the last six months, the Celeritas team has developed new code capabilities for integrating with detector simulation frameworks, verification tools, and general Geant4 applications. This presentation will review the core capabilities, demonstrate examples of Geant4 integration, and show initial performance results.

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SPEAKER: John Groh (NIST)- TITLE: Pointing Superconductors at the Sky: Towards new fundamental physics through precision cosmic microwave background measurements
2023-03-02 16:00 - 17:00
This is an In-Person Event
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5-5132
Title: Pointing Superconductors at the Sky: Towards new fundamental physics through precision cosmic microwave background measurements
Abstract: The cosmic microwave background is an incredible tool for probing fundamental physics, both as a snapshot of the early universe and as a backlight to subsequent cosmic evolution. The next generation of observatories will cross several important qualitative thresholds for characterizing possible cosmic inflation mechanisms and neutrino masses while also constraining dark energy, light relic particles, and modified gravity. To make these measurements, these observatories will require at least an order of magnitude improvement in both sensitivity and size, presenting significant instrumentation challenges. In this talk, I will discuss key technology advances leading to more capable instruments, focusing on highly multiplexed readout of the increasingly large cryogenic sensor arrays. I will also describe work incorporating novel instrumentation technologies into a new microwave observatory – the Simons Array – and commissioning it at its observing site in the Chilean Atacama. Not only are these developments enabling new physics and cosmology measurements through the Simons Array, SPT-3G, the Simons Observatory, and AliCPT experiments, but they are also building technological readiness as the field prepares for CMB-S4.
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SPEAKER: Richie Bonventre(LBNL)-TITLE: Status of the Mu2e experiment at Fermilab
2023-03-09 16:00 - 17:00
This is an In-Person [HYBRID] Event
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5-5132
SPEAKER: Seth R. Johnson (ORNL)
TITLE: Status of the Mu2e experiment at Fermilab
ABSTRACT: The Mu2e experiment, currently under construction at Fermilab, will search for the charged-lepton flavor violating (CLFV) neutrino-less conversion of a negative muon into an electron in the field of a nucleus. It aims to achieve a four-orders of magnitude improvement in sensitivity over previous experiments, allowing it to probe new physics at mass scales up to 10^4 TeV. In this talk I will present the current status of the experiment, improvements to the track reconstruction algorithm, and results from vertical slice tests of the straw tracker.
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EVENT CANCELED: SPEAKER: Gabriel Orebi Gann (LBNL)-TITLE: Let There be Light: next-generation neutrino detection at Theia
2023-03-16 16:00 - 17:00
EVENT CANCELED
This is an In-Person [HYBRID] Event
LOCATION: Sessler Conference Room – 50A – 5132
DATE: March 16, 2023
TIME: 4:00 PM
TITLE: Let There be Light: next-generation neutrino detection at Theia
ABSTRACT: Neutrinos are some of the most fascinating particles that occur in nature. Over one billion times lighter than the proton, the neutrino was once thought to be massless and to travel at the speed of light. The Nobel-Prize winning discovery of neutrino oscillations demonstrated that neutrinos have non-zero mass, which opens up the unique possibility of the neutrino being its own antiparticle, known as a Majorana fermion. This talk will discuss the physics landscape, and present recent technological advances that enable a new kind of “hybrid” neutrino experiment, which would combine two highly successful detection techniques: the topological information of Cherenkov detectors, with the high light yield of scintillators. The Theia detector would be capable of combining both signals to achieve unprecedented levels of particle and event identification, offering a rich program of science across high-energy particle, nuclear and astrophysics. If deployed as one of the “modules of opportunity” at the DUNE far site, Theia could offer insights into both CP violation, and the search for Majorana neutrinos: the two ingredients necessary to shed light on the source of the matter antimatter asymmetry in our Universe.
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Speaker: Adam Miller ( Northwestern)- TITLE: Red after Dead – Understanding the Progenitors of "Cool" Explosions
2023-03-23 16:00 - 17:00
This is an In-Person [HYBRID] Event
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132
Title: Red after Dead – Understanding the Progenitors of “Cool” Explosions

Abstract: In this talk I will discuss open questions in our quest to develop a map between progenitor systems and supernova explosions. Solving the puzzle has important ramifications for understanding the chemical enrichment of the Universe and galactic evolution and feedback. I will highlight Type Ia supernovae and discuss an exquisite set of observations obtained by the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF). From the early observations we can constrain the progenitors, and we have recently identified a new subclass of peculiar Type Ia supernovae that comes from a unique progenitor channel. To close I will discuss a new project, the La Silla Southern Sky Survey (LS4). LS4 is upgrading the Quest camera to fill the 20 sq. deg. focal plane with red-sensitive LBNL CCDs to conduct a new time-domain survey. This instrument is uniquely sensitive to red transients in the local universe, including (hopefully) the optical counterparts to gravitational wave events.
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SPEAKER: Stuart Bale (UC Berkeley)- TITLE: LuSEE 'Night': The Lunar Surface Electromagnetics Experiment
2023-03-30 16:00 - 17:00
This is an In-Person [HYBRID] Event
Date: MARCH 30, 2023
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5-5132
SPEAKER: Stuart Bale (UC Berkeley)
TITLE: LuSEE ‘Night’: The Lunar Surface Electromagnetics Experiment
ABSTRACT: The Lunar Surface Electromagnetics Explorer ‘LuSEE Night’ is a low frequency radio astronomy experiment that will be delivered to the farside of the Moon by the NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program in late 2025 or early 2026. The payload system is being developed jointly by NASA and the US Department of Energy (DOE) and consists of a 4 channel, 50 MHz Nyquist baseband receiver system and 2 orthogonal ~6m tip-to-tip electric dipole antennas. LuSEE Night will enjoy standalone operations through the lunar night, without the electromagnetic interference (EMI) of an operating lander system and antipodal to our noisy planet Earth.
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NO RPM TODAY-APRIL 6, 2023
2023-04-06 16:00 - 17:00

Speaker: Dave Moore (Yale)-Title: Optomechanical sensors for nuclear and particle physics
2023-04-13 16:00 - 17:00
This is an In-Person [HYBRID] Event
Date: April 13, 2023
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Speaker: Dave Moore (Yale)
Title: Optomechanical sensors for nuclear and particle physics
Abstract: The development of optomechanical systems has revolutionized the detection of tiny forces over the past few decades. As such technologies reach (and surpass) quantum measurement limits, they can enable new searches for weakly coupled phenomena, including dark matter, gravitational waves, “fifth’’ forces, and sterile neutrinos. As a demonstration of these techniques, I will describe an initial search for dark matter using an optically levitated nanogram mass sensor, which can exceed the sensitivity of even large underground detectors for certain classes of dark matter candidates in a few days of exposure. If a signal were detected, such sensors would also be able to correlate its direction with earth’s motion through the galaxy, allowing definitive confirmation that such a signal arose from dark matter. The same techniques can also permit new laboratory searches for sterile neutrinos, potentially probing orders-of-magnitude smaller mixings with active neutrinos than previous experiments in the keV-MeV mass range. I will describe recent proposals to perform such searches using optically trapped nanoparticles doped with beta emitters.

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Speaker: Cristiano Sebastiani- Title: "Search for exotic physics with long-lived particles at ATLAS "
2023-04-18 16:00 - 17:00
This is an In-Person [HYBRID] Event
Date: April 18, 2023
Location: INPA Conference Room- 50-5026
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Speaker: Cristiano Sebastiani
Title: Search for exotic physics with long-lived particles at ATLAS

Abstract: Exotic long-lived particles (LLPs) could provide valuable insights into the nature of Dark Matter (DM) and represent a potential extension to the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics. However, Large Hadron Collider (LHC) search programs may have overlooked LLPs due to their unique features, which are often dismissed as noise. Decay of LLPs outside of the interaction region gives rise to striking signatures, such as late calorimetric energy deposits, displaced vertices, and long time-of-flight. This presentation focuses on the current status and experimental challenges of searching for LLPs with the ATLAS detector, with an emphasis on innovative techniques used to improve sensitivity. Lastly, this presentation will discuss the prospects for the LLP programme at CERN in the future.

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Speaker: Bruce Macintosh Title: Direct imaging of extrasolar planets- Thursday, April 20 at 4pm
2023-04-20 16:00 - 17:00
This is an In-Person [HYBRID] Event
Date: Thursday, April 20, 2023
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Speaker: Bruce Macintosh
Title: Direct imaging of extrasolar planets

Abstract: Direct detection of extrasolar planets – spatially resolving a planet from its host star while blocking, moving, or post-processing the starlight – is a powerful complement to transit, RV, and microlensing approaches. Direct detection is sensitive to planets in wider orbit, and allows spectroscopic characterization of planetary atmosheres. One of the most effective instruments in this regime has been the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI). GPI was a facility instrument combining advanced adaptive optics, a diffraction-controlling coronagraph, and an infrared integral field spectrograph on the Gemini South Telescope. From 2014-2019 we carried out the Gemini Planet Imager Exoplanet Survey (GPIES), which observed 532 young (10-200 Myr) nearby stars. I will describe the instrument, summarize the key results of the GPIES program, including constraints on giant-planet distributions and atmospheric properties. We have also extensively characterized GPI’s performance, leading to insights into next-generation systems.
With current technology, direct imaging with GPI or other instruments is sensitive primarily to planets that are significantly younger than, more massive than, and in wider orbits than Jupiter, and such planets are rare. Moving beyond this will require new capabilities. The GPI 2.0 project upgrades the existing instrument with faster adaptive optics, better coronagraph designs, and new spectrograph modes.When deployed on Gemini North, GPI 2.0 will be able to search younger stars in the Taurus and Ophiucus star-forming regions, and be sensitive to Jupiter-like “cold start” planets. I will summarize the science drivers that guided the GPI 2.0 upgrade and the project’s status.

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NO RPM TODAY
2023-04-25 16:00 - 17:00

Speaker: Gabriel Orebi Gann, (UCB/LBNL)- Title: Let There be Light: next-generation neutrino detection at Theia
2023-04-27 16:00 - 17:00
This is an In-Person [HYBRID] Event
LOCATION: Sessler Conference Room – 50A – 5132
DATE: April 27, 2023
TIME: 4:00 PM
TITLE: Let There be Light: next-generation neutrino detection at Theia
ABSTRACT: Neutrinos are some of the most fascinating particles that occur in nature. Over one billion times lighter than the proton, the neutrino was once thought to be massless and to travel at the speed of light. The Nobel-Prize winning discovery of neutrino oscillations demonstrated that neutrinos have non-zero mass, which opens up the unique possibility of the neutrino being its own antiparticle, known as a Majorana fermion. This talk will discuss the physics landscape, and present recent technological advances that enable a new kind of “hybrid” neutrino experiment, which would combine two highly successful detection techniques: the topological information of Cherenkov detectors, with the high light yield of scintillators. The Theia detector would be capable of combining both signals to achieve unprecedented levels of particle and event identification, offering a rich program of science across high-energy particle, nuclear and astrophysics. If deployed as one of the “modules of opportunity” at the DUNE far site, Theia could offer insights into both CP violation, and the search for Majorana neutrinos: the two ingredients necessary to shed light on the source of the matter antimatter asymmetry in our Universe.
ZOOM INFORMATION –
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Stefania Gori (UCSC)-Title: New meson probes of axion-like-particles
2023-05-02 16:00 - 17:00
This is an In-Person [HYBRID] Event
Date: MAY 2, 2023
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5-5132
Speaker: Stefania Gori (UCSC)
Title: New meson probes of axion-like-particles
Abstract:

Meson factories are at the cutting edge of the intensity frontier, with an unprecedented number of pions, Kaons, and B mesons that will be produced in the coming years. In addition to precise measurements of Standard Model processes, these experiments have a unique opportunity to search for dark sector particles in the sub-GeV mass range. In this talk, we will first give an overview of new opportunities to search for axion-like particles (ALPs) in light meson decays. Such ALPs can be motivated by a solution to the hierarchy problem, the strong CP problem, the flavor puzzle, and combinations of these with DM physics. Second, we revisit the theory and constraints on ALPs interacting with leptons, pointing out the relevance of charged current meson and W decays to ALPs. This is particularly prominent in models where the ALP couples in an isospin-violating way. Finally, we highlight the role of the future PIONEER experiment in probing these new charged current pion decays to ALPs.

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

NO RPM TODAY @Thursday May 4, 2023
2023-05-04 16:00 - 17:00

NO RPM TODAY@ Thursday, May 11, 2023
2023-05-11 16:00 - 17:00
