LBNL Physics Division Research Progress Meetings

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 UTC | ca
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.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/95679892182?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464
Passcode: [REDACTED]

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.

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

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

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

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

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.
Zoom Information
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464
Passcode: [REDACTED]
One tap mobile

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

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.

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

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.

Zoom Information
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/93563368865?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 935 6336 8865
Passcode: [REDACTED]

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.

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

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

Speaker: Frank Qu (Cambridge University) - Title: Cosmology from high-precision CMB lensing measurements with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope
2023-05-18 16:00 - 17:00
This is an In-Person [HYBRID] Event
Date: MAY 18, 2023
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5-5132
SPEAKER: Frank Qu (Cambridge University)
TITLE: Cosmology from high-precision CMB lensing measurements with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope
ABSTRACT:
The cosmic microwave background provides a unique backlight for illuminating the growth of structures in our universe. Measuring the arcminute-scale lensing deflections experienced by the CMB photons as they travel to our telescopes enables the mapping of the matter distribution to very high redshifts. This lensing signal provides a clean window for constraining fundamental physics, such as the sum of neutrino masses, and enables powerful tests of the standard cosmological model via comparison of high-precision measurements of structure growth at late times with early-time predictions.

In this talk, I will present new CMB lensing measurements derived from data release 6 of the Atacama Cosmology Telescope. Our work provides a state-of-the-art lensing power spectrum measurement and an associated signal-dominated lensing mass map that enable a host of cosmological and astrophysical science goals. I will first discuss the novel methods used to tackle key systematics affecting precision CMB lensing. I will then explore the implications of our measurements for tests of cosmic structure growth and the S8 tension.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464
Passcode: [REDACTED]

[SPECIAL RPM] Speaker: Marcel Vos (IFIC (UV/CSIC) Valencia)
2023-05-22 14:00 - 15:00
This is an In-Person [HYBRID] Event
Date: MAY 22, 2023
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5-5132
Speaker: Marcel Vos (IFIC (UV/CSIC) Valencia)
Title: “The third-generation quarks and the Higgs boson – from the LHC to the next large-scale facility in HEP”
Abstract: In this seminar I discuss a number of selected topics in studies of the bottom and top quarks. A few recent highlights of the top quark physics program of the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the LHC are presented. These results continue to improve the precision that can be achieved at a hadron collider and expand the energy frontier beyond several TeV. An extensive search program open ups increasingly rare top quark production processes, providing access to couplings that had not been tested directly so far. To provide a broader perspective, current results are compared to the prospects of the High Luminosity phase of the LHC and of a future electron-positron collider. The seminar finalizes with a discussion of a proposal to use the interactions of the bottom (and top) quarks with the Higgs boson to test the evolution of particle masses with energy predicted by the Standard Model.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/96855892866?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 968 5589 2866
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Eric Torrence (University of Oregon)- Title: Precision Luminosity with the ATLAS Experiment
2023-05-25 16:00 - 17:00
This is an In-Person [HYBRID] Event
Date: MAY 25, 2023
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5-5132
SPEAKER: Eric Torrence (University of Oregon)
TITLE: Precision Luminosity with the ATLAS Experiment

ABSTRACT: Abstract: A precise measurement of the integrated luminosity is a key component of the ATLAS physics program at the CERN LHC. This measurement is based on an absolute calibration of the LUCID detector using dedicated van der Meer beam-separation scans, and extrapolated to physics conditions with a set of complimentary measurements from the ATLAS inner detector and calorimeter systems. Evaluated for all physics data recorded during the LHC Run2 data taking (from 2015-18), the uncertainty on the integrated luminosity delivered to ATLAS has achieved a relative precision of 0.8%.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464
Passcode: [REDACTED]

NO RPM TALK TODAY
2023-06-01 16:00 - 17:00

Speaker: Frances Houle ( LBNL)-Title: A Modern Understanding of Ethics in Physics
2023-06-08 16:00 - 17:00
This is an In-Person [HYBRID] Event
Date: JUNE 8, 2023
Location: Sessler Conference Room – 50A-5-5132
SPEAKER: Frances Houle (LBNL)
TITLE: A Modern Understanding of Ethics in Physics

ABSTRACT: What are considered ethical principles and ethical behavior in physics have evolved considerably in the past 20 years. In this talk I will describe the history and changes in thinking, as well as the role of the American Physical Society in the process. The community has come to appreciate the crucial importance of professional pressures in unethical behavior, leading to newly focused thinking about how physics and other scientific professions might aspects of their cultures and improve ethics awareness and education.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Frank Tackmann-Title: "Theory uncertainties and correlations in perturbative predictions "
2023-06-15 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting

Date: June 15, 2023
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Frank Tackmann
Title: Theory uncertainties and correlations in perturbative predictions

Abstract: Theoretical predictions that are used in interpreting experimental
measurements require reliable uncertainties and correlations.
However, the prevalent method to estimate uncertainties in perturbative
predictions in high-energy physics, based on varying unphysical scales, lacks
both reliability and the ability to correctly treat correlations.
This is a severe limitation in precision studies where theory uncertainties
are of comparable size to experimental ones.
I will highlight a couple of such examples, including determining
Higgs couplings to bottom and charm from the Higgs pT spectrum, a recent
determination of the strong coupling from the Drell-Yan pT spectrum by ATLAS,
and the measurement of the W-boson mass at hadron colliders.
I will give a conceptual overview of theory uncertainties and our current
estimation methods at a non-technical level accessible to non-experts.
Finally, I will discuss the development of a new concept of theory nuisance
parameters, which promises to overcome (most of) the limitations of scale
variations.

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

Speaker: Kerstin Tackmann-Title: Higgs measurements at ATLAS
2023-06-22 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting

Date: June 22, 2023
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Kerstin Tackmann
Title: Higgs measurements at ATLAS

Abstract: In summer 2012, the ATLAS and CMS experiments at the Large Hadron Collider
announced the discovery of a new particle, with properties consistent with
those expected from the Standard Model Higgs boson. Since then, its properties
and its interactions with other particles have been studied by both experiments
using the data that have been collected up to 2018, increasing the number of
Higgs bosons produced by a factor of 36. This talk gives an overview of recent
results from the ATLAS experiment, focusing on the results obtained on that
dataset and mentioning briefly new results obtained using the data collected
in 2022. To date, all measurements have been found to be consistent with the
predictions of the Standard Model of particle physics.

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

Speaker: Sinead Griffin ( LBL)- Title: Party like it's LK99?
2023-08-15 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: August 15, 2023
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Sinead Griffin (LBL)
Title: Party like it’s LK99?

Abstract: A recent report of room temperature superconductivity at ambient pressure in Cu-substituted apatite (`LK99′) has invigorated interest in the understanding of what systems and mechanisms allow for high-temperature superconductivity. In this talk, I will describe my recent work on identifying the origins of correlated isolated flat bands at the Fermi level in lk99, a common signature of high transition temperatures in already-established families of superconductors. I elucidate the origins of these isolated bands as arising from a structural distortion induced by the Cu ions and a chiral charge density wave from the Pb lone pairs. These results suggest that a minimal two-band model can encompass much of the low-energy physics in this system. Finally, I discuss the implications of my results on possible superconductivity in Cu-doped apatite.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/95679892182?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 956 7989 2182
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Paul Stankus (Brookhaven National Laboratory) - Title: Quantum-Enhanced Astronomy For Both Fun and Profit
2023-09-07 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: September 7, 2023
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Paul Stankus (Brookhaven National Laboratory)
Title: Quantum-Enhanced Astronomy for Both Fun and Profit

Abstract: Quantum devices are finding their way to improving many kinds of technologies, at an increasing pace. We will review ideas for how astronomical measurements, particularly using interferometers, can be improved — in some cases greatly so — through the new application of quantum devices such as quantum memories, single-photon sources, quantum repeaters, quantum teleportation, and more. Then we will take a look at active experimental work in this area and prospects for near-future instruments. Lastly, we will discuss interesting astrophysical observations that could be enabled by quantum enhancement, including distance ladder measurements, exoplanet spectra, and even low-frequency gravitational waves, among others.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]

Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Uros Seljak (LBNL) - Title: AI for Physics, Physics for AI
2023-09-14 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: September 14, 2023
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Uros Seljak (LBNL)
Title: AI for Physics, Physics for AI

Abstract: Artificial Intelligence (Machine Learning) is revolutionizing many aspects of our life, but its success stories in physics and astronomy are rare and limited to a few subfields only. I will argue that this is because physics applications require development of physics specific AI methods, rather than using off the shelf methods from the AI community. A few examples of physics specific nature of the data are large dimensionality of the data, stochastic nature of the data, and symmetries. I will argue that learning the data structures first using generative learning approaches such as Normalizing Flows enables not only better learning, but also provides additional information on robustness, such as anomaly detection. These methods applied to cosmology data show the promise of up to an order of magnitude improvement relative to traditional methods. Physics ideas have also influenced the development of AI, and many of these have been based on stochastic processes and sampling. I will discuss recently developed MicroCanonical Hamiltonian and Langevin Monte Carlo, which are a new class of sampling methods that outperform previous state of the art such as Hamiltonian Monte Carlo, in some cases by orders of magnitude. These new sampling methods will in turn enable solutions of physics problems that were not possible before, in a wide range of fields from cosmology to lattice QCD.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]

Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Naoko Kurahashi Neilson (Drexel) - Title: Neutrino Astronomy, From Dream to Reality
2023-09-21 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: September 21, 2023
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Naoko Kurahashi Neilson (Drexel)
Title: Neutrino Astronomy, From Dream to Reality

Abstract: The Universe has been studied using light since the dawn of astronomy, when starlight captured the human eye. The IceCube Neutrino Observatory, located at the geographic South Pole, observes the Universe in a different and unique way: in high-energy neutrinos. IceCube’s discovery in 2013 of a diffuse celestial neutrino radiation started an era of neutrino astronomy. Searches for astronomical sources responsible for creating these neutrinos have covered broad source types while combating background event rates that are 6 orders of magnitude higher. This year, the first observation of our own Milky Way galaxy in neutrinos was announced in June. This talk will cover how this observation was made, other milestone observations by IceCube, and the state of neutrino astronomy.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]

Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Jia Liu (Kavli IPMU University of Tokyo) - Title: Neutrinos, baryons, cosmic web, and COVID19
2023-09-26 16:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: September 26, 2023
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Jia Liu (Kavli IPMU University of Tokyo)
Title: Neutrinos, baryons, cosmic web, and COVID19

Abstract: This won’t be your usual seminar, but rather a report back since I left Berkeley two years ago. Despite barely having made it to campus or the lab due to mat leave + COVID, I managed to work with many Berkeley people on various projects, almost all of which happened serendipitously. I will touch upon the topics mentioned in the title. I will also discuss prospects for Stage IV cosmology, in terms of joint simulations and analysis with CMB and LSS surveys.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/95679892182?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 956 7989 2182
Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Chris Polly (Fermilab) - Title: New results from the Fermilab Muon g-2 Experiment
2023-09-28 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: September 28, 2023
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Chris Polly (Fermilab)
Title: New results from the Fermilab Muon g-2 Experiment

Abstract: The Muon g-2 collaboration recently published their latest results for the determination of the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon. This result is a factor of two more precise than prior experiments and is in good agreement with past determinations. A description of the experimental result, future plans, and a discussion of the theory will be presented.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]

Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]

Speaker: Jure Zupan (University of Cincinnati) - Title: From quarks and gluons to hadrons
2023-10-05 16:00 - 17:00
Research Progress Meeting
Date: October 5, 2023
Time: 4:00- 5:00 pm
Location: Sessler Conference Room- 50A-5132 [In-Person and HYBRID]
Speaker: Jure Zupan (University of Cincinnati)
Title: From quarks and gluons to hadrons

Abstract: Monte Carlo event generators for particle collisions are composed of three block, the calculations of hard matrix elements, parton shower, and hadronization. While the first two are theoretically under good control and systematically improvable using perturbative techniques, hadronization relies on the use of phenomenological models. I will review the first attempts to use Machine Learning architectures to describe hadronization, with the ultimate goal to train directly on data. The first practical side product of this effort is an algorithm for faster evaluation of uncertainties associated with the Lund string model implemented in Pythia.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://lbnl.zoom.us/j/98854322464?pwd=[REDACTED]

Meeting ID: 988 5432 2464

Passcode: [REDACTED]
